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Participant
February 11, 2022
Question

Image > resize> image size is resizing canvas instead of just the image

  • February 11, 2022
  • 5 replies
  • 9077 views

Photoshop version 20.0
macOS Monterey, version 12.0.1

Image> Resize> Image Size is changing the size of the canvas, instead of the size of the image on the canvas.

I often resize large grayscale images that I have scanned, so that I can create smaller multiples to print on one 8.5" x 11" page.  In the new version, resizing the image *also* resizes the canvas to the same size as the image, instead of preserving the canvas size at 8.5" x 11".  (For example, when I resize an image to 2" x 3", the canvas size changes to 2" x 3" right along with the image.)

5 replies

Participating Frequently
November 22, 2024

If it helps, I have the same problem:-(

D Fosse
Community Expert
Community Expert
November 22, 2024

What problem? Be specific.

 

The original poster didn't actually have a problem, she just misunderstood how it's supposed to work.

Participant
April 9, 2025

She did not misunderstand. Everyone misunderstood. Selecting an image and the using Image>Image Size should change the size of the image, and not the canvas. However this is indeed what happens. And no, this is the case whether or not the image is set as a the background layer or if another layer is set as the background layer.

I currently am experiencing this same issue. I use Image>Canvas Size and set 8.5x11 and the canvas resizes to 8.5x11, . Then I select a layer and use Image>Image Size and set to 4.25x5.5, the image stays same size, the canvas resizes to 4.25x11. If I reverse the order and resize the image and then change the canvas, both are the correct size, however if I then add additional layers and attempt to Image>Image Size to resize them, the Image Size dialogue's dimensions show the Canvas size dimensions instead and if i resize, the canvas shrinks back down.

This conflation of image and canvas in Image Size and Canvas is futher exemplied by seeing how Image Size sets the DPI of the canvas while the Canvas Size does not have a DPI setting, thus further highlighting how the Image Size dialogue controls the entire canvas rather than just one image/layer.

Conrad_C
Community Expert
Community Expert
February 12, 2022

@Deborah23090754ttb7 wrote:

Image> Resize> Image Size is changing the size of the canvas, instead of the size of the image on the canvas.
…resizing the image *also* resizes the canvas to the same size as the image, instead of preserving the canvas size


 

I am wondering if you aren’t actually thinking about Image Size, because you wrote out the menu path to the command as Image > Resize > Image Size. There is no Image > Resize submenu in Photoshop, and the actual Image > Image Size command works exactly the same as everyone else has said: It has not changed much.

 

Because of the way you wrote the menu path to the command (as if it was on a submenu), maybe you are thinking of the Edit > Transform > Scale command? Because for any layer that is not a Background, if you choose Edit > Transform > Scale (or something similar such as Edit > Free Transform etc.), you get what you are after: Only the layer resizes, not the canvas.

 

Image Size has always affected the entire canvas (all layers), and still does.

Bojan Živković11378569
Community Expert
Community Expert
February 12, 2022
quote

Photoshop version 20.0
macOS Monterey, version 12.0.1

 In the new version, resizing the image *also* resizes the canvas to the same size as the image, instead of preserving the canvas size at 8.5" x 11".  (For example, when I resize an image to 2" x 3", the canvas size changes to 2" x 3" right along with the image.)


By @Deborah23090754ttb7

 

This feature is not new, that is how it works.

Participant
February 12, 2022

In all the years I have been using various Photoshop versions, this has *never* happened to me.  I have always been able to change the image size without interfering with the canvas size.

TheDigitalDog
Inspiring
February 12, 2022

IF you resize an image, the canvas has to resize with it. Resize can be the number of pixels or the resolution (or both) but if you want to resize an image bigger or smaller, how can this occur without the canvas too being resized? It can't.

If you don't want to resize an image, just the Canvas, there is a command for just that.

What everyone has told you thus far is how Photoshop has worked since day one.

Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management/pluralsight"
Jumpenjax
Community Expert
Community Expert
February 12, 2022

The Canvas Size panel is accessible through the Image > Canvas Size buttons found in the top menu bar. Unlike the Image Size tool, this will not change the size of your current image.

 

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/contact-sheet-pdf-presentation-cs6.html

you can use this direction to automate the photos.

 

I hope this helps.

Lee- Graphic Designer, Print Specialist, Photographer
Participant
February 12, 2022

Thank you; yes,  I am aware that Image> Canvas Size is a separate option, and occasionally use it when needed.  But canvas size has never before been affected by altering the image size until this latest upgrade.  I want to change the image size while maintaining a full 8.5" x 11" canvas size, as I have done for years without difficulty with previous versions of Photoshop.  Rarely do I change the canvas size.

Stephen Marsh
Community Expert
Community Expert
February 12, 2022

This is how it is meant to work.

 

If you wish to resize the image and not the canvas – then you need to change the Background image layer to a "regular floating layer" and then transform the layer independently of the canvas. I'd suggest making the image layer a smart object so that one can "safely" copy and resize multiple times.

Participant
February 12, 2022

I've never had this issue before in all my previous iterations of Photoshop.  It has always resized just the image, and not the canvas.  This is a new problem for me, and I never had to do anything other than just change the image size.  

Thank you for the suggestions . . . I will try them!  :::fingers crossed:::