FilePDQHow to resize an image without losing quality
Quick answer
Open the image resizer, pick a ready-made size or type the width and height, and choose whether to keep the whole picture or fill the exact size. Making images smaller keeps them sharp; making them bigger can’t add detail.
Resize imageFree, no sign-up, and your files never leave your device.
Open the toolStep by step
- Open Resize image and add one photo or a batch.
- Pick a ready-made size, such as Instagram portrait or YouTube thumbnail, or type your own width and height in pixels.
- Choose “Keep the whole picture” to avoid trimming, or “Fill the exact size” when a site needs an exact shape.
- Select Resize, then download.
Pixels, file size and quality
Pixels are the dots that make up the picture. Fewer pixels means a smaller picture and, usually, a smaller file.
Quality is lost when a picture is squashed out of shape, enlarged beyond its original size, or saved over and over as JPG. Resizing down once, keeping the shape, avoids all three.
Tips
- Always resize from the original, largest copy. Resizing a resized copy loses more each time.
- Shrinking a photo is safe: it stays sharp at its new size. Enlarging can only spread the existing detail, so it looks softer.
- For email, about 1,600 pixels on the longest side looks good and keeps files small.
- If the file is still too big after resizing, use Compress image as well.
If something goes wrong
The picture looks squashed.
You used “Stretch to the exact size”. Choose “Keep the whole picture” or “Fill the exact size” instead.
Someone’s head was cut off.
“Fill the exact size” trims evenly from the edges. Crop the photo yourself first with Crop image, then resize.