How to resize your photos and art using Canva

Whether you need to make an image bigger or smaller, wider or thinner, Canva has the tools you need to achieve the perfect dimensions for almost any platform

Canva easily helps you resize images for icons, logos, profile pictures, social media posts, and more [File] | Photo Credit: REUTERS

You might have captured the perfect photo for your latest Instagram post (1080 pixel width) or maybe a quick selfie you hope to turn into a passport photo (2 inches x 2 inches). But when uploading your image online, it is rejected for not meeting the site’s minimum or maximum size dimensions. How can you resize your image without cropping it or stretching it excessively?

The graphic design and multimedia editing platform Canva offers a plethora of features to help you edit your images and achieve the outcome you had in mind. What’s more, Canva’s clean user interface is perfectly suited to those who do not wish to deal with the overly technical features of a program such as Adobe Photoshop. Most functions on Canva are achieved through intuitive drag-and-drop motions onscreen, so it is child-friendly as well. A basic Canva account can be quickly set up for free, and allows you to access a wide range of image editing features at no cost.

Screenshot showing how Canva allows images to be resized for custom and existing dimensions | Photo Credit: Canva

Canva can help you enlarge your image, shrink it, or even place it against an aesthetic background so that the original proportions can be preserved while meeting website size requirements. If you sign up for the paid Canva Pro plan, you can access the platform’s generative AI-powered features which will resize your image for a variety of digital platforms or social media needs, as well as expand the borders of the image so you do not have to stretch it too much.

Screenshot of the Canva user interface showing how an image can be placed against a background to achieve the needed size | Photo Credit: Canva

Canva can be used via a web browser, a desktop client, or on a smartphone so that rapid on-the-go edits are possible wherever you have internet access. As soon as you are done editing, download your image in the desired format and never let a website’s image dimension limits stop you again.

Screenshot of the Canva workspace showing how images can be toggled to highlight key areas when they are resized | Photo Credit: Canva

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How to resize an image using Canva

Create a free Canva account, or log into your existing Canva account

Select ‘Create a Design’ at the top right of the page

See if your desired size is already offered by the platform (For example: Instagram Post, Resume, YouTube thumbnail, 16:9 Presentation, etc.)

Navigate down to ‘Custom Size’ and click on it

Enter your required dimensions in pixels, centimetres, millimetres, or inches

Click ‘Create New Design’ again and you will be taken to a blank white template that matches your needed dimensions

Add the photo you want to resize by uploading it to Canva, or simply dragging and dropping it onto the blank image

Stretch or compress your image until it covers all the white spaces

Double click the image to drag different parts of it into focus, if required

If this option affects the image’s quality or cuts out vital details, you can choose to leave the whole image against a coloured background, with Canva offering several matching options as well as a custom colour picker

When done, click the ‘Share’ option on the top right, and then navigate to the ‘Download’ option

Select the format you want for your download: JPG for a smaller size, PNG for better quality, PDF for documents or text with clickable elements

Download your image and use it as required