Top 5 Ways to Resize an Image in Photoshop

Image resizing is one of the essential skills that every editor must learn. With Image resizing, it’s easy to edit any image and make it the best fit for the required dimensions or any projects (brochures, printing, or frames). Luckily, you can use Adobe’s Photoshop tool that helps you to edit, crop, and resize any images and make the best fit for your project dimensions.  

If you’re looking for a way to edit and resize images by maintaining their quality & sharpness, then keep reading this tutorial. In this tutorial, we’ve covered the Top 5 Ways to resize an image in Photoshop. 

Top 5 ways to resize an image in photoshop

Each method can help you edit, crop, and resize images using Photoshop. You can pick the simplest way of image resizing as per your project requirements.

Method 1 – Image Size dialog box

This is the simplest way to resize images for any dimensions. Follow the step-by-step process:

Step 1  Open the Photoshop & Insert an Image

• First, you need to open the Photoshop software on your PC/Laptop.
• Now go to the top menu, click on “File,” and insert the desired image you want to resize.
• Else, if you’re using a Mac, then open the Photoshop and Press “Cmd+O,” and you’ll directly see the option of adding an image.

Step 2  Activate the Image Size dialog box

• Once you’ve added the image in Photoshop, go to Top Menu and click on the Image Size option.
• For Window users, Press: Alt+Ctrl+I
• For Mac users, Press: Opt+Cmd+I 
• To activate the image size dialog box.

Step 3  Choose the Unit of Measurement

• Once you open the Image Size dialog box, click on the unit of measurement and select any unit (Pixel, Percent, Inches, Centimeters, Millimeters, Points, Picas, or Columns). You can choose any unit and adjust your pixel dimensions based on your choice. 
• Those who don’t have any idea can select “Percentage” to know the best-fit resolution. 

Step 4  Input new measurements

• You need to put new measurements in these two fields, i.e., Width and Height.
• Click on the Width & Height button and insert the values.
• Once you’ve inserted the dimensions according to your project, Photoshop will automatically resize the image and ensure that quality will remain high.
• Note: If you put lower values, then the file will shrink.

Step 5  Export the Image

• Once you’ve done the image resizing and your image with certain dimensions is ready, then it’s time to export the image.
• Do the right-click on the layer panel and select export. You’ll see another preview tab where you can select image format PNG, JPG, etc. 
• I suggest you choose PNG format to ensure a high-quality image and click on Export below to save your resized image in Photoshop.

Method 2 Image Resize with Properties Panel

If you want another better alternative, follow this method to resize images effectively. But this method is mainly used to shrink the image’s dimensions instead of enlarging them. So if you’ve any images that you need to shrink for your project dimensions, go with this method. 

Follow the step-by-step process:

Step 1  Open Photoshop and Insert an image

• First, you need to open Photoshop on your PC/Laptop and insert the desired image you want to resize for your project dimensions.
• You can go to the Top Menu, Click on File and select the Insert Image option to add the desired image.
• If you’re a Mac user, then Press: Cmd+O to directly see the option of adding an image.

Step 2  Double-Click the background to unlock Properties

• Once you’ve added the image in Photoshop, then double-click the background layer, and you’ll unlock the image for editing.

Step 3  Open Properties

• Now, go to the Top Menu and choose the Properties option for image resizing.

Step 4  Insert new values

• Click on the chain icon, and you’ll see an option to insert new dimensions of width (W) and height (H). 
• Click on both options and insert the desired values required for your project dimensions.

Step 5  Trim the Image

• Now go to the Top Menu and Choose the trim option to trim the area you want to remove from the image.
• Then select Transparent Pixels from the Trim Dialog box and click on Ok.

Step 6  Export

• Once you’ve entered the new dimensions and trimmed the image, click on Export to save the image.

Method 3 Image Resizing while Exporting

There’s another way to resize images in Photoshop. If you’re using Photoshop for image editing, you can directly Resize an image from the Export option. 

Follow the step-by-step process:

Step 1  Open the Photoshop and Insert an Image

• First, you need to open Photoshop, go to the Top Menu, and click on insert an image to add the desired image. 
• For Windows users, you can press Ctrl+O.
• For Mac users, you can Press Cmd+O.
• To directly see the option of adding an image.

Step 2  Open Layer Panel

• Once you’ve added the image, right-click the layer and open the layer panel.

Step 3  Input new values

• You’ll see an option for adding new Width (W) and Height (H) dimensions as per your certain image dimensions.

Step 4  Choose the unit of measurement

• Now you need to select the unit of measurement, i.e., Percentage, for better resolutions.

Step 5  Export

• Once you’ve added new values and set a unit of measurement, then you’re ready to export the image.
• Click on Export.

Method 4  Image Resize via Free Transform

Free Transform is a popular method for image resizing in Photoshop. With this method, you can quickly Resize an image in Photoshop without losing the quality and sharpness.

Follow the step-by-step process:

Step 1  Open Photoshop & add image

• First, you need to open Photoshop on your PC/Laptop and insert the desired image you want to resize.
• You can go to the Top Menu and click on File to insert an image. 
• For Windows users, you can press Ctrl+O.
• For Mac users, you can Press Cmd+O.
• To directly see the option of adding an image.

Step 2  Open Layer Panel

• Double-click the background and open the Layer Panel option once you’ve added the desired image for resizing.

Step 3  Confirm the New Layer Dialog

• Once you open the Layer Panel, click on Ok to confirm this layer dialog

Step 4  Open Free Transform Mode

• Press Ctrl/Cmd+T to open the Free Transform Mode.
• You can go to the Top Menu and choose “Free Transform.”

Step 5  Change your mouse cursor into a symbol

• Once you’ve opened the Free Transform Mode, go to any edge of the image and convert your cursor into the symbol.
• Once you see this symbol, you can easily move the image size and Resize it into desired dimensions. 

Step 6  Export

• When you’re satisfied with your resized image, click on Export to download the new dimensions image. But make sure you’re exporting files in PNG format for high quality.

Method 5  Drag & Drop Image Resizing

The drag and drop feature is for those users who are first time using Photoshop and don’t know how to use this tool. This is the most simple and hassle-free process to resize images in Photoshop.

Follow the step-by-step process:

Step 1  Open Photoshop and insert image

• First, you need to open Photoshop on your PC/Laptop and insert the desired image.
• Go to the Top Menu and click on Insert an Image to add an image in Photoshop.
• For Windows users, you can press Ctrl+O.
• For Mac users, you can Press Cmd+O.
• To directly open and add images in Photoshop.

Step 2 Resize the Image

• When you add an image in Photoshop, you’ll see a box around the edges that allows you to adjust the image size as per requirements. These adjustments are flexible, and you can easily change the image’s dimensions as per your desired project. 

Step 3 Confirm the changes

• Once you’ve used the cursor to change the dimensions and completed the changes, click on CheckBox at the top to save the changes you’ve done.
• Now you’ll see the adjustments you’ve done and applied to the image, and you’ll get the desired dimensions image.

Step 4 Export

• Once you’re satisfied with all the changes you’ve made, click on Export and save the image in PNG format to keep high quality.

Final Verdict

These are the Top Five easiest ways to resize images in Photoshop. You need to select a method that suits your project and follow the step-by-step process we’ve covered. We hope this tutorial helps you learn how to resize images in Photoshop in the easiest way. Drop your comment and let me know which method you like the most for image resizing.