Resize and Crop Tools

Resize, crop, or both?

These are different operations and choosing the wrong one is the usual cause of a distorted or badly framed result.

• The image is the right shape but the wrong size — resize it. Every pixel is scaled; nothing is lost from the edges.
• The image is the wrong shape — crop it. You choose what stays in frame instead of letting an automatic centre crop decide.
• You need several platform sizes at once — use the social media sizer and get them all as a ZIP.
• You need a circular avatar — the profile picture maker handles the circular mask and transparency.

Frequently the answer is both: crop to the right shape, then scale to the right size. The crop tool does both in one step.

Fit, fill and stretch

When the shape you want differs from the shape you have, something must give. Fill scales until the target box is covered and trims the overflow — nothing is distorted, but the edges are lost. Fit scales until the whole image is inside the box, leaving empty space at the sides. Stretch forces the exact dimensions and squashes the picture.

Fill is right for social posts and thumbnails. Fit is right for product photos, where cutting off part of the item is unacceptable. Stretch is almost never right.

Resizing is the strongest lever on file size

File size scales roughly with pixel count, so halving both width and height leaves about a quarter of the file. That makes resizing far more effective than compression when you are trying to meet an upload limit.

A 4000 pixel wide photograph displayed in an 800 pixel wide column is carrying five times more data than anyone will ever see. Resize to the size it will actually be displayed at, then hand it to the compressors. Doing it in that order gives a better result than compressing first.