How do I resize an image without losing quality?

Scale down rather than up, keep the aspect ratio locked, and export as PNG if the image has text, flat colour or transparency. Downscaling loses quality mainly when a tool jumps to the final size in one pass — this resizer steps down in halves and averages the pixels it drops, which keeps edges and small text sharp. Enlarging is the case no tool can fix: pixels that were never captured cannot be recovered, so above 100% you get a bigger but softer image.

How do I resize an image in GIMP?

Open the file, choose Image ▸ Scale Image, type a new width or height with the chain icon linked so the proportions hold, pick an interpolation method, then click Scale. Export the result with File ▸ Export As — plain Save writes GIMP's own .xcf project file instead of a PNG or JPG. That resizes the canvas and every layer on it; to change one layer only, use Layer ▸ Scale Layer instead.

How do I scale a layer in GIMP?

Select the layer in the Layers dialog to make it active, then choose Layer ▸ Scale Layer, set the new size with the chain linked, and click Scale. The canvas keeps its dimensions, so only that layer changes — you will usually need the Move tool to reposition it afterwards, and Image ▸ Fit Canvas to Layers if it now overhangs the edge. On this page the same job is one radio button: switch “Apply to” to Layer only and the layer's visible bounds are detected and scaled for you.

How do I resize an image in Photopea?

Load the file, choose Image ▸ Image Size, enter the new width or height with the link icon enabled, then export with File ▸ Export As ▸ PNG or JPG. To scale one layer instead, select it in the Layers panel, press Ctrl/Cmd + T for Free Transform, drag a corner handle and press Enter. It works well if you are already in Photopea; if you opened it only to change a size, the resizer at the top of this page is a much shorter path.

What's the difference between resizing an image and scaling a layer?

Resizing an image changes the canvas: every layer is scaled with it and the exported file has new dimensions. Scaling a layer changes one layer's content while the canvas keeps its original size, so the layer sits bigger or smaller inside the same frame and can be repositioned. GIMP splits these into Image ▸ Scale Image and Layer ▸ Scale Layer for exactly that reason. Pick the wrong one and either your whole composition changes size, or the file dimensions stay put when you expected them to shrink.

Can I resize an image to an exact pixel size like 1080x1080?

Yes. Switch the resizer to Pixels and type the numbers, or use a preset for 1080 × 1080, 1200 × 630, 1920 × 1080, 600 × 600 or 512 × 512. With the aspect ratio locked, a preset is treated as a bounding box so nothing gets stretched — a 4:3 photo sent to 1080 × 1080 comes out 1080 × 810. If you need it to fill the square exactly, crop it to 1:1 first, then resize. For a size given in centimetres, multiply cm ÷ 2.54 × DPI to get the pixel figure.

Is this image resizer free, and does it add a watermark?

It is free, there is no watermark on the output, and no account is needed to use it. The resize runs locally in your browser using the canvas API rather than on a server, so there is no upload, no queue and no per-file limit to enforce. Very large files are limited only by your own device's memory.

Can I resize multiple images at once, or resize and compress in one step?

Bulk resizing is not available yet — images are processed one at a time. Compression is partly covered already: picking JPG and lowering the quality slider shrinks the file at the same time as the dimensions, and cutting an image's width in half removes about three quarters of its pixels on its own. For a strict upload limit, resize here and then run the result through the image compressor.

Resize Image Online — Free & Faster Than GIMP or Photopea

Drop a file in and change its size: type exact pixels, drag a percentage, or scale a single layer inside the canvas. No install, no 30-second editor boot, no menu hunting. The resize runs on your device, so the image never leaves it.

Works the way you already think about it — “resize image”, “scale image”, “scale layer”, same tool.

Resize an image now How to resize an image

Free · No install · No watermark · PNG, JPG, WebP · Works on phones

Resizer

Resize image

Drop an image here to resize it

or tap to browse · PNG, JPG, WebP · stays on your device

Select image

Resize by

Type the exact output size, e.g. 1080 × 1080.

