Have you ever tried to resize something in Illustrator and gotten mixed results? Sometimes it seems like Illustrator just doesn’t want to cooperate. This blog post will show you how to resize objects in Illustrator without any drama.
When we talk about resizing in Illustrator, we’re talking about changing the size of an object without losing its original proportions. So if you have a square and you make it smaller, it will stay a square. But if you make it bigger, it will also stay square.
Why Would I Want To Resize Something?
There are many reasons you might want to resize something in Illustrator. Maybe you’re trying to fit a certain number of objects into a specific space. Or maybe you’re just trying to make something look better by making it bigger or smaller.
How To Resize Objects In Illustrator
Follow the below-mentioned steps to resize an object in Adobe Illustrator:
Open Image
We must first open the image in Illustrator before we can resize it. To get started, go to:
Open > File
Find it on your hard disk and choose it to open a picture.
You may also open your image by going to:
Copying and copying it onto an existing open artboard
Control + Shift + P to import it onto an artboard you already have open
Use Selection Tool
Grab the Selection Tool (keyboard shortcut: V) and click on your picture to choose it after it’s opened.
You’ll notice transformation handles at the edges and sides of your picture once you’ve picked it. Tiny white squares with a blue edge symbolize the transformation handles.
You may use these transformation handles to change your picture in a variety of ways, including:
- Image resizing and scaling
- Turning it
- Shearing it
Illustrator allows you to resize a picture in two ways: moving the transformation handles or entering a number value.
Freehand Transformation
You may manually resize it by clicking and dragging one of the image’s transformation handles. Before you click, ensure sure the cursor icon represents a straight two-way arrow when you hover your mouse over the transformation handle. Scaling/resizing is represented by the two-way arrow. Because a curved arrow signifies rotation, clicking and dragging, in this case, will rotate rather than resize your image.
By holding the Shift key on your keyboard when resizing your image, you may lock the aspect ratio of your image regardless of whatever transformation handle you employ. Simply release the mouse once you’ve resized the image to your desire.
Numerical Values
Let’s look at using a numerical number instead of a freehand transformation to resize a picture in Illustrator.
To do so, go to the Transform menu and select:
Transform > Window
You can also enter this menu by hitting Shift + F8 on your keyboard if you’re using Windows. You may use the Transform option to resize your image using numerical numbers. There are other scaling strokes and rounded edges options, but we’ll ignore them for now.
To resize a picture, use the Selection Tool to choose it, then alter the width and/or height in the Transform menu by changing the values to something different.
The W field represents the image’s width, while the H field represents its height. You may lock the aspect ratio by activating the chain icon next to the width and height inputs.
When this option is selected, altering one of the image’s dimensions will automatically update the other dimension to maintain the aspect ratio.
When you resize a picture in Illustrator, the default unit of measurement is pixels, abbreviated as px. You may, however, resize your image using several measurement units.
Simply put these units of measurement after your number to utilize them. After you’ve updated the numerical value of either field, click Enter on your keyboard to save your changes.
Export Image
After you’ve resized your image in Illustrator, you’ll almost certainly need it in a useable format. Because your scaled image is currently only on your artboard, let’s export it to a useful format.
Choose your image with the Selection Tool, then right-click it and select Export Selection.
Change the name of your enlarged picture file from “Asset 1” to anything you’d like it to be under the Export for Screens selection beneath the thumbnail representation of your image.
Click the folder icon in the Export To field to select a spot on your hard drive to save your resized image. Determine how many copies you want to export and the scale, suffix, and format in the Formats area.
Ensure the Scale field is set to 1x to guarantee that your scaled image is saved at the right size. Given that this is a picture that will be exported, the format field should be set to PNG or JPG.
Click the Export Asset option to save your scaled image when you’re ready. You may now go to the spot on your hard drive where you stored your photograph and find it.
Conclusion
Resizing and scaling an image in Adobe Illustrator is a relatively easy process once you understand how the software works. By following the steps above, you should be able to resize any image to your specifications with ease.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Visit our website if you wish to learn more about Adobe Illustrator and other editing tools.
