How to shrink image without losing pixels??

[kamariden]

I have a basic working knowledge of this software, but there are definitely things I still need to learn. Here's my current problem:

I made one image (a landscape type drawing) in one file, and another image (a computer drawn person) in another file. Apparently my original background sizes for the two files were WAY different and when I tried to "paste into new layer" the person I'd drawn onto the landscape image, that person's head covered the ENTIRE landscape! Of course I held Shift, grabbed the corner and tried to downsize the person to fit the landscape.... and lost TONS of detail in the process, leaving my little person looking extremely pixelated and difficult to recognize.

Is there a way to make the landscape and the person fit each other without losing detail????

Thanks!

-K

P.S. If you need more info to answer my question, let me know and I'll try to provide it.

[Jasmineteax]

I always thought that sharpening it would work, but I was wrong.

I guess you're going to have to cut off excess parts and crop it to the size, or you can try get a smaller image if it's from google.

...or you could go find a plugin.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Jasmineteax

[Red ochre]

Hello kamariden, welcome!

Is the resoloution the same for both pictures?

go to Image/resize and look at the D.P.I. box.

If the image is for the screen you should make sure this is 96 dots per inch for both images.

The size at that resoloution will then be shown in the boxes 'Print size'.

Are they of a compatible size now? - if not then resize using the 'maintain aspect ratio' box and 'Best Quality' and 'By percentage'. You should see the new size dispalayed at the bottom as 'print size'.

If you need this image to be printed then 300 dots per inch is recommended.

If it is only for the screen and you set it larger than 96, the image will probably be larger than your screen.

I recommend reading this - http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/17049-dpi-and-you-understanding-resolution-for-print-and-web/

I hope that helps. Good luck!

[pdnnoob]

@RedOchre: paint.net completely disregards DPI when copying and pasting. If you have a 500x500 pixel image at 300 dpi and you want to paste it onto a 500x500 pixel image at 96 dpi, the two will cover the same area.

Unfortunately, there is no good way to solve this issue. Either you shrink one image and lose details or you expand the other and it looks blurry. Your best bet is to redraw the smaller image at larger dimensions

[Ego Eram Reputo]

To keep the best detail, try resizing the larger image down by a factor of 2 prior to importing it. I.e. halve the size (50% original size) or even quarter it (25% original). Resizing this way uses a nice round number of original pixels to determine the output pixel.

BTW: If you're going to shrink an image by such a large factor - expect to lose detail. It's a fact of life.

[kamariden]

Thanks everyone. It's not the answer I was hoping for, but at least I know what I have to do.

[I love paint.net]

At first I was frustrated when I pasted a high resolution image on top of a lower resolution image, then tried to shrink the high one down to match the dimension of the lower one by stretching (shrinking) the handles in the corner of the image.  As I would do this the high quality image became quite pixelated.  I can't explain why it doesn't just keep it's crisp resolution, but a workaround that solves the problem is NOT to shrink the high quality image but instead increase the canvas size significantly (i.e. go from 800x600 to 8000x6000).  Then, to make the two images match in dimension, simply drag the lower resolution image up to the dimensional size desired to match the other one.  Another undesirable characteristic of paint.net is if you happen to drag the corner handles of a picture to make it a dimensionally smaller size, then bring it back out to the same dimension as it was originally, it will distort the crisp resolution of the image.  This characteristic may be by design... but it will sure mess with your image quality if you happen to do it, and the only way get your crisp quality back again is to hit CTL-Z (undo), or re-insert the image.

[Reptillian]

The answer is that you're working with pixels.

 

Edit: Old topic is old. Why did I bother?

Edited January 9, 2022 by Reptillian

[Rick Brewster]

This thread is 10 years old ...