How to resize an image without losing quality
Resizing changes the number of pixels in a photo. Making an image smaller is almost always safe: the resizer averages neighbouring pixels with the Lanczos3 filter, so edges stay crisp and the result often looks sharper than the original at the same display size.
Making an image larger cannot add detail that was never captured, but a good filter keeps it smooth instead of blocky. For logos and pixel art, switch the resampling to nearest neighbour to keep hard edges.
When the new shape is different from the original — for example turning a landscape photo into a square Instagram post — choose Crop to fill the frame, Fit to keep the whole picture, or Pad to add coloured bars. You can move the crop for every image individually.
Common image sizes at a glance
| Use | Size (px) | Aspect ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram post (portrait) | 1080 × 1350 | 4:5 |
| Instagram / TikTok story | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 |
| Facebook / LinkedIn link post | 1200 × 630 | 1.91:1 |
| YouTube thumbnail | 1280 × 720 | 16:9 |
| X (Twitter) header | 1500 × 500 | 3:1 |
| Full HD wallpaper | 1920 × 1080 | 16:9 |
| 6×4 in photo print @ 300 DPI | 1800 × 1200 | 3:2 |
| US passport photo (2×2 in) | 600 × 600 | 1:1 |
Pro tips
- For printing, multiply inches by the DPI: a 6×4 in print at 300 DPI needs 1800×1200 pixels. The Print size tab does the math for you.
- Websites rarely need images wider than 1920 px; use “Longest side” to shrink a whole folder of phone photos in one go.
- Save as WebP or AVIF for the web, JPG for email and printing, and PNG for screenshots and transparency.
- Use Limit file size when a form or website only accepts images under, say, 200 KB.
