How to Resize Photos in Photoshop

You want a good looking document with photographs to enhance it. You find the perfect photo, but it isn’t the right size. There is nothing worse than a photo of either poor quality or one that is incorrectly resized. To avoid the pitfalls of unimpressive artwork learn to correctly resize a photograph. Learn to do it in Photoshop or a similar product and you will present a well-developed document. The principals are the same for most all photo software.

Instructions

1. Open the photo file in Photoshop. Most digital camera file are created at 72 dpi. If you are creating a web document you will not need to adjust the dpi. If your output is for a printer whether commercial or your personal inkjet you must change the dpi for a good quality print.

2. 

   Pull down the “Image Menu” bar and select the “Image Size” menu. There is a box to adjust the dpi. Change the size from 72 to 300. Make sure the “Resample Image” check box is unchecked, but the “Constrain Proportions” check box is checked.

3. 

   Pull down the “Image Menu” bar and select the “Image Size” menu. There is a box to resize the photo. Make sure the “Resample Image” and the “Constrain Proportions” check box is checked. You may change the size of the photo by entering either the desired pixel size, for the web, or the desired document size for print. Chose either the height or the width.

4. 

   If the proportions are not correct turn your ruler on using the “View” menu, select ruler. Pull the guidelines down to measure off where you want to crop the drawing. For example, if after you resize the drawing it is 3 inches by 2 ½ inches and you need the final photo to be 3 inches by 2 inches, drag the guide line to the 2 inch mark and use the crop tool to resize the proportion.

Tips & Warnings

• Another option to resize the proportions is to adjust the dpi, resize the file and grab the photo using the Marquee Tool and copy. Open a new document. As you open the document select the correct dpi and the exact size you want the photo. Paste the photo in the new document and drag it into the position you want it in. When you have the photo “framed” the way you want it flatten the layers and save. This is the best way to resize photos exactly no matter the original size. If you are putting a large document together with many photo sources it is the simplest way to make all photos standard and your document professional-looking.