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chrgue
Participating Frequently
October 17, 2012
Answered

Wrong image size when placing in CS6 [2012]

  • October 17, 2012
  • 14 replies
  • 112366 views

When I try to place a picture in photoshop CS6 either from drag&drop in the application window or from the place command, my image gets automatically resized based on the resolution (pixels per inch) of my document.

 

Example:

I create a new blank document, 1000*1000px @ 300ppi.

I have another image that I want to place in the document and this image measures 500*500px @ 100ppi.

I then go to File->Place  and the image that appears is way too big.  In the Info panel, it says that the image is 1500x1500 and the transform settings at the top indicate that the image hasen't been scaled because both width and height are at 100%

If I cahnge my document resolution (no resample) to 100ppi, the image has the right size when I place it.

 

So my question is:  Is this normal?  Because it has never done that with past versions of Photoshop.  If it is normal, is there a way I can change this because placing an image based on it's physical (printed) size makes absolutely no sense.  1 pixel = 1 pixel.

 

Thank you for your help

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Chris Cox

    Thank you for the explanations and examples.  I do understand all this and I have done similar tests to make sure sure of how the tool works before coming here to ask my question. 

    I don't want to sound like I am complaining and I am not trying to argue. But it still doesn't explain why photoshop is resizing the image based on its resolution and not pixel size.

    Maybe I'm thinking it out too much but I guess the answer is "Just because.  It was coded that way".  I am sure there is a logical and practical reasoning to this from when it was created but it just doesn't make sense in my workflow that it is behaving this way.

    If it still is this way, it must be because it fits the use of most people.

    Then my next question would be following an example I gave earlier. 

    I have grabbed images on the web from different websites and put them in a folder on my computer.  A lot of these images have different resolution (ppi).  I want to make a moodboard out of them, put them all in one document, but I also want them to keep their original pixel dimension when I bring them in the document.  What would be the best/fastest way to proceed? 

    - I can calculate the scale transform needed to bring it back to its original size. Based on the two resolutions.

    - I can batch process the image to have their resolution changed to the same amount, without resampling.

    - I can place the image as a smart object.  Open the Smart Object. Change the resolution. Save the Smart Object and go back to the document.  The image will update to its new size (which is weird to me because I haven't actually changed its pixel size, only it's "virtual physical size".)

    - As Sudarshan suggested, I can open the images one by one and copy/paste them in the document.

    These are the solutions I have at the moment but they all seem time consuming considering I must import a lot of images in the same document.


    >> But it still doesn't explain why photoshop is resizing the image based on its resolution and not pixel size.

    Because otherwise you couldn't use smart objects for placing FPO files, replacing content with higher resolution files.

    And mixing documents of different resolutions would be a nightmare.

    Photoshop honors the physical size you specified for your document.

    14 replies

    Show previous replies
    borismd
    borismd
    Participant
    December 8, 2016

    I understand the problem and I understand the explanation. The issue is the same.

    I do at work 90% pixel perfect digital work. Mainly webdesign.

    The (basic) web is based on pixel resolution and not DPI resolution and non-vector artwork is pixel based only.

    The situation:

    I open a 72dpi file as default. That is even what PS gives me as webdesign template.

    I tend to use screenshot that tend to come from multiple monitors (96dpi, 300dpi, 256dpi...)

    Every time I place for ex. a 256x256 screenshot, it will place it smaller.

    Before applying the import, I almost always have to input the pixel sizes so it can stay pixel perfect.

    It takes too much steps to input pixel size while doping an image, changing the DPI from a batch of images or any other trick to overcome data that the file already has.

      Chris Cox
      Chris Cox
      Legend
      October 17, 2012

      Yes, it is normal to resize based on the physical dimensions -- this is because smart objects can work in different resolutions and need to go by the physical sizes.

      Resize during place does not affect the scaling based on physical size - that needs to always happen.

      And it sounds like what you really want is some command to get the pixel size of the child object to match the pixel size of the parent file, regardless of physical dimensions (resolution).

        C
        chrgueAuthor
        Participating Frequently
        October 17, 2012

        This isn't just a question of Smart Objects, if I have unchecked the "Place or Drag Raster Images as Smart Objects" it still does the same thing. 

        I don't know exactly how the operation is done, maybe it is first imported as a smart object and then automatically rasterized as we accept the transforms.  This would go with your explanation but otherwise I don't understand why it would do the same thing.

        Also why does the image retain it's pixel size when it is pasted and not when it is placed?

        But resizing an image based on it's physical dimensions is so arbitrary.  It doesn't have a fixed physical dimensions. 

