Basic Photoshop Editing Tips, Part 2: Image Size and Orientation

Proper photo size and orientation are important when uploading your beautiful images, and Adobe Photoshop has several ways to adjust them. Our tips will get you going in the right direction.

Resizing Images

CHANGING PHOTO SIZE

An important attribute to your photo is its size. If it's too small, no one is will see your beautiful face. If it's too large, it may not upload online. In the top menu under Image is Image Resize. Here, you'll learn how to change the size of your photo.

A window will open that shows you dimensions in pixels and inches. For online uploading purposes, we're going to look at pixels.

Find out the recommend dimensions for the site you're uploading to. Most sites automatically resize photos, but if your file is too large for the site, the upload could take a very long time. In some cases, the site will just deny the large file and you will have to edit it to make it smaller. Why not save yourself the frustration and do it right the first time? On the right, you will see a chain link next to the size of the width and height. This link ensures that your photo will resize proportionately and you won't end up with a wide or long face. For Beautylish photos, we suggest using the highest resolution possible and making sure the photo is within a 600 pixel width.

Using the Crop Tool

RESIZING AND CROPPING

Another way to resize your image is by using the crop tool in your toolbox. It can not only resize your image but also determine what's included in your photo. For example, if there’s a passerby in the background that you don’t want in your frame, you can simply crop them out with this helpful tool. 

Before you go ahead and crop away, be sure to input the end size of the image you desire in the width and height fields below your menu choices.

Once you have those parameters set, click and drag over the portion of the photo you want to use. You will create a bounding box within the image. The section inside the box will be kept while the rest will be cropped out.  

Picture Orientation

ROTATING AND REFLECTING 

If your camera sets an image sideways and you want to rotate it, you can easily fix that by going to Image Rotation under the Image drop-down menu. The top three choices will let you rotate them if your camera saved the image sideways or upside down. Sometimes a photo looks a little unbalanced in a layout. Reflecting the image will give it a new look without heavy editing.

Simply select either Flip Canvas Horizontal or Flip Canvas Vertical to reflect the image. As you can see in the image below, the image was flipped horizontally.