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lilCystar
Known Participant
May 22, 2024
Answered

Any way to change image's aspect ratio without cropping, distorting or losing quality?

  • May 22, 2024
  • 1 reply
  • 3613 views

Hi 

I'm wanting to sell my artwork on Etsy as printable downloads but noticed my competition is all offering their artwork downloads in at least 3 different aspect ratios, increasing the amount of frame sizes the customer can use.

 

I've been reading all day about how this might be done, without cropping/distortion. Thought I had a way by shrinking the the layer  with my art  with free transform to fit inside the new aspect ratio size and then using Generative Fill on the blank areas  but then read that free transform loses quality.

 

Then I thought I had a way by selecting the entire contents of the layer and then clicking Content Aware Scale and then dragging it to size. But that only protects part of the layer from damage, not all of it. 

 

Then I thought for sure I found a way by turning my artwork layer into a smart object, then using free transform to shrink it down into the guides I created for the aspect ratio, with generative fill to fill in blank areas. But now I read that even smart objects will lose quality when shrunk.

 

Is there any way to do this? I'm at my wits end.  How are my competitors managing it as I can't imagine they're just cropping the image...  All replies genuinely appreciated!

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Conrad_C

    All automatic or one-click methods of changing the aspect ratio in Photoshop will necessarily crop or distort content, except Content-Aware Scale. If you don’t like what you see from Content-Aware Scale, it has a “protect” mode to let you prevent specific content from being altered, if you haven’t tried that already. Greg Benz talks about some Content-Aware Scale strategies at the link below. I haven’t actually watched the video on that page yet, but Greg is a good teacher who knows Photoshop very well.

     

    https://gregbenzphotography.com/photography-tips/how-to-use-content-aware-scale-in-photoshop/

    1 reply

    Conrad_C
    Community Expert
    Conrad_CCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    May 22, 2024

    All automatic or one-click methods of changing the aspect ratio in Photoshop will necessarily crop or distort content, except Content-Aware Scale. If you don’t like what you see from Content-Aware Scale, it has a “protect” mode to let you prevent specific content from being altered, if you haven’t tried that already. Greg Benz talks about some Content-Aware Scale strategies at the link below. I haven’t actually watched the video on that page yet, but Greg is a good teacher who knows Photoshop very well.

     

    https://gregbenzphotography.com/photography-tips/how-to-use-content-aware-scale-in-photoshop/

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      lilCystarAuthor
      Known Participant
      May 22, 2024

      Thank you for your quick reply! But from what I have read about Content Aware Scale is that some of the image area will be stretched or compressed. Won't those areas print badly at large size?

       

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      lilCystarAuthor
      Known Participant
      May 22, 2024

      That was a very informative tutorial, thank you! But I still couldn't understand how the other sellers were spending so much time perfecting their art for different aspect ratios. So I bought 1 product from each of the highest selling stores.  (They have hundreds of peices in their stores and one has over 40,000 sales.)  They are simply cropping the artwork! I didn't think an artist would do that. I got a horse painting with the horses legs chopped short in one version. Well that solves the mystery at least. Somehow they still get a zillion good reviews. I will consider doing the same, although it doesn't sit well with me. I couldn't spend the time to repaint/fix details on each peice for each ratio offered. Thanks a ton for your help today!

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