Photoshop Tutorials: Resizing, Resampling, and Saving As

by Jim Miotke author of Absolute Beginner's Guide to Taking Great Photos , Digital Photography Unleashed: Capturing Wildly Great Pictures , BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Photography ... and more

Tips and Tricks on Saving, Resampling and Resizing Your Photos

Whether you are interested in emailing your pictures to friends and family, entering BetterPhoto's contest, getting photos critiqued in an online course, or printing your images, there are a few things you need to know about software. For example: Saving AsWhen you come across an image that you like, be sure to first choose the "Save As" option in the File menu. Why "Save As" instead of just "Save"? The "Save As" option makes it easier for you to control the location and file format used. Be sure you save your images often, especially when you do a lot of work on the photo.

One thing you are bound to do right away is resize your image. If you do, be sure to first do the "Save As" so you have an original, source file on hand. Then do your resizing and choose "Save As" again, this time renaming the file to indicate that it is a smaller or larger version.

Resizing the Image

Now that we know the importance of saving, let’s learn about resizing the image - in other words, changing the image's size without changing the pixels. This may sound confusing at first but it’s actually simple. You can change the image's resolution (i.e. from 300 pixels per inch to 72 pixels per inch), for instance, without changing the file size. In this case, you would not be changing your file; you would just be shuffling things around within your file.

You would be causing your image to spread and cover much more real estate. You'll likely be resizing the image often, because sometimes you want to print the image and other times you want to email it or display it on the Web. In Photoshop, you go about resizing the image by using the Image Size command. Select this option from the Image menu, and a dialog box will pop up where you can change anything you want about the image's size and resolution.

Just note one thing before experimenting in the Image Size dialog box. If you intend to resize the image in the way I mention above – changing the resolution without affecting the overall file size - be sure to keep the "Resample" checkbox unchecked. This will allow you to make changes without any possibility of damaging your photos.

If you need to make the file size smaller (say, to be emailed to a friend), then you will likely need to check the "Resample" checkbox. With this checked, you can reduce the overall pixel dimensions to an email-friendly size, such as 400 pixels wide. If you do this, be sure to use that "Save As" option right away, so you can save it with a different name and thus avoid overwriting your larger source file.