Do you often find yourself needing to change the size of an image? Such situations can come up when you’re trying to upload photos to social networks, different sites, blogs, or cloud storages.
However, finding a free photo resizer that you can download without having to deal with watermarks is very difficult. Thankfully, the market offers several solutions that can help you out and I’ve prepared an overview of the best free resizing software below.
When picking software for my list, I account for several factors, including the availability of premade templates with relevant social media image sizes, resizing accuracy, photo quality preservation, batch editing functionality, and support of other editing features for establishing seamless workflows.
I consider Adobe Express to be the best program to resize images without losing quality as it allows you to fine-tune the size of the photo down to the last pixel. The fact that this solution preserves the quality of the original image makes it suitable for dealing with high-resolution images for online galleries and photos used for printed materials.
Another great feature included in this image and video resizer app allows you to instantly switch between different aspect ratios. This software offers presets for popular dimensions like Instagram or Facebook posts. Adobe Express both scales the photo to the needed size and optimizes its appearance without asking you to make any manual changes.
The biggest weakness of this program is the lack of batch editing support. If you need to resize several photos, you’ll have to process them individually. Despite that fact, Adobe Express is among the most intuitive solutions for users who don’t have a lot of graphic design experience but frequently have the need to resize photos for various purposes.
A few months ago, I chose to increase my social media presence and advertise my photography services. I took a bunch of product pictures and retouched the best ones for use in my promotional campaign. Afterward, I had to resize them to fit Instagram stories, Facebook posts, and Pinterest pins. The example above highlights how well Adobe Express managed to help me with such a task.
In contrast to Adobe Express, BeFunky is a free image resize tool that allows me to process several photos at the same time, which is a lot more efficient and can do wonders for improving your productivity if you’re resizing a lot of pictures for the same platform. This software also offers a user-friendly UI, enabling me to specify the desired dimensions and add them to all selected photos in only a couple of clicks.
Another notable benefit of choosing this option is the provided resizing accuracy. While some photo resizing programs only let you choose between a small selection of size presets, BeFunky allows you to type in the specific dimensions you want, which can be important if your needs go beyond Instagram and Facebook. You can also use this software to preserve certain aspect ratios or resize photos by percentages.
While I was impressed by BeFunky’s ability to maintain the clarity and sharpness of the original photo, I should still note that the free version of this solution has a maximum upload image size. If you’re dealing with high-resolution photos that take up a lot of space, you should probably pick a different tool.
The aspect that impressed me to most about Fotor is the expansive range of the formats it’s compatible with. If you need an image resizer for Windows that supports JPGs, PNGs, RAW photos, and other, rarer formats, this software has you covered.
Moreover, all resizing manipulations are performed with zero quality loss. Such versatility should be right up the alley of anyone who wants to resize photos for a variety of purposes, be it social media, online portfolios, or printed marketing materials.
Fotor allows you to set the exact dimensions for the exported image, which is a feature that is often missing in free services. However, I should note that just like BeFunky, the free version of Fotor imposes a size limit on the photos you can upload, which can dissuade some professional photographers on a tight budget from trying it.
While BeFunky is significantly more user-friendly than Fotor, the latter is better at preserving the quality of the original photo. When juxtaposed against Adobe Express, Fotor has the advantage of offering a more streamlined UI and resizing workflow, representing a more appealing option to beginners.
This is probably the best photo resizing software if you’re looking for a dedicated solution that comes with a broad selection of size templates for popular services like Facebook, Instagram, and various email providers. Such templates ensure you don’t have to type in the dimensions manually and that every image is already optimized for the platform it will be posted on.
Another impressive feature of this software is the drag-and-drop controls that allow you to resize images directly from cloud platforms like Google Drive or Dropbox. Such convenient integration helps streamline your workflow and skip the steps of having to upload and download your photos before changing their size.
The biggest drawback of this photo resizer is that it often deletes crucial metadata like geotags and EXIF information. Even though most users won’t even notice this issue, professional photographers who rely on metadata to manage and sort their images can find this fact to be quite problematic.
The most attractive feature of Promo Image Resizer is the smart aspect ratio lock, which ensures all elements maintain their proportions while you change the dimensions of the photo. The convenience of such a function becomes especially apparent after using the Icecream Image Resizer, which forces you to tweak the dimensions manually to preserve the aspect ratio.
This free photo resizer also has a handy built-in watermarking feature. When exporting the resized images, I can apply a watermark to them when needed without having to use a separate application. This is both time-efficient and very useful when trying to add branding elements when showcasing your work on different platforms.
The biggest drawback of this option is the small range of customization features. Even though this tool helps preserve the quality of the image and offers batch resizing, it doesn’t allow you to choose custom aspect ratios or employ different resizing algorithms.
After opening my photos in Kapwing, I had no trouble changing their size thanks to the convenient width and height sections. I can also preserve the original aspect ratio or pick a different one, which is essential when preparing photos for different social media sites. The ability to process multiple images simultaneously also makes it very easy to set the same size to a bunch of photos without wasting any time.
I also appreciate the fact that I can use this app to resize photos while maintaining a single format, as such consistency is essential when adding images to online portfolios or web galleries. The problem is that if you use Kapwing to resize an image for free, it will have a watermark added to it. While you can get rid of the watermark by purchasing a subscription, that might be a deal-breaker for users who want to receive high-quality results without having to pay.
If you pit Kapwing vs Adobe Express or Fotor, you’ll notice that the former’s batch processing tool is a lot more efficient. Meanwhile, Adobe Express is the better option if you want to preserve the high resolution and detail of the original photo.
Watermarkly is a free resize image platform that lets you choose between providing specific dimensions, using a percentage scale, or typing in the desired max file size. Such versatility makes it suitable for a broader range of users and a great option for ensuring quicker webpage load times.
Last week, I needed to change the size of a set of photos for my portfolio, while choosing dimensions that don’t fit standard photo sizes and provide improved loading times without compromising on picture quality. I picked the "Maximum width & height" option and typed in the dimensions I use on my site.
Even though the results provided by this platform are very impressive, the free version imposes a limit on the number of photos you can resize, which can turn away users who want to process large quantities of pictures regularly. Even so, Watermarkly is still a fantastic option that preserves the quality of the original photo, which is the most important aspect for professional photographers and graphic designers.
Biteable allows you to pick one of the available size templates designed to fit all popular social media sites, including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You can use this photo resizer for free and you’ll never have to worry about making any manual adjustments afterward.
A unique feature included in this software is the automated background enhancement. When using Biteable to resize photos, I let the tool fine-tune the backdrop elements to maintain proper proportions and ensure no details are lost.
My only problem with this solution is the lags that occur when resizing high-resolution photos. Exporting bigger files is also more time-consuming and I even experienced several crashes.
However, the robust functionality of Biteable more than makes up for its shortcomings, as it represents a great choice for anyone interested in fast, social media-optimized image resizing.
