The Content-Aware family of tools in Adobe® Photoshop® CS6 software lets you recompose or retouch images with such ease, control, and speed it feels like magic. The first of these intelligent editing tools, Content-Aware Scaling, was introduced in Photoshop CS4.

What is Content-Aware Scaling?

Content-Aware Scaling is designed to help with a common image-editing challenge: You have a great photo, but its dimensions don’t match those of the layout or frame you need it to fit. Maybe your photo has a landscape orientation but needs to fit a portrait frame. Or maybe you have a 4x4 image that must be adapted to fit a 4x6 space. In cases like these, you can use Content-Aware Scaling to change the dimensions of your photo in one step.

Image resizing challenges

Before Content-Aware Scaling was introduced in Photoshop, the typical methods used to scale images often resulted in distortion. For example, using the Move or Transform tools to resize photos could stretch or compress photo content unnaturally.

How does Content-Aware Scaling solve the problem?

Content-Aware Scaling brings intelligence to the task of resizing images. The tool detects the areas of complexity or importance in your images, such as people and buildings. It also identifies less important content, such as expanses of sky or grass. Then the tool automatically recomposes your image as you resize it, preserving vital areas as the image adapts to its new dimensions.

Scale images with superior results

Content-Aware Scaling eliminates manual, multi-step resizing workflows, giving you well-proportioned and correctly sized photos in just moments. Choose the width and height you want your photo to be, or set a guide showing the boundaries you want your photo to fit, and then quickly drag the sides of your image to the desired dimensions. It’s that simple.