How to Resize an Image Without Losing Quality – Reduce File Size Tutorial (2024)

/ #Image Compression
How to Resize an Image Without Losing Quality – Reduce File Size Tutorial (1)
Quincy Larson
How to Resize an Image Without Losing Quality – Reduce File Size Tutorial (2)

When you need to resize an image, you want to do it without losing quality. Fortunately, there are a lot of widely available tools that can help you do this.

Resizing images can be tricky, because when you reduce the size of an image, you are also reducing the number of pixels. The more you reduce the number of pixels, the more you reduce the quality of the image. But there are ways to resize an image without losing quality.

How to Resize an Image with Adobe Photoshop Without Losing Quality

One way to do this is to use a program like Photoshop. With Photoshop, you can resize an image without losing quality by using the "Image Size" dialog box.

To open the "Image Size" dialog box, open an image in Photoshop, click on the "Image" menu dropdown, then click on "Image Size":

How to Resize an Image Without Losing Quality – Reduce File Size Tutorial (3)

In the "Image Size" dialog box, you can change the width and height of the image. You can also change the resolution. The resolution is the number of pixels per inch. The higher the resolution, the more pixels there are in the image, and the better the quality.

First, make sure that the "Resample Image" checkbox is unchecked:

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This checkbox tells Photoshop to change the number of pixels in the image. When you uncheck this box, Photoshop will not change the number of pixels, and the quality and file size of the image will not be reduced.

Next, select a unit of measurement to use to resize the image. Click on the dropdown to the right of either "Width" or "Height" to open a dropdown.

Inches is selected by default because Photoshop is used to produce a lot of print media. Note that, since the "Resample" checkbox is unchecked, you cannot select pixels from the units of measurement dropdown:

How to Resize an Image Without Losing Quality – Reduce File Size Tutorial (5)

After selecting a unit of measurement, change either the width or height of the image, and the other dimension will automatically update.

Finally, click the "OK" button to resize the image:

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But there are times when losing a little bit of quality is okay, like if you're resizing and image for a website. In that case, the reduced image file size is good because images will load much faster.

In this case, make sure the "Resample" checkbox is checked. Then you can select pixels as a unit of measurement and resize the image as described above.

How to Resize an Image Using Microsoft Paint Without Losing Quality

Another way to resize an image without losing quality is to use a program like Microsoft Paint. With Paint, you can resize an image without losing quality by using the "Resize and Skew" dialog box.

To open the "Resize and Skew" dialog box, open an image, and in the "Image" section of the toolbar, click the "Resize and Skew" button:

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In the "Resize and Skew" dialog box, you can change the width and height of the image. You can also change the horizontal and vertical stretch. The horizontal and vertical stretch determine how much the image is stretched.

In the "Resize and Skew" dialog box, select either "Percentage" or "Pixels" as a unit of measurement, and make sure the chain icon between "Horizontal" and "Vertical" is connected. That will lock the aspect ratio of your image so it doesn't get distorted:

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Then change either the horizontal or vertical dimension of the image, and the other one will automatically update.

Finally, click the "OK" button to resize the image.

How to Resize an Image With GIMP Without Losing Quality

You can also try using a program like GIMP. GIMP is a free program that you can download from the internet. With GIMP, you can resize an image without losing quality by using the "Scale Image" dialog box.

To open the "Scale Image" dialog box, open an image in GIMP, click on the "Image" menu dropdown, then click on "Scale Image":

How to Resize an Image Without Losing Quality – Reduce File Size Tutorial (9)

In the "Scale Image" dialog box, select a unit of measurement from the dropdown box. "px", or pixels, is selected by default.

And make sure the chain icon between "Width" and "Height" is connected. That will lock the aspect ratio of your image so it doesn't get distorted:

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Then change either the horizontal or vertical dimension of the image, and the other one will automatically update.

Also, in the "Interpolation" dropdown, select either "Cubic" or "Sinc (lanczos3)".

Finally, click the "OK" button to resize the image.

How to Resize an Image in Your Browser Using a Service

If you don't have access to Photoshop, Microsoft Paint, or GIMP, you can use an online service like PicResize. Search for PicResize in your browser. Then you can upload an image and then choose the size you want. PicResize will resize the image without losing quality.