        300x300px @ 300ppi = 1x1 inch

        300x300px @ 100ppi = 3x3 inch

        The exact same image, same number of pixels, but different physical dimensions.  The only unit that stays the same is the pixel count.

          conroy
          conroy
          Participating Frequently
          October 18, 2012

          Thank you for the explanations and examples.  I do understand all this and I have done similar tests to make sure sure of how the tool works before coming here to ask my question. 

          I don't want to sound like I am complaining and I am not trying to argue. But it still doesn't explain why photoshop is resizing the image based on its resolution and not pixel size.

          Maybe I'm thinking it out too much but I guess the answer is "Just because.  It was coded that way".  I am sure there is a logical and practical reasoning to this from when it was created but it just doesn't make sense in my workflow that it is behaving this way.

          If it still is this way, it must be because it fits the use of most people.

          Then my next question would be following an example I gave earlier. 

          I have grabbed images on the web from different websites and put them in a folder on my computer.  A lot of these images have different resolution (ppi).  I want to make a moodboard out of them, put them all in one document, but I also want them to keep their original pixel dimension when I bring them in the document.  What would be the best/fastest way to proceed? 

          - I can calculate the scale transform needed to bring it back to its original size. Based on the two resolutions.

          - I can batch process the image to have their resolution changed to the same amount, without resampling.

          - I can place the image as a smart object.  Open the Smart Object. Change the resolution. Save the Smart Object and go back to the document.  The image will update to its new size (which is weird to me because I haven't actually changed its pixel size, only it's "virtual physical size".)

          - As Sudarshan suggested, I can open the images one by one and copy/paste them in the document.

          These are the solutions I have at the moment but they all seem time consuming considering I must import a lot of images in the same document.


          chrgue wrote:

          As Sudarshan suggested, I can open the images one by one and copy/paste them in the document.

          Batch that instead of doing it manually.

          Put the source images in a folder, create a new document then run a batch of the following Action:

          Select All

          Copy

          Close

          Paste

          TerriStone
          Adobe Employee
          TerriStone
          Adobe Employee
          October 17, 2012

          Hi. Because this forum is for beginners trying to learn the basics of Photoshop, I'm moving your question to the Photoshop General Discussion forum.

          sudarshan.t
          sudarshan.t
          Inspiring
          October 17, 2012

          This is actually a very useful feature as Photoshop tries to match the resolution and image dimension to match your current canvas size.

          If you're keen on not wanting this to happen, goto Photoshop Preferences (Photoshop > Preferences) on Mac and (Edit > Preferences) on Windows.

          As shown in above screenshot, unchecking (1) will make Photoshop NOT resize your image during 'Place'. But, keep in mind this may mess up your image sizes (depending on resolution of the image you're trying to Place). You need to match the canvas manually to fit the image you'd like to place.

          The (2) checkbox will give you Smart Objects for all placed or dragged images. This will prove very useful as you always have flexibility to edit the image that you have in your canvas, outside of the canvas itself. Auto-updates any changes you make to the SO too.

            C
            chrgueAuthor
            Participating Frequently
            October 17, 2012

            Thank you for your response.
            I can understand why some people would find this feature useful but I personally don't like it when photoshop resizes (thus reducing the quality) an image without telling me. 

            For example, I just had to put a moodboard together from a folder full of images with different resolutions.  I drag the picture from the folder directly in photoshop and if the place image's resolution doesn't match the document resolution, it came come in either really small or really.  And there is no way to tell it to be at 100% of it's pixel size because the transform property says it already is.

            I almost always want to place the image at 100% of it's pixel size because I want to keep the image's original quality and not have it degraded by an automatic scaling I haven't approved or even been warned about.

            I have tried "Resize Image during place" but this option is only to resize the image to fit the canvas if it is too big at the time of the "place" and even if it is unchecked, the images get imported with the wrong size.

            I am aware of the Smart Object option but this is already checked and doesn't affect the fact the image is imported with a wrong size.

              sudarshan.t
              sudarshan.t
              Inspiring
              October 17, 2012

              I personally don't like it when photoshop resizes (thus reducing the quality) an image without telling me.

              This is not how it works. When your image is loaded as a Smart Object, the resize that happens within your canvas is lossless. Your Smart Object is the one that contains the actual pixel data. When the SO is placed within your canvas, there is no loss of quality on the image in your canvas.

              Only if you 'Rasterize' the image or Smart object, then resize the image within your canvas, you end up losing the image quality, not when the image data is contained within a Smart Object.

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