Opening an Image
On the menu go to File/Open and search for the folder where you have it stored on your hard drive. For this tutorial I am using a picture of my cat Nellie when she was a baby.

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Resizing Using Image Size
In the menu, go to Format/Image Size. The Active image (1) shows the image's current height, width, and resolution. Since we are working with the base image (there are no objects), the Apply to box (2) should have Base image selected. Make sure you have Keep aspect ratio (5) checked to avoid distortion. To make the image smaller (or larger) decrease (or increase) the settings under New image (3), User-defined (4).

Since we have checked "Keep aspect ratio," we only need to change either the Width or the Height and the picture will resize accordingly. My personal preference is to use Percent. You will see your image's new size next to the words "New image" (3). Hit OK when you are done.

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Resizing Using the Transform Tool
1. Open your image as described above in Opening an Image. Select the Transform Tool.


2. On the Attribute bar, make sure Keep aspect ratio is checked (locked).


3. With your mouse pointer, grab one of the bounding boxes (little squares) on one of the sides and pull it in towards the center of the image until you get the desired size.



4. To check the size of your image, click the small blue "i" in the circle in the lower right-hand corner of your PI screen. The first screen gives a lot of information about your image. Click on the File Info button and you will see the size in the Attribute box.

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Copying the Image

To copy this image into another work space:  Right click/Copy. Click on your already opened work space to activate it, then Right click/Paste. You can again resize the picture using the Transform Tool, or distort it, which is a topic for another lesson and not discussed here.

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Saving the Image

1. In the menu go to Web/Image Optimizer.

2. In the example below, your final image size is at the top of the picture (1). I have chosen to save it as a JPG (2). Decrease the Quality (4) to reduce the file's size (3). When you have finished, click Save As (5).

If you would like to learn more about saving images, you can see my tutorial here. You can also find other tutorials using the PIRC search engine. For more information about the various image formats and their uses, click here.