How to Reduce Image Size in Paint

Reduce images to make them fit into your overall design.

Sometimes a smaller image works better with your overall design. You can save the smaller image in Microsoft Paint and add it to a brochure or other document. You won't have to resize the image each time you use it and the size is preserved when you share the image with others. Microsoft Paint is installed in Windows and allows you to reduce your images, so you don't have to purchase a professional image editor to make basic edits to your image.

Instructions

1. Open Microsoft Paint by clicking the "Start" button and "Paint" in Windows.

2. Click the "Paint" button (just above the ribbon) and select "Open." The "Open" dialog box appears. Double-click the image you want to shrink. It loads in Microsoft Paint.

3. Select the "Home" tab in the ribbon. Click "Resize" in the Image group. The Resize and Skew dialog box opens.

4. Go to the Resize section and select the resize option you want to use, percentage or pixels.

5. Check "Maintain aspect ration" to prevent image distortion when you shrink the image. To reduce the image size, change the value in the Horizontal or Vertical text field to a smaller value. Click "OK."

6. Click the "Paint" button and select "Save" to overwrite the file. To preserve the original image, but save a copy of the reduced file, click the "Paint" button and "Save as" instead. Select the file format you want the file saved as from the fly-out menu ("PNG picture," "JPEG picture," "BMP picture," "GIF picture" or "Other formats.") Rename the file in the "Save As" dialog box and click "Save."

References

• Microsoft Windows: About Paint