Learning how to resize a canvas in Photoshop is an important step in your journey to becoming a photo editor. You can start with a certain size canvas and then suddenly realize you need more space.
Similarly, if you’ve imported an image and want to add space around it, for a background or for transparency, you’ll need to resize the canvas first.
To resize a canvas in Photoshop, here’s the step-by-step process:
1. Open your image in Photoshop.
2. Go to the menu bar and select “Image” and then “Canvas Size.” Alternatively, you can use the shortcut: Alt/Option + Ctrl/Cmd + C.
3. The Canvas Size dialog box will appear. It displays the current dimensions of your canvas.
4. In the dialog box, you’ll see two sections: “Width” and “Height.” These represent the dimensions of your canvas.
5. Modify the dimensions as needed. You can enter new values in pixels, inches, centimeters, or other available units. To maintain the aspect ratio, make sure the “Constrain Proportions” checkbox is checked.
6. Choose the anchor point. It determines how your existing image will be positioned within the new canvas size. By default, the center anchor point is selected. You can click on any of the squares in the anchor point diagram to choose a different anchor point.
7. Check the preview to see how your changes will affect the image. Make sure that your image and important elements will fit well within the new canvas size.
8. When you’re satisfied with the new dimensions and anchor point, click “OK” to resize the canvas.
After completing these steps, your canvas will be resized according to the dimensions you specified.
Have it in mind that resizing the canvas may introduce empty space or crop your image. If you want to preserve the entire image without cropping, you may need to use additional techniques, such as content-aware resizing or extending the background, to fill in the added space.
I hope this helps you resize your canvas in Photoshop.
