I used to find scaling images frustrating until I learned about Photoshop’s straightforward channel-based protection method. Now, I can resize images without any ugly stretching or distortion, making the process much simpler.
The Smart Way to Resize Without Stretching
Photoshop’s solution is theContent-Aware Scale. This tool intelligently stretches (or squeezes) only the background while protecting your main subject.
There are many scenarios when you need to change an image’s aspect ratio. The traditional Free Transform tool (Ctrl+T) stretches everything uniformly, which can squish or bloat people, buildings, and other subjects.
A Beginner’s Guide to Aspect Ratios in Photography
Aspect ratio is one of the first things you should consider before taking a picture. Here’s what you need to know about it.
However, Content-Aware Scale is intelligent and customizable. It helps you adjust composition, layout, and orientation. You can use the control to scale an image by dragging the image or protect subjects from distortion like people and buildings by using alpha channels.
You might be wondering aboutusingGenerative Expandto make an image larger. Generative Expand tends to handle complex scenes better than Content-Aware Scale, but both tools serve different needs.
Using Content-Aware Scale to Preserve Subjects
The method is best for images with a clear foreground/background separation and the background is not busy. For instance, plain backgrounds like a beach, walls, or curtains are ideal.
Choose either of the two content-aware scaling methods depending on the nature of your photo. Let’s start by opening an image in Photoshop and converting it to a layer in the Layers panel.
Method 1: Quick and Straightforward Direct Scaling
Start by using theCroptool to expand the canvas so the background has room to stretch.
With the layer selected, go toEdit > Content-Aware Scale. Photoshop places a bounding box around the image with a reference point in the subject’s center. This is the fixed point around which the image is scaled.
Drag a handle on the bounding box to scale the image in your desired direction. Notice that only the background stretches while your subject maintains its original proportions. HitEnterto finalize the edit.
Work with high-resolution images for best results and make incremental adjustments rather than extreme stretches.
Method 2: Protect the Subject With an Alpha Channel
Photoshop’s Sensei does a good job. However, there may be some instances where the subject starts stretching. So, you have to tell Photoshop explicitly which areas to protect. Convert the photo to a layer and expand the canvas as we did above.
Choose thebest selection method for your image(for instance, the Object Selection tool or even Quick Masking). Make a selection around the subject you want to protect.
Go to the Channels panel, and clickSave Selection As Channel. Thiscreates a new Alpha Channelwith only the contents of your selection. Return to the Layers panel and deselect the subject.
ChooseEdit > Content-Aware Scale. Then, go to theOptionsbar at the top and pick the Alpha channel underProtect.
Drag the corner handles on the image to adjust its size. The background scales in the direction you drag it while the protected area stays the same.
PressEnteror click the checkmark button on the top to commit the transformation.
TheOptionsbar for the Content-Aware Scale tool has a few settings to finetune the edits. For instance, you change the fixed reference point around which the image will scale. For simple image resizes, the defaults work well.
Bonus Tips for the Best Results
Whether you’re resizing for a PowerPoint slide or improving a composition, other Photoshop tips help.
Open an image and start experimenting. The Content-Aware Scale tool is a handy fallback when you want to fit an image into a presentation, an Instagram layout, or target the “Rule of Thirds” to compose a photo.
