Online PSCrop and resize: the Crop tool, Resize and Canvas Size
There are three quite different ways to change the size of an image:
- Crop: keep part of the picture and cut the rest away;
- Resize: scale the whole image; the content stays, the number of pixels changes;
- Canvas size: leave the content alone and make the canvas bigger (adding space) or smaller (cutting edges).
Cropping with the Crop tool
- Pick the Crop tool in the toolbox;
- Drag a box on the canvas around the part you want to keep;
- Drag the corners of the box to fine-tune it;
- Click the crop button in the tool options bar and everything outside the box is cut away.
Hold
Ctrl while dragging to keep the box at the original image's aspect ratio.Resize (scale)
Open "Image → Resize" (shortcut R):
- Enter pixels in Width or Height; if you fill in only one, the other follows the aspect ratio;
- Or enter Width (%), e.g. 50 to halve it;
- Mode defaults to Lanczos, the best choice for shrinking photos;
- If the result looks soft, tick Sharpen.
Canvas size (add or cut margins)
Open "Image → Canvas Size" and enter the new width and height. Larger than the image adds empty space around it, handy for margins; smaller cuts off the edges.
Trimming empty borders
"Image → Trim" (shortcut T) opens a window that cuts off surplus transparent borders; tick "Trim white color?" to remove white borders as well. Great for tidying up after a cut-out.