This article was co-authored by Boris Polissky and by wikiHow staff writer, Rain Kengly. Boris Polissky is a Professional Photographer and the Owner of SF City Hall Photo and Boris Polissky Photography based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Boris specializes in wedding, portrait, and family photography focused on bringing out real emotion and connection in his photos. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Science from San Jose State University. Boris is known for capturing moments that bring out the uniqueness in all his clients.
This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.
This article has been viewed 253,697 times.
Do you need to resize an image or photo in Paint.NET? You can use the resize tool to easily make it smaller or bigger without stretching. Here's how to resize an image with Paint.NET.
Quick Steps
- Open an image in Paint.NET.
- Click the Image tab.
- Click Resize.
- Enter a size by percentage or absolute size.
- Click OK.
- Save the image.
Steps
-
1Open the image you want to resize. You can click File, and then Open to select the image.[1]
- If you don't already have Paint.net, you can install it from the official website.
-
2Click Image. This is in the top toolbar between View and Layers.Advertisement
-
3Click Resize. You can also use the shortcut CTRL + R.
- A new window will open.
-
4Input a new size. You can choose to resize the image by percentage or by absolute size.
- By percentage: Enter a new percentage. A number below 100 will shrink the image, and a number above 100 will expand the image.
-
By absolute size: Set the width, height, and/or resolution for the Pixel size. Alternatively, set the width and height for the Print size.
- Make sure the box is checked for Maintain aspect ratio. When this is checked, you can change the value of the width and Paint.NET will automatically calculate the correct value for the height (or vice versa) so the image won't get distorted.
-
5Click OK. This is at the bottom of the window.
- The new size will be reflected.
- If you don't like the new image size, click Edit > Undo or CTRL + Z and repeat the steps to enter a new size.
-
6Save the image. Click File in the top-left corner and select Save or Save as. Enter a name, select a save location, and then click OK.
Community Q&A
-
QuestionWhen I do resize my image, it just gets really blurry. How do I fix this?Community AnswerCreate a new image with more pixels, then resize it.
Tips
-
Professional photographer Boris Polissky notes there are plenty of alternatives to Paint.NET for resizing JPEGs and other images. "Photoshop and PS Lightroom provide export options," he explains, which can come in handy if you need to resize multiple images, or opt for the Paint program that comes preinstalled on Windows.Thanks
Video
Expert Interview
Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about resizing images, check out our in-depth interview with Boris Polissky.