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Irish-Valk
Known Participant
March 12, 2024
Answered

Problem with increasing "Canvas Size"

  • March 12, 2024
  • 10 replies
  • 2600 views
I'm having an issue when it comes to resizing the canvas for my images. I have been using this function in my work flow to add borders to my images as follows. 
Using Image>Canvas Size with the 'Relative' option selected I usually set the first border to .5cm (white) then I set a second border to .01cm (black) and then set a third border to 5 or 6cm (white). This has always worked perfectly for me up to the latest update.
Since the latest update Photoshop does not apply the increase evenly on each side of the image. It applies more of the increase to the Bottom and RHS than it does to the Top and LHS.  In my example above the very thin black border I tried to apply doesn't appear on the Top or LHS at all, it has all been applied to the Bottom and RHS. On closer exemination all of the borders (canvas size increases) seem to be applied more in favour of the Bottom and RHS.
On experimentation I have found that by changing my 'Rulers" and "Grid Lines" to measure Pixels instead of metric centimeters/millimeters, when I apply my borders using the same work flow with "Image>Canvas Size" as before but using Pixels instead of centimeters/millimeters in the "Canvas Size" window it seems to work perfectly.
I am using a high spec Windows 11 PC and currently running Photoshop Ver: 25.5.1 since 2024/03/02
 
 
    Correct answer Semaphoric

    I think the trouble is Photoshop having to convert from physical units (Inches, metric, points) to pixels. In the Canvas Size dialog, if you enter your size in centimeters, you can change the measurement to pixels, and it will show how many pixels that would be. Since you want the same size on all sides, it has to be an even number, because there are no fractional pixels.

     

    If the value is odd, you would have to change it, and decide to go up or down. If you do this often, it could be scripted.

     

     

    10 replies

    S
    Steven23374545y3tu
    New Participant
    February 28, 2025

    Slightly different issue and alternate solution...

     

    I have had a similar issue with the canvas *apparently* not extending equally on all sides. I can't reliably reproduce the issue, but it most frequently occurs when I have extended the original image using generative fill and somehow cropped. (There is one image that exibited the issue without having been extended.)

     

    I say "apparently", because when I enlarge the canvas, I discovered that Photoshop is somehow retaining the precropped data and filling that in when I expand the canvas. This goes unnoticed when there is little significant detail in the filled in data. 

     

    The solution is to crop the image (at the full size of the image as loaded) before resizing with the Canvas Size.

    The example below is of an image expanded using generative fill and then cropped (at an earlier time). I opened the image (2400x1513 pixels) and then created the red blocks at the 4 corners. I added a background layer, then increased the canvas size by 440 pixels in height and width with the anchor point at the center. I made the background blue for contrast. The resultant image shows where the "hidden" image was displayed. (Ideally, in this case, I would want the blue border to start at the outside of the red blocks.)

    S
    Steven23374545y3tu
    New Participant
    October 5, 2025

    Update to my previous post... Using the Crop Tool does not (always?) fix the problem. I use the Marquee Tool and select the entire image, then click on Image->Crop.

    C
    ChrisPonthier
    New Participant
    October 31, 2024

    I am having the same issue with canvas size.  If I do not crop the photo canvas size works correctly prividing a white border.  If I crop the photo canvas size produces a large canvas that is clear, and the image size gets altered.  Have not had this problem before the new release.  BTW in most instances the option to convert inches to pixels is greyed out.

    L
    Lumigraphics
    Legend
    March 13, 2024

    If your image resolution changes, sizing will change. 1cm @ 72ppi is not 1cm @ 300ppi.

      Semaphoric
      Community Expert
      SemaphoricCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      March 13, 2024

      I don't know what your previous settings were, so I doin't know why it was working the way you want. As far as I know, it has always worked like this.

       

      Using physical units certainly has its place, especially for print, but the rounding errors are much more apparent when using small values.

        I
        Irish-ValkAuthor
        Known Participant
        March 13, 2024

        Yes I understand that.

        However the Canvas Size dialogue offers several options as in pixels, centimeters, inches, points, among others. The 'centimeter' option has been working pretty accurately up to the recent update. If they cant get it to work accurately why have the option there in the first place... I appreciate the most accurate option will always be pixels and pixels cannot be broken into parts and they dont fit neatly within centimeters or inches.. 

          L
          Lumigraphics
          Legend
          March 13, 2024

          Photoshop works in pixels, not centimeters. So this isn't surprising.

          I
          Irish-ValkAuthor
          Known Participant
          March 13, 2024

          Thanks for the reply. Yes I had considered your reasoning and it makes abolute sense. As I said, when i use pixels it does work correctly. 

          My problem is it has always worked using centimeters as well and I've checked back on my images and the borderd appear to be accurate. This is not the case since the last update..

          Semaphoric
          Community Expert
          SemaphoricCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
          Community Expert
          March 13, 2024

          I think the trouble is Photoshop having to convert from physical units (Inches, metric, points) to pixels. In the Canvas Size dialog, if you enter your size in centimeters, you can change the measurement to pixels, and it will show how many pixels that would be. Since you want the same size on all sides, it has to be an even number, because there are no fractional pixels.

           

          If the value is odd, you would have to change it, and decide to go up or down. If you do this often, it could be scripted.

           

           

            I
            Irish-ValkAuthor
            Known Participant
            October 31, 2024

            Semaphoric, you are spot on. The basic unit that Photoshop works with is pixels and pixels do not translate evenly into imperial or metric measurements. If a user defines his/her measurements in imperial/metric then photoshop has to translate that measurement into pixels. Since pixels are a fixes size and cannot be split then the translation from imperial/metric has to be rounded off to the nearest pixel, hence the inaccuracy. 
            Since figuring this out I now always set my rulers and gridlines to Pixels and increase my canvas size by even numbers to insure eveness of canvas size on all sides. 

            I
            Irish-ValkAuthor
            Known Participant
            March 12, 2024

            2680 x 3424px (270ppi)

            Semaphoric
            Community Expert
            SemaphoricCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            March 12, 2024

            What is the resolution (in PPI) of your document?

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