If you use images in your marketing campaign – and you should – you need to learn how to resize images without losing quality. From images on promotional stickers and labels to adding visual pop to blog posts, images are marketing gold.
As Single Grain’s Abhishek Talreja points out, people remember only ten percent of the information they hear. But if there’s an image in the mix, that percentage soars to 65 percent.
With 65 percent of the world’s population visual learners, that’s a lot of eyeballs to leave on the table. Marketers, therefore, need to use the power of images to catch prospects’ eyes and pull them into their sales funnel.
But if marketing teams don’t know how to resize images without losing their quality, their images can take on a fuzzy appearance, look drastically out of proportion, or worse, look like one of those funhouse mirrors at the amusement park. Additionally, if they plan to use the images on their website content, it can slow down the site’s loading speed, making it less attractive to search engines – and visitors.
Resizing images without losing their quality isn’t as hard as you might think. Although pricey professional photo editing tools, like Photoshop, are available, you don’t need to spend a fortune to get professional-looking results.
Photoshop Express: Quality Resizing Without All the Frills
If your budget can’t stretch enough to get the professional-grade version, Adobe has given its flagship product a baby “brother.” Called Photoshop Express, it’s free to use and provides users with the ability not only to resize, but to crop, straighten, make touch-ups, adjust, add art effects, and remove the background on any image.
It’s easy to use, fast, and provides professional-looking results. Here’s how to resize images on Photoshop Express:
- First, upload the image.
- Click on “Resize image” on the left-hand menu.
- Choose the size of the finished product from the menu on the right-hand side of the page.
- Click the blue “Resize image” underneath the right-hand menu.
- Click “Download” at the top right-hand side of the page.
That’s it!
Resize and Create Marketing Collages with BeFunky
With its intuitive interface and user-friendly editing process, BeFunky allows users to crop, resize, and rotate images. But that’s just the beginning.
There’s a free version for marketers on a budget. But there’s a lot there. With 125 digital effects and the capability to create marketing collages and custom designs with professional-grade templates, it gives even small businesses an edge on design.
It easily integrates with free stock photo sites like Pixabay and Unsplash for easy access to quality images and vectors. And, thanks to its AI-powered background remover, it can get rid of unwanted elements in your image’s background.
Drag and Drop with PicResize
Like BeFunky, there’s a free version of PicResize. Although the free version only allows users to compress photos, it does allow them to drag and drop images straight from their files.
Use Photoshop Alternative inPixio for Budget-Friendly, Easy Editing
Easy to use, with a tutorial that takes you step-by-step through the creation process, inPixio’s features include a background removal tool along with cropping, resizing, and other features.
There’s no free version, but the entry-level version of this software is available for everyone in the company at a flat price of $49.99 per year. There are three price levels, with the top level available at $99.99 per year.
Called “The Ultimate,” the premium-level subscription features a maximizer that can enlarge images by 1,000 percent. It also has a focus feature that unblurs blurry photos.
Ordering is a bit unwieldy, though. Instead of ordering directly from the website, you must submit your contact information and wait for their email to arrive if you want to order.
Use Open-Source GIMP for Customizability
Completely free, this open-source image editor has been around for more than 25 years. And, if you’re into coding, you can modify the software’s source code and distribute the changed version.
Its editing capabilities are remarkable, and it works across several platforms, including OS X, GNU/Linux, Windows, and more. Even better, you can add third-party plugins for a more customized approach to design.
Graphic designers and artists will love its capacity for modifying original art, as well as creating icons and other graphic design elements. And yes, it can resize images easily. Here’s how:
- Download the GIMP software and then open it.
- Back up the original image under a different name if you want to have the original size on file.
- Drag the image you want to resize from your files into the main window.
- Click “Image” on the main menu.
- Next, click on “Scale Image.”
- Choose the image size you want.
- Underneath “Quality > Interpolation,” choose “Sinc.”
- Click “Scale” to resize.
- Finally, click “File,” and then “Overwrite.”
- Your newly resized image will be saved under its original name.
Economical PicMonkey Provides a Myriad of Features
For only $7.99 per month, businesses can enjoy a wealth of photo editing and design capabilities, while for $12.99, they can also access business fonts for a complete branding experience, as well as unlimited storage. Larger teams of three or more receive a discount, getting access to Pro level features for only $11.33 per month per user. There’s a free, no-obligation trial subscription, so there’s no risk.
With thousands of designer-created templates and the capacity to upload your own brand’s fonts, you can create a customized look for product labels, website content, and other branded materials. You can even create your own logo without the cost of a graphic design professional.
With an extensive tutorial library and an intuitive interface, it’s easy to use. Its photo editing capabilities go well beyond simple resizing and cropping.
Editing features include adjusting the color and exposure, as well as adding special effects, filters, text, and graphics for a professional-looking design. Subscriptions include millions of photos from both iStock and Unsplash.
Touch-up tools allow users to perfect their photos – changing hair color, making the subject’s skin smoother, and even whitening teeth. An extensive graphics library can turn even an amateur into a decent graphic artist, with a little practice.
With its mobile app, teams can edit and create on the go. It’s an excellent solution for businesses of all sizes.
Bottom line, it’s important to avoid errors before they happen, but it is great to know that there are options to save a project even after errors have occurred.
To turn your resized images and other designs into stunning promotional items, such as bumper stickers, product labels, or other custom products, get in touch with the Nova Custom Printing team today!
