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Q. Help! I need to resize a photo and I have no idea how to do it. I want to use a photo as my Facebook cover photo but Facebook says that the image I am trying to use is the wrong size. How can I change the size of a photo and what’s the difference between resizing and cropping a photo?
A. Part of the fun of tech is adding images to put your personal touch on your Facebook account, other social media websites, greeting cards, coffee mugs, t-shirts, business cards and other places. But often your image needs to be a specific size before you upload it. If the idea of resizing an image befuddles you, don’t worry. Resizing an image takes just a few minutes and is free!
When You Might Need to Resize an Image
In addition to resizing images for your Facebook cover photos, you may need to do resize them for Twitter header images, desktop wallpaper, collages, invitations, and more.
Resizing images can also be helpful for sending photos in email attachments and in text messages. The smaller the image, the faster it will load on websites and the less data you’ll use if you’re sending the image from your phone when you’re not connected to Wi-Fi.
How to Resize an Image in 3 Easy Steps
1. Go to PicMonkey.
2. Upload a photo from your computer.
3. Click Resize, pick your dimensions and click Apply.
You’re done.
You can resize an image on PicMonkey by entering the exact dimensions you want or by entering a percentage. You can keep the image proportions the same or uncheck the box and change the proportions.
[tip]For a Facebook cover photo you should resize your photo to 851 x 315 pixels.[/tip]
After you’re done, you can save your creation to use on Facebook or wherever else you want to use it.
There are other methods of resizing an image using Microsoft Paint, Adobe Photoshop, iPhoto and other software. But PicMonkey is free (for resizing and most of its editing features), doesn’t require you to download software, and is accessible anywhere you have Internet.
My full review of PicMonkey: PicMonkey – Make the Most of Your Pictures.
[note]Bloggers should resize their photos before uploading them to their blog to speed up the loading time for their website. [/note]
Cropping vs. Resizing
Cropping an image is when you only want to use part of an image. Resizing an image means taking the entire image and making it larger or smaller in size.
Other Edits
While in PicMonkey you can perform other many other edits such as adding text, layering images, adding effects, framing your image and more. PicMonkey often has seasonal effects such as Winterland and Santa Land to help you enhance your photos.
If you don’t like your editing results, just click the Undo arrow at the top of the screen. or reload an image to start from scratch
Bottom Line
Someday you may need to resize an image for a social media site, email attachment, personalized gift or other purpose. Use PicMonkey to resize your images quickly and easily.
Your Thoughts
Did you know how to resize images? What is your favorite way of resizing an image? Have you ever used PicMonkey? Let us know in the Comments section below!
Hi Carolyn,
I had to read this one! I resize images all the time now. I resized quite a few this morning to send via Skype to China. I just open them in Paint and resize them to 20% and then save them with a different file name. I can see this on-line editing might be handy with a phone though. Resizing saves server space on my website too, it discourages people from stealing my pictures too. I sometimes use just the url to put pictures into blog posts, that saves even more space. PhotoScape resizes too, besides all the other edits.
The one thing I will add is that on Facebook your own picture is on the left of the screen and some of the picture goes on the sidebar side sometimes. You can make it wider than needed and then upload it and see what overlaps. You cna move it up and down but not so easily side to side, so simply crop a little off the side and upload it again.
I have to check my images from the weekend now, ready for tomorrow!
Hi Mike, Yes, I thought of you when I wrote this article because I know you use quite a few different software tools to perform your editing magic on your photos. I like to use PicMonkey because it’s powerful, easy and is available on the Internet. I use several different computers so software isn’t the best solution for me.
Yes, bloggers should resize their photos before putting them on their blogs to reduce load times.
You’re smart to shrink your photos before sending them over the Internet. You will be able to send them more quickly. Some countries have data limits on Wi-Fi, just as we have for cellular data so reducing the size of images helps with that as well!
Hi Carolyn,
Informative post indeed 🙂
I’ve used PicMonkey many times too, though I prefer good old photoshop and resize or edit the images right there. But for those who aren’t too familiar with it, PicMonkey is certainly a better option and I like the effects it has too.
Also, the amount of variations you can work out with the cropped images or otherwise is great too. Adding text, or mixing and matching other images to form a collage – I could really spend hours editing images on either of these sites. 🙂
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Hi Harleena, You’re right, PicMonkey isn’t the only way to resize photos and Photoshop can certainly do the trick as well. Those who have Photoshop and know how to use it will prefer it, but when you’re away from your home computer you can use PicMonkey to resize your photos and make other edits.
I’m like you, I can get lost editing photos, it’s so much fun! Adding text and other effects can really enhance photos too.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and this post, Harleena! 🙂
Very good advice here Carolyn! I haven’t used PicMonkey before, but I really like Pixlr, which basically does the same thing. Thanks for sharing and have a great week!