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There are many other programs that you can use to resize an image without losing quality. These are just a few of the most popular programs.

I hope you've found this helpful. If you want to learn more about programming and technology, try freeCodeCamp's core coding curriculum. It's free.

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How to Resize an Image Without Losing Quality – Reduce File Size Tutorial (2024)

FAQs

How do I resize an image larger without losing quality? ›

Use a photo editing software: Programs such as Adobe Photoshop or GIMP can resize an image without losing quality by using algorithms that preserve the resolution of the image, such as "Bicubic Interpolation" or "Lanczos Interpolation".

Does reducing image size reduce file size? ›

The primary way to reduce the file size of an image is by increasing the amount of compression. In most image editing applications this is done by the selections you make in the “Save As” or “Export As” dialog box when saving a PNG, JPG, or GIF.

Which image file format when you want to resize the image without losing quality? ›

The best lossless image formats include GIF, PNG, TIFF, and BMP. These file types can be edited or compressed without impacting your image quality, although they may have lower resolutions.

Can I resize a PNG file without losing quality? ›

Lossless compression retains the original quality while reducing the file size. Lossy compression reduces quality slightly for more reduction in file size. To compress PNG images without losing transparency and quality, use lossless compression. Smush: A popular plugin that offers both lossless and lossy compression.

Can resizing an image too much affect the quality of the picture? ›

The most common side effect of scaling an image larger than its original dimensions is that the image may appear to be very fuzzy or pixelated. Scaling images smaller than the original dimensions does not affect quality as much, but can have other side effects.

How do I reduce the resolution and size of an image? ›

How to compress an image?
  1. Upload your file to the image compressor. It can be an image, document or even a video.
  2. Select an image format from the drop-down list. For compression, we offer PNG and JPG.
  3. Choose the quality you want your image to be saved in. ...
  4. Click on "Start" to start the compression process.

How do you reduce the size of a large image? ›

The best way to reduce the size of an image is to lower its dimensions. You can usually go to your image editing software and select Resize Image from the menu bar. The dimension of a photo refers to its width and height, which together determine the overall size and shape of the picture.

Does resizing an image change the file size? ›

File size, on the other hand, is the amount of storage space your image will occupy: it's measured in kilobytes (KB) and megabytes (MB), where 1MB = 1000KB. Dimensions and file size are strictly related: the larger the dimensions of an image, the larger its file size will be.

Does changing PNG to JPG reduce file size? ›

Size Limitations for JPG and PNG

PNG images do not compress the file as much, so you are still left with a relatively large file; however, JPG images compress down to 10 percent of the original file size, in general, helping you save even more space.

Does converting PNG to JPG reduce file size? ›

Convert PNG to JPG for free and save space.

Plus, you don't have to worry about cumbersome PNG files that slow down your website or take forever to load. JPG files are significantly smaller compared to PNG files, making them ideal for online sharing, social media posting, and website optimization.

What is the best image format for resizing? ›

JPG files are typically easier to resize and compress compared to PNG files. If you need to compress a PNG file, it's often better to convert it to a JPG beforehand. This change can help maintain high image quality while significantly reducing the file size.

Which method is used to reduce the size of an image file? ›

Image compression is a method of reducing the size of an image file by means of a specific algorithm. Different image file types such as JPG, TIF, and PNG use different algorithms to change how image data is stored and to produce smaller-sized files (measured in bytes).

How do I reduce the MB size of a photo? ›

How to compress an image?
  1. Upload your file to the image compressor. It can be an image, document or even a video.
  2. Select an image format from the drop-down list. For compression, we offer PNG and JPG.
  3. Choose the quality you want your image to be saved in. ...
  4. Click on "Start" to start the compression process.

How do I reduce the MB file size? ›

There are a few simple things you can do to help keep file sizes down:
  1. Use low resolution versions of your images where possible.
  2. Compress images within Word or PowerPoint documents.
  3. Use Save As…
  4. Save as PDF (as a last resort)
Mar 12, 2024

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