You resize an image by opening it in a resizer, entering the width and height you need, and exporting it. In Picsart that is the Image Resize tool, it is free, and there are ready-made layout presets for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest and LinkedIn so you do not have to look the numbers up.
The part that actually causes trouble is everything around that. Knowing which numbers you need in the first place, keeping the picture sharp while the dimensions change, and deciding what to do when the new shape does not fit what you photographed.
What size do you actually need?
Half the resizing problem is a lookup. These are the sizes people ask for most often, in pixels at 300 DPI, which is the standard for anything going to print.
| Size | Inches | Pixels at 300 DPI | Usually for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2×2 | 2 × 2 | 600 × 600 | ID and visa photos |
| Passport (US) | 2 × 2 | 600 × 600 | US passport applications |
| 4×6 | 4 × 6 | 1200 × 1800 | Standard photo prints |
| 5×7 | 5 × 7 | 1500 × 2100 | Frames and cards |
| A4 | 8.27 × 11.69 | 2480 × 3508 | Documents and posters |
| 13×18 cm | 5.1 × 7.1 | 1535 × 2126 | European print standard |
| 12×18 | 12 × 18 | 3600 × 5400 | Large frames and posters |
For screens rather than print the figures are different, because a screen does not care about inches. Instagram square is 1080 × 1080, a story or reel is 1080 × 1920, a YouTube thumbnail is 1280 × 720. Those are the ones the layout presets cover, so you can pick the platform instead of typing the numbers.
One thing worth knowing before you resize to any of these: enlarging invents detail that was never captured. Going from a small image to a large print will look soft no matter which tool you use, unless you upscale it first.
How to resize an image in Picsart
Step 1. Open the Image Resize
Go to the image resizer, which opens straight into the Picsart photo editor. Nothing to install.
Step 2. Upload your photo
Add the image you want resized. Uploaded files are stored only temporarily.
Step 3. Pick your size
Enter the width and height you need, or use a layout preset if you are posting to a platform. The presets carry the current dimensions for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest and LinkedIn, which saves looking up a number that changes more often than you would think.
Step 4. Save it
Export the resized image.
Picsart protects the clarity of the photo as the dimensions change, so nothing comes out stretched or dull. If the picture was soft to begin with, that is a different problem and the Image Upscaler is the fix. Run it through the upscaler first, then resize.
When the new size is a different shape
This is where resizing stops being arithmetic. Going from 4:5 to 16:9, or from a landscape photo to a vertical story, is not a size change. It is a shape change, and something has to give.
Cropping is the usual answer and it is often the wrong one, because the thing you cut is the part of the composition that made the photo work. Crop a group shot to a story and someone loses their head.
Felix, Picsart’s AI smart resize agent, handles the shape change instead of the crop. He finds the focal point and protects it across every aspect ratio, and when the new format needs more image than you gave him, generative fill builds out the edges rather than cutting into the subject. His own description of the job: adapted, not cropped.
He also knows the specs. Feed, story, reel, short, banner and thumbnail dimensions get applied by default, so you name the platform rather than the pixels. One master becomes every variant in a single pass, the finished dimensions are checked against the request before delivery, and it works on video as well as images, with a moving subject tracked shot by shot rather than held in one static crop.
That makes him the right call for a specific situation: you have one good asset and you need it at six sizes, or the destination is wider than what you shot. For a single image going to a single known size, the resizer is faster.
Frequently asked questions
Open it in the Picsart image resizer, enter the width and height you need or pick a layout preset, and export. It is free and runs in the browser.
Get the number right before you resize
Most resizing goes wrong before anyone opens a tool, because the wrong dimensions were picked or a small image was asked to become a large print.
Decide the destination first. Print means inches and 300 DPI; screen means pixels and whatever the platform currently wants. If the source is smaller than the target, upscale before you resize. And if the destination is a different shape rather than a different size, let Felix reframe it rather than cropping and hoping.