Hi Tom, Thanks so much for your excellent suggestion of Pixler! After Piknik closed, I checked out Pixlr but ended up with PicMonkey and now I can’t remember why. But that’s great you found a photo editing site that works well for you. :-bd
Hi, Carolyn, informative post and I appreciate all the tips! I use JetPhoto Studio 2, it is free as well and I can add my watermark. I am looking forward (not only for another Hangout on December 18) to see some post on Instagram as I am desperately looking for some frame app, any chance?
Hi Barbara, I am not familiar with JetPhoto Studio 2, that’s great that it’s free. Is it software or a website?
You can find a review of Instagram at The Wonder of Tech from guest author Brock Thompson: Instagram – Get Social with Your Photos!. You can also add a variety of frames to your photos on PicMonkey.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us here, Barbara!
Trust you to come up with more helpful information, Carolyn, thanks so much!
JetPhoto Studio 2 is software and it has proven helpful to me for two years now, mind you I am easily pleased and I am sure I have not used its full potential.
Hi Barbara, I’m glad you found a solution that works for you to edit your images. With all of the beautiful images on your blog, you need a good photo editing tool!
(By the way, I tried to leave a comment on your blog but repeatedly encountered an error message.)
This is very helpful info- thank you! I’ve always used Windows Live Photo Gallery and Paint, as well as Photobucket. PicMonkey has so much more to offer.
Hi Debbie, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! It sounds as if you have a frequent need to edit photos and have used quite a few services to help you. You can give PicMonkey a try, it’s free, no downloads or registration required to use it. See if you like the edits and if you enjoy using PicMonkey!
Hey Carolyn,
I never heard of picmonkey before, but I never really resized my pics too often except on wordpress. But this is definitely great to know just in case I need to resize some pics. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Sherman, Yes, as a blogger you will be able to make great use of PicMonkey. Resizing your images before you upload them to your blog will result in faster loading times for your pages. When you resize your images on WordPress, the size of the file doesn’t change, all that changes is how large the image appears on your page. So if you upload a large sized image and then resize it, your page will load slowly even though your image shows as small.
Taking a few minutes to resize your images on PicMonkey will speed up your blog and make your readers happy! :-bd
Hi Carolyn,
Wow, amazing that there are still some people who don’t know how to resize an image, but yet again, I understand that some people are still new at this. It’s just that we are part of the internet veterans here and we tend to forget this.
For this type of work I like to use photobucket which I’ve been using for a few years now and it really works great. I didn’t know PicMonkey 🙂
By the way, I am now a user of DropBox thanks to you and a previous post of yours 🙂 Your blog is really cool!
Hi Sylviane, Yes, we bloggers tend to be more knowledgeable about such information because we need to know these things for our blogs. But people who don’t have blogs may still have a need to resize images but don’t know how to do it or how to do it easily and for free.
Yes, Photobucket is a great recommendation, thanks for mentioning it. Photobucket has been around for a long time and continues to be popular!
I’m so glad you’re using Dropbox now, Sylviane. It’s such a useful tool to store, backup and access your files.
Thanks so much for your kind words, they mean a lot! 🙂
Hi Carolyn; Thanks for telling me about pic monkey. I have been using preview on my mac because it is easier than using iPhoto when you are doing things with speech. I get nervous about resizing photos so i like to use something that is going to give me usable images when they are through. as a blind person, totally blind that is, do you think i will have any problems with it? I have been working with ashley faulkes on adding banner ads to my site. the images need to be 180 by 150 and preview only lets me change them to a set of preset sizes like 320 by 240 640 by 480 800 by 600 etc. thanks for the helpful straight forward answer to your reader’s question. I’m sure you have helped lots of people today. take care my friend, max
Hi Maxwell, I’m so glad you found this article helpful for you. I am not familiar with how you navigate through websites as a blind user, but PicMonkey has some features that may make it easier for you to use. First, using your Chrome or Firefox browsers, you can drag and drop an image from your desktop onto PicMonkey. That may be easier for you than trying to find a file on your hard drive.
Second, the image resize option is on the menu of the first page that opens when you upload an image. The Resize button is at the bottom of the menu, which may make navigation easier.
You’re right, Maxwell. One of the many handy features of PicMonkey is that you can specify the exact dimensions of an image when you resize it. There are no preset sizes, use the numbers you need to make your photo fit.
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, this article has proven to be quite popular so it seems a lot of people wanted to learn how to resize images easily. That’s why I appreciate readers’ questions: they enlighten me about what people need to know!
Hi Maxwell,
Unfortunately, at this time PicMonkey does not have alt-text embedded in the Editor, which means your reader would not pick up on the functions you were trying to perform. We apologize for the inconvenience, and I will pass this along as a request to the rest of the PicMonkey team. Please let us know if we can help in anyway. You can always send us an email to [email protected]
Regards,
Jenn
Hi Jenn, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Thanks so much for visiting The Wonder of Tech and responding to Maxwell’s question. As PicMonkey is constantly providing valuable updates to your site, Maxwell may have just suggested the next great update idea for you! :-bd
Hey Carolyn,
I think it was Sonia who introduced me to Pic Monkey but I was so use to using another program that I didn’t really stick with it that much.
