Export image won't keep aspect ratio of original image

Question

Sometimes when I export images via File > Export > Export As…, the exported dimensions don’t seem to maintain the expected aspect ratio when I change the width or height.For example, I have an original image that is 8507 × 6381 px. As far as I can calculate, this isn’t an exact 4:3 aspect ratio, even though I’ve used the Crop Tool to crop the image to 4:3.When I export the image and set the width to 6000 px, I would expect the height to be 4500 px. However, Photoshop sets it to 4501 px instead.If I then manually change the height to 4500 px, Photoshop changes the width to 5999 px.I know this is a minor issue, but I’m curious about why this happens and whether I’m missing something or doing something wrong.Any input would be appreciated!Photoshop version 27.11.0

Beauteous_Havene5cb · Accepted Answer

Nothing is wrong with your workflow. This is just whole-pixel rounding. Exporting by width at 6000 px from 8507 x 6381 px, the true height is 4501.17 px, so Photoshop rounds to 4501 px. When you then force the height to 4500 px, the linked width becomes 5999 px. Pixels cannot be split, so the numbers shift by one pixel as rounding flips. It only shows up when the scaling factor is not a clean whole number, which is exactly what happens exporting downsized images.

D Fosse · Answer

This is just necessary rounding. An image can only be whole pixels. If the calculation results in, say, 4500.5, you get 4501.

BTW I’ve yet to come across a camera sensor with a perfect aspect ratio. It’s always ± a few pixels.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.