WidthHeight

Lock aspect ratioKeeps the original proportions so nothing is stretched.

Common sizes

Apply to

Whole imageResizes the canvas and everything on it.Layer onlyScales the layer content inside the canvas. The canvas keeps its size, the layer gets bigger or smaller.

Output format

PNG (keeps transparency)JPG (smaller file)

or tap to browse · PNG, JPG, WebP · stays on your device

Why this instead

An image resizer, not an image editor

GIMP and Photopea are full editors — one wants an install, the other loads an entire Photoshop-shaped interface into your tab before you can touch a menu. If all you need is a different pixel size, this page skips both.

Nothing to install

GIMP is a ~250 MB download before you can scale anything. This is a browser tab you already have open.

Nothing to learn

No toolbox, no docked panels, no Image versus Layer menu to get right. Two fields, a lock, a download button.

Nothing uploaded

The resize runs on your device, so nothing is uploaded and there is no server to wait on.

Layers, if you need them

Scale a single layer inside the canvas instead of the whole picture — the thing people open a full editor for.

Step by step

How to resize an image online

Five steps, no account. The whole flow happens in the tool at the top of this page.

01
Drop in the image you want to resize
Drag a PNG, JPG or WebP onto the resizer above, or tap the drop area to pick a file. The browser reads it locally, so even a 20 MP photo appears instantly.
02
Pick pixels or percent
Use Pixels when you have a number to hit — 1080 × 1080 for a square post, 1920 × 1080 for a hero image. Use Percent when you just need it smaller: drag to 50% and the image scales to half its size, no arithmetic.
03
Keep the aspect ratio locked
The lock is on by default, so typing a new width sets the matching height and nothing gets stretched. Presets respect it too — read as a bounding box, so a 4:3 photo sent to 1080 × 1080 lands at 1080 × 810 instead of distorted.
04
Or scale one layer instead of the whole image
Switch “Apply to” from Whole image to Layer only. The tool finds the layer's visible bounds — ignoring transparent padding or a flat background — and scales that content inside a canvas that keeps its size. It is Layer ▸ Scale Layer without the editor around it.
05
Choose a format and download
PNG keeps transparency and stays lossless; JPG gives a smaller file with a quality slider. The export is rendered from the full-resolution source, not the on-screen preview.

Comparison

Scale image and scale layer in GIMP — and the faster route

GIMP splits this into two commands in two different menus, which is where the confusion starts. Image ▸ Scale Image changes the canvas and everything on it. Layer ▸ Scale Layer changes one layer and leaves the canvas alone. They are not interchangeable.

How to resize an image in GIMP

The whole-canvas route — what people mean by “gimp resize image” or “resize image gimp”:

Open the file with File ▸ Open.
Choose Image ▸ Scale Image to open the Scale Image dialog.
Type a new width or height. The chain icon between the fields is GIMP's ratio lock — leave it linked.
Pick an interpolation method — NoHalo or LoHalo hold up best when scaling a photo down.
Click Scale, then File ▸ Export As for a PNG or JPG — plain Save writes an .xcf project.

How to scale a layer in GIMP

The single-layer route — “gimp scale layer” or “gimp resize layer”. Different menu, different result:

Click the layer in the Layers dialog to make it active.
Choose Layer ▸ Scale Layer.
Set the new layer size, chain linked.
Click Scale. The canvas keeps its dimensions; only that layer changed, so you will usually reposition it with the Move tool.
If it now overhangs the edge, use Image ▸ Fit Canvas to Layers.

The same two jobs on this page

Drop the image or exported layer into the resizer above.
For the whole picture, leave “Apply to” on Whole image and type a size or drag the percent slider.
For one layer, switch to Layer only — its bounds are detected and scaled inside a canvas that keeps its size.
Download as PNG to keep transparency, or JPG for a smaller file.

