Often we need to resize our images – one size and resolution for your Facebook posting, and a totally different size and resolution for the print you want to put on your office wall. Photoshop makes resizing or reformatting your image pretty easy, but you do need to remember a few basic rules. Let’s go through the process with one of my images using Photoshop CS6.
I’m shooting a Canon 5D Mk II using RAW capture. When I open an image in Photoshop it is 15.6 inches x 10.4 inches at 360 ppi. After I finish making my adjustments and corrections, I want to post the image on my website. For internet or web viewing, I typically resize my images to 5”x 7” [720 x 1008 px] at 144 ppi. This size seems to work well on my website and is still small enough that I don’t worry about the image being copied and printed without my permission.
With the image open in Photoshop I click on Image on the upper left hand side of the Menu Bar. In the drop down menu that appears, click on Image size. (In Elements 10 click Image> Resize>image size). When the Dialog Box opens I will make sure that the scale styles, constrain proportions and resample image boxes are checked.
Then I will change the width or height (whichever is the longest dimension in my photo) to 7 inches which automatically changes the other dimension setting for me. Then I will change the resolution to 144 ppi, and check to see that bicubic automatic is displayed in the selection window (in Elements 10 choose Bicubic sharper – best for reduction). Then I click OK and my image is now ready to be saved as a jpeg for uploading to my website [remember to save as a different file name].
Once I have saved the lower resolution image I will go to the History palette (Window>Undo History palette in Elements 10) and click on the last history state that appears before my Image Size layer. That will take my image back to it’s original size and resolution.
Now I want to prepare the image to be sent to my lab which wants my images at 300 ppi resolution. I again click on Image in the Menu Bar and open the image size dialog box. (In Elements 10 click Image> Resize>image size). After checking to be sure that the scale styles, constrain proportions and resample image boxes are checked, I will change the width to 12 inches and the height proportionally changes to 8 inches (for a horizontal image – for a vertical image change the height to 12 inches). Then I change the resolution to 300 ppi with bicubic automatic displayed in the selection window and I click OK. (In Elements 10 choose Bicubic smoother – best for enlargement).
One other tip. If for some reason your image opens into Photoshop with really large dimensions like 50 inches x 33.3 inches at 72 ppi, it’s a simple matter to increase your resolution without damaging your image. Open the same image size dialog box we used above, but this time uncheck the box to the left of Resample Image then enter your preferred resolution in the resolution box. Watch the dimensions of your image automatically adjust as you enter the new resolution.
Submitted by Don Barnes, www.dbarnesphotography.com
I’m shooting a Canon 5D Mk II using RAW capture. When I open an image in Photoshop it is 15.6 inches x 10.4 inches at 360 ppi. After I finish making my adjustments and corrections, I want to post the image on my website. For internet or web viewing, I typically resize my images to 5”x 7” [720 x 1008 px] at 144 ppi. This size seems to work well on my website and is still small enough that I don’t worry about the image being copied and printed without my permission.
With the image open in Photoshop I click on Image on the upper left hand side of the Menu Bar. In the drop down menu that appears, click on Image size. (In Elements 10 click Image> Resize>image size). When the Dialog Box opens I will make sure that the scale styles, constrain proportions and resample image boxes are checked.
Then I will change the width or height (whichever is the longest dimension in my photo) to 7 inches which automatically changes the other dimension setting for me. Then I will change the resolution to 144 ppi, and check to see that bicubic automatic is displayed in the selection window (in Elements 10 choose Bicubic sharper – best for reduction). Then I click OK and my image is now ready to be saved as a jpeg for uploading to my website [remember to save as a different file name].
Once I have saved the lower resolution image I will go to the History palette (Window>Undo History palette in Elements 10) and click on the last history state that appears before my Image Size layer. That will take my image back to it’s original size and resolution.
Now I want to prepare the image to be sent to my lab which wants my images at 300 ppi resolution. I again click on Image in the Menu Bar and open the image size dialog box. (In Elements 10 click Image> Resize>image size). After checking to be sure that the scale styles, constrain proportions and resample image boxes are checked, I will change the width to 12 inches and the height proportionally changes to 8 inches (for a horizontal image – for a vertical image change the height to 12 inches). Then I change the resolution to 300 ppi with bicubic automatic displayed in the selection window and I click OK. (In Elements 10 choose Bicubic smoother – best for enlargement).
One other tip. If for some reason your image opens into Photoshop with really large dimensions like 50 inches x 33.3 inches at 72 ppi, it’s a simple matter to increase your resolution without damaging your image. Open the same image size dialog box we used above, but this time uncheck the box to the left of Resample Image then enter your preferred resolution in the resolution box. Watch the dimensions of your image automatically adjust as you enter the new resolution.
Submitted by Don Barnes, www.dbarnesphotography.com
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