How To Resize Pictures Using Adobe Photoshop

Using Photoshop to resize images is fairly straightforward.  In this Photoshop tutorial we will show how to resize photos using two commands built into the Photoshop software, the Image Size and Canvas Size commands.  This tutorial will be based on both having to resize photos as well as saving them at the smallest appropriate file size.  These instructions should also work in Photoshop Elements.

Resize Pictures Using The Image Size Command In Photoshop

Assume for a moment that you have taken a photograph that is far to big to be used on a web page.  The image must be reduced in pixel size as well as reduced in file size.  The goal we need to reach is an image 630 pixels wide by 410 pixels high.  The final saved image must also be less than 40k in size to meet the bandwidth requirements of the web site.  These are the steps you will take to resize images to these specifications:

1. Open the oversized image in Adobe Photoshop.
2. From the menu at the top click Image > Image Size...
3. In the height or width box enter either 630 for the width or 410 for the height.  If you put in 630 and the height adjusts to less than the desired 410, try putting in the 410 in the height instead.  You want the resized image to be larger than the final required size.  Click OK
4. Now that the image is correct in one dimension it is time to crop off the extra part of the image that is too big for our requirements.  From the menus click Image > Canvas Size... and switch the pull down boxes to pixels.  Then enter either 630 or 410 in the appropriate box.  This will trim off the edges of the image to make it the appropriate size.  You can use the little arrow boxes to tell Photoshop from which side you want the extra part to be cut off.
5. Finally click on File > Save For Web... and look at the numbers below the image preview.  If they are above your required size, use the quality slider in the top right corner to adjust the compression of the image and lower the file sized to below 40K.  When you are happy with the image click Save.

Following these five steps will make it easy to resize pictures to almost any dimensions required.  The same steps should also work in Adobe Photoshop Elements although the menus and dialog boxes may be slightly different.