resize images

[rcer22]

I have an image that I'm trying to work with and I can't seem to make it larger. The tutorials show you being able to make a box around it and drag it to a new size. The box only goes around the whole canvas and not the image itself. If anyone knows what I am doing wrong please tell me. It stays the size of a thumb nail but when I open it an image viewer it is large in size.

Thanks

[MJW]

Perhaps if you linked to the tutorial you're referring to I would understand what you're doing and could provide some advice. As it is, I don't know even how you're making the box you refer to. Please provide more details. Before I can tell you what you're doing wrong, I need to understand what you're doing. (Though I speak only for myself, I suspect others have the same problem.)

[Tactilis]

11 hours ago, rcer22 said:

The tutorials show you being able to make a box around it and drag it to a new size.

Are you sure you are looking at a tutorial for paint.net?  Maybe you are actually looking at a tutorial that is for Microsoft Paint?

To resize an image in paint.net, you need to use the Image | Resize menu command (shortcut Ctrl+R)

Or to resize the canvas (making more space around the image), use Image | Canvas Size  (shortcut Ctrl+Shift+R)

Both are described in the paint.net Documentation here: https://www.getpaint.net/doc/latest/ImageMenu.html

[Pixey]

Hello @rcer22 and welcome to the forum  

 

Perhaps these images will help you.

 

First:

 

 

Then hold down shift and pull out on the nubs to make the image larger:

 

 

[rcer22]

I guess I'm just doing something wrong. All that happens is the pic just turns checkerboard. I'm getting frustrated. And when I bring a layer on the canvas the background pic gets tiny and I can't resize it larger.

Thanks For your help anyway.

[Tactilis]

9 minutes ago, rcer22 said:

when I bring a layer on the canvas the background pic gets tiny and I can't resize it larger.

 

It sounds as though you have a background image that has small dimensions and you are adding an image in a new layer that is much larger.

Is this right?

What is the width & height of each image please?

[Pixey]

3 minutes ago, rcer22 said:

All that happens is the pic just turns checkerboard.

 

When you see 'checkerboard' all that means is that the background is transparent.

 

4 minutes ago, rcer22 said:

background pic gets tiny and I can't resize it larger.

 

Your image that you are bringing into paint.net must be too small.  Even if you managed to make it larger, it would become all blurry. 

 

Don't give up, just watch more tutorials on using paint.net, which you can find on YouTube: