How to Resize an Image

This website places limits on the maximum size of an image. When uploading any file, the maximum file size cannot exceed 4MB. For competitions, there is usually a maximum size specified in pixels. This limit is often 1024 pixels wide by 768 pixels high or 1280 wide and 1024 high.

Use your digital imaging software to re-size your images. There are many programs you can use to do this. If you have difficulty or questions please seek help from other members of your organization.

Photoshop CS4

There are a couple of ways to resize your images in Photoshop. The easiest is to use the "Fit Image" feature.

1. Open your image in Photoshop.
2. Use the menu "File", "Automate", "Fit Image..."
3. Enter the maximum width and height in pixels that are allowed for your image. This is usually specified by a competition.
4. Click OK.
5. Use "File", "Save As" to save your file as a ".jpeg" file. Do not destroy your original image.

If you want more precise control over the resizing process, use the procedure below.

1. Open your image in Photoshop.
2. Use the menu "Image", "Image Size..."
3. Check the boxes "Scale Styles", "Constrain Proportions", and "Resample Image".
4. In the dropdown list at the bottom of the form select one of the Bicubic settings. Select the one that corresponds to increasing or decreasing you image size.
5. At the top of the form, fill in the desired pixel width and height.
6. Ignore all of the values for Document Size. Do not change these values. They are not used except to give you an idea of how big a print would be.
7. Click OK to resize the image.
8. Use "File", "Save As" to save your file as a ".jpeg" file. Do not destroy your original image.

Saving a JPEG Image

The JPEG file format is a compressed image. Some image information is discarded each time you update a jpeg image, so do not update a jpeg image.

If jpeg is not an option when you try to save, you are probably are working with a 16 bit/pixel image. This must be converted to 8 bits/pixel first. In Photoshop CS4 this is done with the menu "Image", "Mode", "8 bits/channel".

We recommend saving your image with the Quality setting of 10 or more and "Baseline Optimized".