I had won SnagIt in a contest that Barry Wells had put on so I’ve been using that program for resizing, cropping, adding text, etc. Just so use to using it now and it is a paid program but since it didn’t cost me anything then I’ve just been using that one.
Pic Monkey is pretty cool though and you can do some fun things with it. Great share here.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, I hadn’t heard of SnagIt before, but I’m glad that works well for you. If you’re ever editing photos on a different computer, you could use PicMonkey, so long as you are connected to the Internet.
Hi Carolyn – I use Paint.net for this and find it very quick and easy to use, so I think I’ll stick with that for now. I’ve heard of PicMonkey – I think Ileane uses it, doesn’t she? – but I’ve never tried it out properly.
Thanks for the share, Carolyn – I must say, this does look very simple to use, so I might try it one of these days 🙂
Hi Sue, Yes, Paint.net is a very useful program and if it works well for you, then you should stick with it. But you’re right, PicMonkey is extremely easy to use, which is why you can resize photos in just three steps.
Yes, a lot of bloggers use PicMonkey, probably because it’s free and easy! Perhaps you will use it someday too. 🙂
Great tutorial, Carolyn 😀
I prefer re-sizing (all other editing) on Photoshop, especially if I created the image (main advantage is PS preserves the quality….especially if things I have created).
For other images, it is better to go with a service like Pic monkey (loading up photoshop make take a minute or two..but a minute is still a minute, can’t waste like that :D).
Anyways, thank you for the tutorial 🙂 Hope you had a great Tuesday 😀
Hi Jeevan, You can preserve the quality of photos on PicMonkey as well. The default is to compress photos, but by clicking the gear icon at the top of PicMonkey, you can choose a higher resolution.
Yes, if you’re at a computer where you don’t have Photoshop available, PicMonkey may be a useful alternative for you.
Didn’t know that. Thanks for sharing, Carolyn 😀
Indeed. I have used it a few times in my college (especially helps if you forgot your laptop…or is not working for some reason, which happened to me).
Yes, Jeevan, the fact that PicMonkey is a website makes it accessible from different computers, which is a big advantage over software you have to download.
Hi Carolyn,
That’s really nice post. I normally used Adobe Photoshop to resize my images but thanks for letting us know about PicMonkey. Now I won’t have to open and wait for Adobe Photoshop to resize the images and I can use PicMonkey directly to do the task.
Thanks for sharing the post with us 🙂
Hi Arbaz, Yes, Photoshop is powerful but PicMonkey is free, easy and online. No harm in giving PicMonkey a try and seeing whether you like it.
Carolyn,
First, I like the tool name & logo. Nice! 🙂
Also, The tool features looks very simple and easy to handle. I use GIMP at most time to re size images and convert formats like PNG, bmp and jpeg. We had used in our project too.
It’s so good at pixel level changes and importantly, It’s an open source tool! GIMP also offers other cool features like we can re size, color grade and image texture change.
Indeed, I created MediaCrayon logo using GIMP 🙂
Thanks for the nice tool tip Carolyn. Have a great week end.
Hi Vijay, Very cool! That’s great you’re making such great use of GIMP.
You’re right, PicMonkey is super easy to use. Check it out and see if you like it!
Hi Carolyn,
I’m sure the asker is extremely happy with your answer 🙂 I’ve used PM few times to see how it works and it’s way too easy. I love the simplicity and how it preserves quality. I recall your full review too! I wish if it had a downloadable version too.
The most annoying thing about image editors is that when images have transparent backgrounds, they tend to replace transparency with white 🙂 I’m a huge fan of transparency.
Currently, Microsoft Office Picture Manager and Powerpoint are my best tools in use when it comes to images used in my blog.
You have a lovely weekend there dear!
Cheers…
Hi Mayura, Yes, I’m a big fan of PicMonkey. I use it every day to edit photos for The Wonder of Tech.
I am hoping they come out with an app some day so we can edit photos on our mobile devices. But I am glad the service is online so I can access it no matter which computer I am using.
I agree with you about transparency, Mayura. I’m happy to report that doesn’t seem to be a problem with PicMonkey. PicMonkey also allows you to add transparency with several of its editing features which is very cool for us transparency fans!
Thanks so much for your visit, comment and shares, Mayura!
Can we get back the original size of an image by using Picmonkey ??
Hi Dilip, Great question! When you save an image that you’ve resized in PicMonkey, you can save it as a new file instead of replacing the old file to preserve it. You could also resize the image back to its old size on Pinterest but the image quality might suffer.