Let’s say you need an image of a certain size, but the image in your box isn’t the right size. Or perhaps you want to convert a portrait photograph to a landscape photograph. In any case, if you want to change the size of an image, you can do so either by changing the size of an image option or by stretching an image to your desired width. In Photoshop, you get this magical feature of stretching that results in a very proper picture. Stretching an image doesn’t pixelate the picture or give it an unrealistic look. So, how can you stretch an image in Photoshop?

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How to stretch an image in Adobe Photoshop | Follow the following steps and you are good to go:

  1. Opening the picture
  2. Selecting the picture in canvas
  3. Transforming the edges
  4. Resizing the center
  5. Maintain the corners
  6. 3D Stretching
  7. Saving the final image

Opening the picture:

Open the recent version of Photoshop that you are using and from the above-left menu, choose the file, select and open the picture you want to stretch.

stretch an image

stretch an image in Photoshop

Selecting the picture in Photoshop:

The next step is to press control T (CTRL + T) to select the image in Photoshop. After that, you will see that the picture you want changes is selected from all four sides. Six anchor points for assistance will be visible too.

Selecting the picture in Photoshop

Transforming the edges:

Once you have selected the picture, all four sides of an image can be stretched as per your requirements. You can separately stretch the picture from all four corners or you can change all the sides by selecting the Shift (Shift Key) Option.

The picture can be stretched in both dimensions. You can either start by stretching the width or changing the length of the image. However, make sure to begin stretching the image from the left and right sides (that is, from the width), as this will preserve the image’s quality.

Resizing the center:

To stretch the image from the center, press the ALT key and stretch from any position you want.

Resizing the center

Maintain the corners:

Moreover, you can use both the SHIFT and ALT keys together to stretch the image so that the corner dimensions don’t appear misplaced or dragged.

3D Stretching:

Photoshop, too, provides a 3D option for stretching the image, allowing you to stretch the image and make it look more realistic by adding 3D dimension.

You can use this option by holding any anchor point and dragging the image with the CTRL-key. The image will be expanded into a 3D dimension in this manner.

Saving the final image:

When you’ve finished stretching the image to the standards and are happy with the results, Save the stretched image by using the ENTER key.

 

Second Method on How to stretch an image in photoshop

When it comes to stretching your image, you have a few alternatives. Content-Aware Scale is another option in Photoshop for stretching images. This option allows you to modify the image’s dimension without distorting it.

  1. Select the Image
  2. Option of Content-Aware Scale
  3. Scale the Image

Select the Image:

Choose and open the image you’d like to stretch.

Option of Content-Aware Scale:

Photoshop offers this cool feature of the Content-aware Scale as the name suggests. The option allows you to change the size of the image to the desired size. Besides, this amazing feature makes changes without compromising the quality of the image.

Option of Content-Aware Scale

For this Open the Edit menu from the top and choose Content-aware Scale, or press [CTRL + ALT + SHIFT + C] directly.

Scale the Image:

You can now stretch the image to the appropriate width and length to fill the empty canvas space. Make sure that for the perfect ratio of the image you unlock the link present in the top menu between width and length.

Another thing to keep in mind when applying the Content-Aware Scale is that it isn’t suitable for all images. As a result, double-check that you understand the edits’ intentions. This option is typically used for landscape image stretching because it does not benefit portraits most of the time.

Do’s of stretch an image in photoshop

For achieving the best rule, there are some key principles that you should keep in mind.

  1. Right Canva Size
  2. Knowing the requirements
  3. Proper Ratio Aspects

Right Canva Size:

Make sure you’re using a canvas size that corresponds to your image requirements.

Knowing the requirements:

You get many options to tailor your image in Photoshop, but know the requirement of stretching as most of the times changing length results in pixelated or distorted images and nobody wants that.

Proper Ratio Aspects:

Make sure you know the image’s exact ratio; this will aid you in stretching photographs for any purpose. Knowing this will let you extend an image differently for different platforms. Moreover, sticking to the ratio will help you achieve the optimum results.

To Sum Up

Follow the above steps for stretching an image in Photoshop. Both these methods are the most common and easy ones to use in Photoshop. Unlike all the other options available for stretching an image manually, stretching and using the content-aware scale doesn’t result in distorted images.