Gimp: Re-sizing an Image.

Wow! We are six weeks into the Gimp series already! Today I'll teach you how to re-size an image on Gimp. You can use this to resize an image to make it larger or smaller in terms of size of photo (pixels) or size of file (KB/MB). In this tutorial, I will mention cropping as well as adding text to your photos (tutorials available).

Here's our start picture. The original size is 357x451 pixels and 156 KB. The final picture will be a 125x125 button.


Please note that you can click on each picture to see an enlargement.

1. So let's go ahead and open the file you would like to re-size. Click on File --> Open. Locate your picture, then choose Open. Another method is to right click on the picture, and choose Edit with Gimp.

2. Because the picture above is a rectangular shape, if you re-size it right now to 125x125 pixels, it will look squished. So I am going to crop it to a square shape. (You can use this cropping tutorial from week 3 if you are not familiar with cropping.) Here's a cropped shot, now it looks more like a square with 337x330 pixels to be exact.

An optional step is if you'd like to add text, go ahead and do that now (tutorial for adding text on Gimp).

3. Now, to the re-sizing part. Click on Image on the top, then choose Scale Image. This will bring up the Scale Image box.

4. You can change your width and height to desired setting, but for this tutorial, I am changing it to 125x125. When you are done, click Scale.

TIP: Next to it, you will see a "chain" looking image. When the "chain" is connected, Gimp will automatically re-size the image to the correct ratio for you (for example, if you wanted your photo to be smaller or larger but you want to keep the same ratio in terms of size). If you click on the "chain" it will become "broken". The "broken chain" means that you can set up your own ratio (which was what I did in this case).
5. Save your file and this is the finished re-sized photo. It is now 125x125 pixels and 36.7 KB.

I hope this Gimp tutorial was helpful to you. I'd love to see a 125 x 125 banner that you made using this tutorial, you can link it below in the comments.
If there is a Gimp tutorial that you'd like to see, feel free to comment below or you can contact me directly.