I have been using a Mac for years! Years as in back to the good old days of the Apple ][+
My photo editing program of choice is Photoshop. Even when I need to do something simple like resizing photos. I have been using Photoshop for years also. Granted, I don’t consider myself a wizard with it, but I can do a few things in there!
Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the applications, Preview, that ships with all Macs allows you to crop and resize photos!
To crop an image, double click it. By default, Preview will open it. Click the Select Button in the tool bar. To resize a photo, you probably want it to be rectangular so ensure that the ‘Rectangular Selection’ is selected (you can click and select it).
At this point, you can click and drag within the photo to see the outline of what you will be cropping and/or resizing the photo! Once you have the area cropped, you can click and drag on the corners of the area to resize the rectangle. When you are satisfied with the area, click on the Tools Menu and select Crop (ore simply press Command-K.
At this point you can either save the image, or press Command-Z to Undo the change.
If all you want to do is just resize the image to make it smaller, click on the Tools Menu and select ‘Adjust Size…’ You can now specify the size you want to make the image! Make sure the Scale Proportionally is checked so that the image does not get distorted!
Resizing聽 photos does not have to cost an arm and a leg! Use the tools you already have!
Paul,
Wow – I never knew! Thanks for teaching me something new. I too, am a Mac user from way back when. This makes me wonder what other gems are just waiting to be discovered.
MaryAnn
http://www.LeapWithoutLimits.com
I didn’t realize that you could do all that with Preview, either! And here I had gone out and bought Photoshop Elements! It’s a good program though, and I have used it for things other than just resizing.
Thanks for the tip!
Becky 馃檪
Becky – Photoshop Elements can sure so a lot more than Preview 馃檪 As I wrote about, I am no expert in Photoshop, but I can get around to do a few things! I am stuck on CS3 – I do not find the need for me to upgrade with each upgrade (especially with the costs of the full Creative Suite packages!). I am good with where I am right now.
Thanks for sharing & posting!
Nice quick article on an important topic. Very well done!
I have been using Macs for millennia myself, and just learned that you can crop & resize with Preview only about 6 or 8 months ago!
Tshombe – You are ahead of me! And I consider(ed) myself a Mac fanatic! Thanks for stopping by!
I’m on a very very new Mac and there doesn’t seem to be a tools menu appearing on Preview at all. In fact, there’s no real menu of any kind – only a toolbar with very limited options relative to what I’ve seen in menus offering instructions on resizing elsewhere, or what I’ve seen on previous Macs.
…? What am I missing here?
Hi Brian –
I know what you are referring to when you say a the tools menu. However, I am referring to the Menu at the very top of the screen. When you are running Preview, you will see the Apple menu followed by, Preview, File, Edit, View, Go, and then Tools.
I hope this helps!
I’m a longtime Mac user and never knew this either. Thanks for sharing a great tip, Paul! It’s a keeper and is going in the How To file 馃檪
Glad you enjoy it, Erika! I was happy to learn it myself!