Image Tools
How to Resize an Image Without Losing Quality
Images straight from a phone or camera are often far bigger than you need: 4000 pixels wide and several megabytes, when a website, email or upload form wants something a fraction of that size. Resizing makes the file smaller and faster to share – and done right, nobody will notice any loss of quality.
This guide explains what affects quality and how to use the Image Resizer to get sharp results.
Making an image smaller: quality is rarely the problem
When you reduce an image from 4000 to 1600 pixels wide, you're throwing away pixels the screen couldn't show anyway. A good resizing method averages neighbouring pixels smoothly, so edges stay crisp. On a typical laptop or phone screen, a 1600-pixel image looks just as sharp as the 4000-pixel original.
Where quality can suffer is:
- compression – saving as JPG with a very low quality setting creates blocky artefacts, and
- resizing the same file repeatedly – each JPG save loses a little more detail.
So: resize once, from the original, and save with a sensible quality setting.
Making an image larger: be realistic
Enlarging can't add detail that isn't there. A 600-pixel image enlarged to 1200 pixels will look softer, because each original pixel is spread over four. Small enlargements (up to around 150%) are usually acceptable; beyond that, try to find a larger original.
How to resize an image, step by step
- Open the Image Resizer.
- Choose a JPG, PNG or WEBP image.
- Choose how to resize:
- Pixels – enter a width and/or height. With Keep aspect ratio switched on, the image is scaled to fit inside that size without being stretched.
- Percentage – 25%, 50%, 75%, 150% or 200% of the current size.
- Choose the output format and quality (see below).
- Press resize and download the new image.
Choosing the right size
| Use | Suggested width |
|---|---|
| Email attachment, messaging | 1200–1600 px |
| Website content image | 1200–2000 px |
| Social media post | 1080–1200 px |
| Profile picture, avatar | 400–800 px |
| Printing at A4 | about 2500 px |
When an upload form specifies exact dimensions, enter them in Pixels mode. Turning Keep aspect ratio off stretches the image to exactly that size, which distorts it if the shape differs – usually it's better to crop the image to the right shape first.
Choosing the format
- JPG – best for photos. Small files, no transparency.
- PNG – best for screenshots, logos and graphics with sharp edges or transparent areas. Larger for photos.
- WEBP – a modern format with smaller files than JPG at similar quality, supported by all current browsers. Some older programs and upload forms don't accept it.
- Same format (default) keeps the format of your original.
Converting a transparent PNG or WEBP to JPG gives it a white background, because JPG doesn't support transparency.
Choosing the quality setting
For JPG and WEBP you can choose:
- 70 – smaller files; fine for thumbnails and previews.
- 85 (default) – the best balance; differences from 95 are very hard to see.
- 95 – the highest quality, for images that will be edited further or printed.
Privacy bonus: location data is removed
Photos from phones often contain hidden information, including the GPS location where they were taken. The resizer removes location and camera details from the output, while keeping the colour profile and the correct orientation.
Frequently asked questions
What is the biggest size I can resize to?
There is a maximum size per side and a maximum total number of pixels, so extremely large outputs are refused. For screens and most printing, you won't come close to the limit.
Can I resize several images at once?
No – each conversion handles one image. Resize images one after another.
Does resizing change the file format?
Only if you choose a different format under Save as. With Same format, a JPG stays a JPG.
Why is my resized PNG larger than the JPG?
PNG compresses photos poorly because it's lossless. For photos, choose JPG or WEBP.
Summary
Shrinking an image doesn't hurt visible quality as long as you resize once from the original and save with a sensible quality setting – 85 for JPG or WEBP is a good default. Choose JPG for photos, PNG for graphics and transparency, and avoid enlarging images by more than about 150%.
