How to Resize Images Using the Gimp

This detailed and step by step guide will show you how to use the photo editor the GIMP to resize image files.

The screenshots used in this guide are from Gimp in macOS, but if you’re using the Windows or Linux version of GIMP you’ll have absolutely no trouble following along as the interface is nearly identical across all operating systems.

  1. With Gimp open select File and then Open
  2. an open image file in Gimp

  3. Select Image from the top menu, and then Scale Image from the drop-down list.
  4. a resizing window in the Gimp photo editor

  5. If you’d like to resize your picture based on percentage, click the “up/down” arrows next to the px and select percent.
  6. resizing an image by percentage in the Gimp

  7. Now use the up or down arrow(s) in the Width: box to increase or decrease the size of your picture. In the example below, I’ve decreased the size of the picture by 50%. Click the Scale button when you’re ready.
  8. resize an image using Gimp

  9. The picture will now shrink (assuming you opted to decrease its size).
  10. a resized file in the Gimp photo editor

  11. If you want to permanently resize the picture, select File -> Overwrite [filename]. If you want to save this resized picture but keep the original as it is, click File -> Export As
  12. an Export button

  13. You’ll be asked what Quality you want the picture to be. The higher the quality, the larger the resulting file. I usually opt for somewhere around 90, but feel free to experiment on your own by trying different levels. Click Export to save the file.
  14. selecting the quality level of a resized image in the Gimp

  15. That’s it! You can now quit The Gimp by selecting File -> Quit.
  16. And now you’ll have a resized version of your original picture.
  17. a Finder window with two image files

Now that you know how to resize an image using The Gimp, maybe you’d like to learn a couple of other new tricks. You can also use Gimp to convert color photos to black and white photos or removing the “red eye” from pictures.


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10 thoughts on “How to Resize Images Using the Gimp”

  1. it helped me a lot … thanks a ton for this answer of increasing image size without affecting the resolution.

  2. Thanks, for the moment i don’t like very much GIMP but things may change in the future, once i learn more about how to use it. Best wishes.

  3. I’m just getting started with using Gimp, so thanks for that handy workout, my next problem is resizing the canvas without scaling the image as well, but im getting there.

  4. thanks for the tutorial, it really helped ’cause I’ve been using gimp and I couldn’t figure out how to resize. THANKS!

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