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How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint

This wikiHow teaches you how to enlarge, shrink, or crop an image in Microsoft Paint. The first two maintain the native aspect ratio while the latter removes the outer area from the image. Make a copy of the image you want to resize. Go to...
Method 1 of 2:

Enlarging or Shrinking an Image

  1. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 1How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 1
    Make a copy of the image you want to resize. Go to the image you want to resize, right-click it, and click Copy in the drop-down menu, then right-click an empty space in the folder or on the desktop and click Paste.
    1. Failing to make a copy of the image will result in the original image being modified.
  2. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 2How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 2
    Right-click the image's copy. Doing so will prompt a drop-down menu.
  3. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 3How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 3
    Select Open with. This option is toward the middle of the drop-down menu. A pop-out menu will appear.
  4. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 4How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 4
    Click Paint. It's in the pop-out menu. Doing so will open your selected image in the Paint program.
  5. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 5How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 5
    Click Resize. This option is on the middle-right side of the "Image" section at the top of the Paint window.
  6. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 6How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 6
    Make sure "Percentage" has a black dot next to it. If not, click the circle next to "Percentage" to ensure that your image's changes will be measured in percents.
    1. Your image will start at 100 for both the vertical and horizontal values, so changing these to "75" will reduce your image to three-quarters of its original size.
    2. If you know the exact horizontal or vertical pixel count you want, you can click the circle next to "Pixels" instead.
  7. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 7How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 7
    Check the "Maintain aspect ratio" box. If there is no checkmark in the box next to "Maintain aspect ratio", click the box; otherwise, any changes you make to one aspect of your image (e.g., vertical size) won't scale with the other aspects.
    1. If this box is already checked, proceed to the next step.
  8. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 8How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 8
    Resize your image. Type a number between 1 and 500 into the "Horizontal" text box. Any number below 100 will cause your image to shrink while maintaining its dimensions, and any number over 100 will enlarge the image while maintaining the dimensions.
    1. If you're resizing using pixels, type the number of vertical pixels you want to use into the "Vertical" text box. You can also uncheck the "Maintain aspect ratio" box and enter a different number than was initially used in the "Horizontal" text box if necessary.
  9. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 9How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 9
    Click OK. Doing so will apply your changes to the image.
  10. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 10How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 10
    Save your image. Press Ctrl+S to do so. This will save your changes to the image.
Method 2 of 2:

Cropping an Image

  1. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 11How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 11
    Understand what cropping accomplishes. Cropping an image can only result in a smaller section of the image, but the cropped section will retain its quality. This is ideal if you're trying to remove excess parts of your photo while maintaining its resolution.
    1. Cropping an image will also make the image's file size smaller.
  2. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 12How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 12
    Make a copy of the image you want to resize. Go to the image you want to resize, right-click it, and click Copy in the drop-down menu, then right-click an empty space in the folder or on the desktop and click Paste.
    1. Failing to make a copy of the image will result in the original image being modified.
  3. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 13How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 13
    Right-click the image's copy. Doing so will prompt a drop-down menu.
  4. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 14How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 14
    Select Open with. This option is toward the middle of the drop-down menu. A pop-out menu will appear.
  5. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 15How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 15
    Click Paint. It's in the pop-out menu. Doing so will open your selected image in the Paint program.
  6. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 16How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 16
    Click ▼ beneath Select. Select is in the "Image" section of the Home tab at the top of the "Paint" window. A drop-down menu will appear.
  7. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 17How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 17
    Click Rectangular selection. It's the first option in the drop-down menu here.
    1. If you want to be able to draw your own selection, click Free-form selection instead.
  8. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 18How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 18
    Click and drag over the image. Doing so will drag a rectangular dotted line over the image; anything inside of the dotted line will remain when you crop the image.
    1. If you're trying to remove a border from a photo, the best way to do so is to click in the top-left corner and drag diagonally into the bottom-right corner (or similar).
    2. To remove the dotted line and start over, click anywhere outside of the area surrounded by dotted lines.
  9. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 19How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 19
    Click Crop. It's at the top of the "Image" section of options and to the right of Select. Clicking this button will remove everything outside of the dotted lines, leaving only the part of the image that's inside.
  10. How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 20How to Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint Picture 20
    Save your image. Press Ctrl+S to do so. This will save your copied image as a cropped file rather than as the original image.
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