AutoSize New Images to Fix Window

[jp2paint]

I'm about to start a project where I create a family calendar for 2013. If I get it done in time, it will be what I give out for Christmas presents this year.

I have about 300 images that I want to fill in a grid 4 across and 4 high so that I can get 16 images per month. That won't use all 300 images, but I'll be able to pick the best of the bunch.

Anyway, the image sizes range from 258x235 (WxH) to whopping 5616x3744 (WxH).

If I make each of grid sizes very, very large so that I can fit the largest image, I suspect I'll have problems with RAM and the project will be very slow.

If I make each of the grid sizes very, very small, then every time I try dropping a larger image onto the project, it's going to try stretching the canvas to fit the image or I'll have to struggle with squishing the images smaller.

I have image resizing tools, but they typically do not generate the kind of quality I like from Paint.Net.

Is there a technique that someone has come up with so that dropping a file that is too large into a region will shrink the image to fit the canvas ...or magnify an image that is too small?

[Ego Eram Reputo]

The question you should be asking is: "how big should my canvas be?"

If you're printing these out as gifts the print resolution should be around 300dpi to give them nice quality. This means that the canvas should be (very roughly) 3x the screen size when viewed at 100% size.

So: determine your finished print size (in inches) and multiply this by 300 to get the canvas size. NOW import the images onto the canvas and resize them as you need to OR figure out the finished size of the smaller images in the master image and resize them accordingly prior to importation.

[jp2paint]

Let me see if I can rephrase this.

I don't want to work with files that are this size: 5616x3744. That's the size of my larges photo.

I set my form size to what I want to work with, and drop images into new layers. When images are larger than my canvas size, there is no prompt asking if I want to reduce the image, fit the image into the allotted space, or stretch my canvas - that I have found. All it does is stretch my canvas, and I am left to go in and try to get everything back down to the size I had before.

The part above that says "that I have found" is the key. I imagine someone has found this annoying before me, and there is something to do about it.

Am I correct?

[Ego Eram Reputo]

You're using the Layers | Import from File option right? You are correct - there is no warning of the canvas resize when you use this option.

Try opening the secondary image with Paint.NET and using Ctrl + A to select the entire layer and Ctrl + C to copy it to the clipboard. Activate or Open the destination image and the activate the correct layer then press Ctrl + V to paste the image into the layer.

If the clipboard image is larger than the destination - a dialog will open prompting you to Expand or Keep the canvas size. Choose the Keep Canvas Size option.

The Move Tool will be made active following the paste which will allow you to resize the imported image with the control nubs.