Pipelines

Resize: change the size of your images

Changes the actual pixel size of every image in your batch — smaller (most common) or scale by percentage. Sharp output via Lanczos resampling.

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Resize changes the actual pixel dimensions of every image in your batch. Make a 5000-pixel image into a 2000-pixel image, or scale everything down to 50% — your choice.

Resize uses Lanczos resampling, which is a fancy way of saying "the image stays sharp when it gets smaller." You won't see the blocky, pixelated look you get from cheaper resize tools.

Why this step matters

A few reasons you'd add Resize to a pipeline:

Source images are too big. If your AI generator, scanner, or download produces 8000-pixel files but your end use only needs 3000, resizing first makes the rest of your pipeline run much faster.
You need exact dimensions for an upload spec (less common — usually Reposition is better for hitting an exact spec because it sets the canvas size around your subject).
You want to scale a whole batch by the same percentage — like making everything 75% of its original size.

How to use it

Add Resize to your pipeline.
Choose how to specify the new size:

Width and Height in pixels — type the exact numbers
Scale — drag the slider or click a preset, from 0.1x up to 8x of the original (10%–800%)

Leave the lock on % (the default) to keep the image's shape, or switch to Both to set width and height independently (see below).

The settings

Setting	What it does
Width (pixels)	Target width for the resized image.
Height (pixels)	Target height for the resized image.
Scale (10%–800%)	Alternative to Width/Height — slider plus presets. 50% = half size, 200% = double size, 800% = 8x. The numbers under the slider are the real output size.
Lock (% or Both)	% (default, locked) keeps the aspect ratio: change the width and the height follows, and vice versa. Both (unlocked) uses the width and height you type exactly, which can stretch the image.
Skip if already larger than (1000–10000 px)	Safety setting — skips this step on any image already bigger than this on its longest side. Default: 4000.
Skip if result would be larger than (5000–20000 px)	Safety setting — skips this step if the resize would produce an image bigger than this. Prevents accidentally crashing your browser by upscaling huge images. Default: 20000.

How Lock mode actually works

This is the setting people get wrong most often:

% (locked, the default) — the image keeps its original shape. Type a width and the height is calculated for you (or type the height and the width follows). The slider scales both sides together.
Both (unlocked) — your width and height are used exactly. If your original image is square but you set 1000 × 500, the image gets squished to half-height. Use this only when you specifically want to stretch.

The safe default for most jobs: leave it on %, then type the side you care about. ReadyPixl figures out the other one and keeps the image from squishing.

Common sizes people use

Use case	Size
Etsy listing image	2000 × 2000 px
Web hero image	2400 × 1200 px
Social media square	2048 × 2048 px
Email-friendly thumbnail	600 × 600 px
Web product image	1200 × 1200 px

When a site wants an exact canvas size (a 2000 × 2000 square, a print template), use Reposition instead of Resize — Reposition sets the canvas size around your subject, which is what these sites actually want.

Tips

Resize early in your pipeline if you're making images smaller. The slower tools (Color Removal V2, Filters) will then run on the smaller images, which is much faster.
Resize late in your pipeline if you're making images bigger. Most tools work better at higher resolution.
Use the Skip settings in bulk. If your batch mixes small and huge images, Skip if already larger than leaves the already-big ones untouched while the small ones get resized. They only matter when you run many images at once.
For making images bigger, use an upscaler: the free Upscaler (runs on your computer) or AI Upscale (10 credits per image, about 1¢, sign-in required). Resize just stretches the existing pixels, the same way Photoshop or Canva would — fine for small changes, blurry for big jumps.

Things Resize doesn't do

It doesn't add a canvas around your subject. It just changes the image size. For "put my image on a 2000×2000 canvas," use Reposition.
It doesn't crop. If you want to cut your image down to a specific shape, that's a different tool. Resize keeps everything in the image.
It doesn't make small images look like high-resolution images. Stretching a 500-pixel image to 5000 pixels gives you a blurry 5000-pixel image. Use AI Upscale for that.