How do I drag to resize an image in Photoshop?

[aliciar94171954]

I recently downloaded Photoshop onto a second computer. I'm not sure if that upgraded Photoshop or left me without some options or something. Now I'm unable to click on a photo and drag the corner to resize the image. Why is that? I use that function a lot and would really like to get it back. Thanks!

[Ronald Keller]

Now you got me puzzled. You cannot resize a photo by dragging the corners. (You can resize a layer but it will not change the image size). You could resize the canvas with the crop tool but then it will fill the new area with the background color or transparency if it's a layer or of course crop the image if you make it smaller.

Normally you would use Image > Image Size to change the size of an image.

[aliciar94171954]

Whenever I try to resize an image by clicking "image size" it only resizes the canvas. Before, I could click on a single photo and drag the corner to resize the image. If I pressed shift while I did it, it would retain the same dimension ratios. If I pressed control while I dragged the corner, it would let you manipulate the shape so that you could kind of make it 3D. If you put your cursor in the right place, it would also let you rotate the image. It won't even do any of that when I type text onto my canvas. It seems like that function is turned off, and I'd like to know how to use it again.

Maybe I'm saying it wrong. I guess what I really mean is resizing a layer. Like, if I copy and pasted a photo onto a canvas I already have open, I'd want to drag to resize it to fit the canvas.

[Silkrooster]

Yep that's the transform command.

[aliciar94171954]

Awesome. Thank you! I feel pretty dumb that I didn't see that before.

[Nancy OShea · Accepted solution]

With Move Tool selected, do you have "auto select" and "show transform controls" boxes checked at the top of your screen?

[Silkrooster]

This is a good point the move tool needs to be selected so see the transform handles option in the top tool bar.

[aliciar94171954]

Thank you so much! I'm a newbie to Photoshop, and that worked.

[Silkrooster]

You're welcome for my part.

[Silkrooster]

By default the drag handles are off , they can be turned on by clicking the check box in the top tool bar. However most people leave it off an use the transform command found in the section menu. Ctrl-t or cmd-t.

This is how you scale a layer. However to scale th entire document, use the advice of Ronald an use image>image size.

[Norman Sanders]

Are you referring to choosing an unlocked layer, then choosing Edit > Transform > Scale followed by holding down the Shift key (to maintain proportion) and moving a corner handle inward to reduce the size of the image on the layer?

[stephanik14704233]

@NancyO. Thank you so much! How simple. Wow. Thank you!