How to Resize an Image in Photoshop and Keep the Best Quality

How to Resize an Image in Photoshop and Keep the Best Quality – How to Resize an Image in Photoshop and Keep the Best Quality. Images have many types of uses. We have to use images on different platforms. Image size requirements vary on different platforms. That’s why we often need to resize an image. Sometimes, resizing an image becomes the cause of losing quality. Are you also worried about that?

I am going to provide you the solution with the help of Photoshop. In this article, I am going to show you how to resize an image in Photoshop and keep the best quality. Are you getting excited to know about it? You are going to learn the process with simple step-by-step guidelines. Follow the steps and you will be able to resize your images according to your requirements.

How To Resize an Image in Photoshop and Keep the Best Quality?

Smart objects in Photoshop can save you from this messy situation. It saves the original picture inside it. Whatever change you bring to the picture while using the smart objects happens only to the smart objects; the real picture remains protected, untouched. That means, however, after cropping the image, if we need to get back to those pixels, we can easily recover them. Even no matter how many times you crop and resize the picture, you will get as you left. Now let’s learn the magic trick from here.

Step 1: Start with Side-by-Side Comparison

The difference between resizing an image and resizing an image as a smart object can bring clearance in this concept.

Open the picture in Photoshop you will see it in the layer panel as a background layer.

We will make two copies of this image. The first copy will be the pixel version; another one will be the smart object version.

Step 2: Create Two Copies of The Real Image.

To get the copies, look at the Menu bar; there is a Layer Menu option, click on it and then New and finally on the Layer Via Copy option.

Now you will get to see a copy above the background image. To make another copy, you can use the shortcut. Press Command+J in the Mac and Ctrl+Jin the windows. You will get to see another copy above the previous one.

Step 3: Name the Layers

For easy understanding, let’s name the Layers. Name the first one Smart object, name the second one Pixels. Now we can begin our work.

Step 4: Make the Background Layer White

Now the background image has nothing to do here, so it’s time to make the background white. So, press the Background Layers, go to the Edit menu and press the Fill option. A dialogue box will appear there; you just need to fill the

Content option with White and then press Ok.

If you look back to the layer panel, you will find the background thumbnail all white.

Step 5: Enlarge the Canvas Space

You will need more canvas space to use both pictures side by side. Go to the Image menu and select the Canvas Size. You will see a dialogue box appearing in front of you where you will see the Width and Height option.

Now fill the Width with 200 and the Height with 100, leave the Relative option unmarked and in the Anchor option, bring the pointed box to the left so that you can get enough space to the right. Now click Ok.

Now to show the new canvas on the screen, click on the View menu and then Fit on Space. Click on the 100% option. Here you will get to see the extra space on the right side.

Step 6: Place Both Images Side by Side

Now select the Move Tool to place the pictures side by side. Select the layer panel and press the Smart Object to choose it, and drag it down to the screen on the right side. Click and hold the Shift option for easy movement. Now drag down the pixel-based image to the left side.

Step 7: Convert Smart Object

Select the Smart Object layer and then the Menu option to the right top. Now tap the Convert to Smart Object. You can now see an icon appearing on the smart object layer thumbnail.

Step 8: Resizing Smart Object and Image

Here we will first downscale both images, then again will enlarge both pictures and then compare.

Step 9: Scale Down the Pixel and Smart Object Pictures

If you want to start with the pixel image, click on it and then go to the Edit option and then Free Transform. Now it creates a free transform box around the image. Now lower the Height and Width by decreasing the percentage to 10% from 100% for scaling down. But before that, click on the Link Icon and then change the width and height equally.

To see the new look, tap Enter, and the Mac users will press Return. Tap Enter or Return again to remove the free transform box. Now you can see the picture is smaller as expected.

Now to downscale the smart object similarly. Select the Smart Object layer. Go to the Edit option, choose Free Transform. Now see the free transform box appearing around the picture. Now press the Link Icon to change the Height and Width to 10% from 100% and press Enter or Return to see the change. Now press Enter or Return again to remove the free transform box.

Here you can see them both at the same size. No difference is seen yet. But the change appears when we will bring it back to the big size. So, let’s get started.

Step 10: Upscale Pixel Image

To upscale, select the Pixel layer, go to the Edit option on the menu bar, then choose Free Transform; here, you can see the Height and width option returning to 100% though we set it to 10% in the past. But what does this 100% mean? How it came back to 100%?

This 100% means when we scale down to 10% from the 100%, in the pixel image, Photoshop has thrown away 90% of the pixels from that image. Now you have only 10% pixel remaining from the original image, and this 100% doesn’t mean it is getting back to the previous form; it means it has got 100% of its new form.

