Resize, compress or crop?
These three get mixed up all the time, and picking the wrong one is the usual reason a result looks odd.
| You want to | Use | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Make the picture physically smaller, like 1080 px wide | Resize (this page) | Width and height in pixels |
| Make the file smaller in KB or MB | Compress | File size; dimensions stay the same unless you cap them |
| Turn a landscape photo into a square | Crop | Which part of the picture is kept |
Resizing does make files smaller as a side effect, since there are fewer pixels to store. But if a form asks for “under 300 KB” rather than a size in pixels, the compressor is the quicker route.
Hitting an exact size
In Downscale mode you also get quick widths of 1920, 1600, 1280, 1200, 800 and 640 px, which cover most website hero images, blog columns and email layouts. The mode refuses to make the image larger, so a mistyped number can’t accidentally blow it up.
Why resized images look stretched
Stretching happens when the width and height change by different amounts. Leave the aspect lock on and change only one number, and the other follows. Unlock it only when you really want to distort the image, for example to fill a fixed banner slot where nothing important sits near the edges.
Making an image bigger
Upscale mode enlarges up to four times the original size. It uses Lanczos resampling, a classic method that works out new pixels from their neighbours. It is a good choice for modest jumps, like 800 px to 1200 px for a print layout, and avoids the jagged edges of simple pixel doubling.
It is not an AI upscaler, and it can’t invent detail that was never captured. Past about two times, edges start to look soft. If you need a large print from a small image, find the original file first: it is almost always on the phone or camera, or in the email where it was sent.
Whatever you choose, the output is limited to 8,192 px on the longest side, which is plenty for an A3 print at 300 DPI.
Format and quality on export
The output keeps the input format by default. You can switch to JPEG, PNG, WebP or AVIF in the same step, and set the quality from 40 to 100 for the lossy ones. Converting a transparent PNG to JPEG fills the transparent areas with white.
Questions
Can I resize several images at once?
This tool handles one image at a time so you can see each result. For a batch, the compressor accepts ten files and has a maximum longest side setting that shrinks them all together.
Does resizing change the DPI?
DPI is just a printing hint stored in the file, and it is not kept here. What matters for print is pixel count: for a sharp 6 × 4 inch print at 300 DPI you need 1800 × 1200 px.
Will an iPhone HEIC photo work?
Yes. It is decoded in the browser, and you can save the resized copy as JPEG, PNG, WebP or AVIF.