I have already made an article regarding resizing an image in full photoshop, but I’m aware that there are differences with Elements. So here’s a step by step guide on how to downsize an image in Elements.
If you are resizing an image to for it to be printed, you would have it around 240 dpi – 300dpi and change the size in centimeters or inches.
But if you are resizing an image for it to be emailable or to upload to the web, you need to change pixel size.
I usually change the size after I have completed any editing and sharpening. So when you are ready, go to Image, then resize and then you click on Image Size.
The Image Size dialogue box will pop up. The default is that you can only type in the box within the Document Size Area.
But you can change this by clicking where it says Resample Image. When you do this, a tick will appear in the box.
Once the Resample Image box is ticked, you are now able to type in the Pixel Dimensions area.
For Flickr, I recommend 2048 pixels for the longest side. And for facebook, I would say around 1000 pixels on the longest side. Both sizes should be fine for emailing around 5 images at a time.
After typing in the pixel size, click OK.
Then go to File, then Save As. I recommend this rather than just saving, as this means you keep the original and therefore large version of your image.
The Save As box pops up. This is where you can navigate to where you would like to save your photo. You can also change the name of your photo by typing in the File Name box.
Make sure the format is on Jpeg, it should be by default. (If it is suggesting that you save as a PSD file, it could be bacause you have layers and need to flatten the image).
Click Save.
Finally the Jpeg Options box pops up. I would suggest that if you have the quality at 10 for web use. You can’t see the difference on the screen and it makes the files size smaller.
(For large images that you are planning to print, keep the quality at the top, 12). Underneath where it says preview, you can see it says 514.3K. This is the overall size of the image, if you keep it under 1mb (1000K), that should be fine fo rthe web.
Then click OK.
Your file is now saved at a smaller size and you can close it.