Now let’s scale up the number to 500% and press Enter or Return to see the new form. Here you can see that instead of adding new pixels in this picture, Photoshop has just stretched the remaining pixel in the smaller version and brought it to the bigger version. Then Enter or Return again to close the free transform box.

Now, if you look at the picture, you will see Photoshop has tried to cover the picture with the remaining pixels and what you get is a blurry soft kind of picture which you obviously don’t want to use.

Step 11: Upscale Smart Object

To upscale the smart object, select the Smart Object layer on the layer panel. Now again, choose Edit from the menu bar. Now choose Free Transform and see the Height and Width. Unlike the pixel, it is still showing 10% of where it was left behind. Photoshop remembered its size.

Now upscale the Height and Width from 10% to 50%, but before that, make sure to click on the Link icon. Now you can see both sizes are becoming 50%. Now press Enter or Return to see the new form and press again to send the free transform box away. Now you can see the whole picture getting enlarged.

Here you can see the difference. In the pixel image, Photoshop has created a blurry image; in the smart object, the case is totally different. It looks like the original image as Photoshop didn’t delete the pixels but kept saving them inside it. So, when you tried to resize the image, it brought all the pixels back.

Step 12: Get the View of The Image in Smart Object

You can see the smart object by double-clicking on the Smart Object thumbnail in the layer panel. It will open in a difficult document. If you look carefully, you will find the picture almost similar to the original one though it was changed twice before. Once when it was in 10% and the second time when it was in 50%. But it didn’t change at all. Everything looks perfect, with no change in the quality. This is what you can use anywhere you want.

Now to close it go to the menu bar, choose File and then Close. Now you will see the previous document again.

Step 13: Upscale Back to The Original Size

Now let’s see what happens when you bring the pictures back to their original size. For that, choose the Pixel layer from the layer panel. Click on the Edit option, which is in the menu bar and then Free Transform. Here the dialogue box comes.

Change the Height and width from 100% to 200% as Photoshop always counts the new form as 100% here, so upgrade it to 200%, and now press Enter or Return to see the change and press again so remove the free transform box from the image. Now the picture is looking blurrier and more unclear.

And now, let’s take the smart object back to its original form. So, click the Smart Object layer from the layer panel, now click the Edit option from the menu bar and then Free Transform. Set the Height and Width 50% to 100%. Here you will see Photoshop didn’t change the size. It remains the same as it was before. Now press Enter or Return to see the change and then press again to remove the box.

Now see the change, the smart object shows more details sharper than the pixel one, just like the original one. Here Photoshop brought back all the pixels that were left behind while scaling down. This is the difference between how smart objects work.

Precaution

One thing you need to remember while resizing the pictures. When you are resizing pictures with a smart object to go beyond 100%, it won’t look good as you are asking Photoshop to add pixels that never existed, so what Photoshop will do is to enlarge the existing pixels, and the result will be almost similar to that one of the pixel images.

How Can This Thing Be Helpful?

You may know how to resize a photo in Photoshop without losing the best quality, but do you know how much this skill can be helpful for you? If you don’t know, but this skill is worthy if you

Are connected with E-commerce

Write articles or blogs

Works on social media

If you are connected with e-commerce, then you might need to post clear images of your product in a limited size. In that case, you can resize your picture and upload it for your business. Otherwise, for blog articles, you need fresh pictures in a particular size. Also, here you can use this resize option to get the best picture for your needs.

Moreover, you may need to resize pictures for social media use as oversized pictures take more time to upload and create a hassle. Besides, more pixels mean more space; although higher resolution pictures are desirable, more pixels mean more space; therefore, to store it in your PC, you may need to resize it.

Why Do People Resize Photos?

Photoshop is hugely used for resizing pictures. This is the mighty software that can make an impossible thing possible. Its resizing option provides the best service than any other option. Mostly, people resize photos in Photoshop for two reasons.

Need A Small Photo

Sometimes you may need to resize your photo, like when you are filling out a form. You may have to resize the photo to bring it into a certain shape. If you save the original picture on your PC, it seems easy to make the picture smaller for an urgent purpose and make it bigger again when needed, maintaining the quality.

Need To Adjust Photo for An Article or Blog or Any Application File

ou may face problems while you capture a photo with a DSLR, and you need to post it in a blog, article or any social media immediately. In some places, it takes time to get loaded, which is quite irritating, and in some cases, it may restrain you from uploading such a big file. In that situation, to make the uploading easier, the picture needs to be resized.

Final Thoughts

How to Resize an Image in Photoshop and Keep the Best Quality – We have come to the end. So, you have learned the technique of how to resize an image in Photoshop and keep the best quality. From now on, you should not worry about the resizing image. Let me inform you that, you can resize the image without losing the quality. It is not possible to increase the quality when the original image has poor quality. You can apply the above procedures in your photos.

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