Resize an image now

	GIMP	image-layer.com
Getting started	Download and install (~250 MB)	Open the page, drop a file
Scale image	Image ▸ Scale Image	Type a size or drag the percent slider
Scale layer	Layer ▸ Scale Layer, on the active layer	Switch “Apply to” to Layer only
Aspect ratio	Chain icon between the fields	Lock on by default
Saving the result	File ▸ Export As (Save writes .xcf)	One download button
Works on a phone	No — desktop only	Same page, same controls
Retouching, filters, painting	Yes — this is what it is for	No — resizing and layers only

If GIMP is already open, Scale Image is two clicks away and there is no reason to leave. The gap this page fills is the other case: one image, a different size, a machine without GIMP or a phone.

Photopea

How to resize an image in Photopea

Photopea rebuilds the Photoshop interface in the browser, so the commands sit where a Photoshop user expects — behind the wait for the whole editor to load.

Open photopea.com and load your file with File ▸ Open, or drag it onto the canvas.
For the whole picture, choose Image ▸ Image Size, type the new width or height, and keep the link icon enabled so the ratio holds.
For one layer, select it in the Layers panel, press Ctrl/Cmd + T for Free Transform, drag a corner handle and press Enter.
Export with File ▸ Export As ▸ PNG or JPG and set the quality in the export dialog.

That is four dialogs and an editor boot for something with one number in it. Already in Photopea with a document open? Finish there. If you opened it purely to make an image smaller, the resizer above does that job in about ten seconds, layer scaling included.

Try the faster route

Common sizes

Resize an image for Instagram, a website, or an ID photo

Most resizes aim at a target somebody else picked. The presets in the tool cover the common ones; any other number can be typed in.

Where it goes	Size	Note
Instagram square post	1080 × 1080 px	The most requested resize on this list. Portrait posts are 1080 × 1350.
Social preview / OG image	1200 × 630 px	What a link unfurls to on X, LinkedIn and Slack.
Website hero or banner	1920 × 1080 px	Resize down to this before uploading; a 6000 px camera file wastes bandwidth.
Avatar or app icon	512 × 512 px	Square, and small enough that sharp downscaling matters.
Passport / ID photo	600 × 600 px	A 2 × 2 inch photo at 300 DPI. Check the exact rule for your country first.

Asked for centimetres instead of pixels? Files only store pixels — a physical size exists once you fix a resolution. Multiply cm ÷ 2.54 × DPI: 10 × 15 cm at 300 DPI is 1181 × 1772 px. Type that into the pixel fields.

If the target is a different shape than your photo, resizing alone cannot get there without stretching. Crop to the right proportions first, then resize. Crop an image to an exact size

Quality

Resize an image without losing quality

Scaling down is where quality is usually lost, and it is avoidable. Jumping from 4000 px to 600 px in one pass makes the browser sample about one pixel in seven and discard the rest — that is what turns detail into shimmer and text into mush. This resizer steps down in halves instead, averaging what it drops, so a photo shrunk to a thumbnail keeps its edges and small type readable.

Scaling up is a different story. Enlarging cannot recover detail the sensor never recorded; it can only interpolate between the pixels that exist, so past 100% you get a bigger, softer file. The tool flags that as you type rather than letting you find out after the download.

PNG is lossless and keeps the alpha channel, so a resized PNG image stays transparent — pick it for logos, cut-outs, screenshots and anything with flat colour or text. JPG drops the alpha channel and flattens transparency onto white, but makes a far smaller file for photographs; 85–92 on the quality slider is invisible, below 70 shows around hard edges.

The export is always rendered from the decoded source at full resolution, never from the on-screen preview — that one is capped for speed on very large targets.

Bulk resizing is not supported yet — images are handled one at a time. To resize and compress in one pass, resize here first, then send the result to the compressor.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about resizing images

Related tools

Resize an image now — in the browser, nothing to download

Drop a file in, set pixels or a percentage, keep the ratio locked, download. No install, no editor to load, no account.

Resize an image Or open the layer editor