How to resize a layer in Photoshop in 4 simple steps
- You can resize a layer in Photoshop in just a few steps using the Free Transform tool.
- As you’re resizing, you can lock in your layer’s proportions when you manipulate it, or change the dimensions with ease.
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Tinkering with the size of text and images is critical to the design process, especially when you want to craft an elegantly balanced composition.
Using the “Free Transform” tool in Photoshop, you can resize layers of a Photoshop project with ease.
And you can lock or unlock the dimensions of a layer as you resize it — so there’s no accidental distortions of height or width to worry about.
Here are four simple steps you’ll need to take to resize a layer in Photoshop 2020.
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How to resize a layer in Photoshop
1. Select the layer you want to resize. This can be found in the “Layers” panel on the right side of the screen.
Roo the dog is no longer tethered to her background. To give her a bigger space to play around in when I choose a new background, I’m going to shrink her down a bit.
Emma Witman/Business Insider
2. Go to “Edit” on your top menu bar and then click “Free Transform.” The resize bars will pop up over the layer.
For Mac computers, you can tap “Command+T,” or for PCs, “Ctrl+T,” to pull up the “Free Transform” resizing tool.
Emma Witman/Business Insider
3. Drag and drop the layer to your desired size. To manipulate the height and width, hold the shift key as you drag.
You’ll no longer see the checkmark in the main options bar, which has slightly larger fonts. Keep in mind you still need to press Ctrl or Command+S to save work as you go.
Emma Witman/Business Insider
4. Mark the check mark in the top options bar. The words “Commit transform (enter)” will appear when you float your cursor over the checkmark. You can also press Enter for Windows or Return for macOS to finalize the resize.
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Emma Witman is an Asheville, NC-based freelance journalist with a keen interest in writing about hardware, PC gaming, politics, and personal finance. She is a former crime reporter for a daily newspaper, and has also written extensively about bartending for Insider. She may or may not judge your drink order when behind the bar.
Follow her on Twitter at @emwity.
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