MS Paint Resize and Skew

Resizing changes the dimensions of an image or a selected area — making it bigger or smaller. Skewing tilts or slants an image in a specific direction. MS Paint provides these transformation tools through a simple dialog box that gives precise numerical control over how an image is changed. These features are essential for creating proportional drawings and adding perspective effects.

Where to Find the Resize and Skew Options

The Resize and Skew function is in the Image group on the Home tab. Click the Resize button (it shows two overlapping rectangles of different sizes). This opens the Resize and Skew dialog box.

Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + W

The Resize and Skew Dialog Box

The dialog box is divided into two sections: Resize on the top and Skew on the bottom.

Resizing an Image or Selection

Resize by Percentage

The default resizing mode uses percentage. A value of 100% means no change. Enter a value less than 100% to shrink the image and greater than 100% to enlarge it.

Examples:

• Horizontal: 50%, Vertical: 50% → the image becomes half its original size
• Horizontal: 200%, Vertical: 200% → the image doubles in size
• Horizontal: 75%, Vertical: 75% → the image shrinks to three-quarters of its original size

Resize by Pixels

Click the Pixels radio button to switch from percentage to pixel-based resizing. This allows entering the exact width and height in pixels. For example, to resize an image to exactly 800 pixels wide and 600 pixels tall, enter 800 in the Horizontal field and 600 in the Vertical field.

Maintain Aspect Ratio

The Maintain aspect ratio checkbox keeps the width and height proportional when resizing. When this checkbox is ticked and the horizontal value is changed, the vertical value adjusts automatically to match the same proportion. This prevents the image from looking stretched or squashed.

Example: An image is 400 pixels wide and 300 pixels tall. With Maintain aspect ratio on, changing the width to 800 automatically sets the height to 600, keeping the same 4:3 proportion.

Tip: Always keep Maintain aspect ratio checked unless there is a specific reason to change width and height independently.

What Gets Resized

The Resize function affects different things depending on what is selected:

• No selection active: The entire canvas and everything on it resizes
• A selection is active: Only the selected area resizes

To resize only one element in a drawing, select it with the Select tool first, then open the Resize dialog.

Skewing an Image

Skewing slants an image along the horizontal or vertical axis. The Skew section of the dialog box has two fields:

• Horizontal: Slants the image left or right. A positive value tilts the image to the right. A negative value tilts it to the left.
• Vertical: Slants the image up or down. A positive value tilts the image downward. A negative value tilts it upward.

Skew values are entered in degrees. The range is -89 to 89 degrees for both horizontal and vertical.

Visual Examples of Skew

Rotating and Flipping Images

The Rotate option in the Image group is closely related to Resize and Skew. It provides precise rotation options:

• Rotate right 90° – turns the image clockwise by 90 degrees
• Rotate left 90° – turns the image counter-clockwise by 90 degrees
• Rotate 180° – flips the image upside down
• Flip horizontal – mirrors the image left to right (creates a mirror reflection)
• Flip vertical – mirrors the image top to bottom

Click the Rotate button dropdown in the Image group to access all these options. Rotation and flipping apply to the entire canvas or only the current selection if one is active.

Practical Uses of Resize and Skew

• Resizing a pasted image to fit proportionally within a drawing
• Creating a shadow effect by skewing a copy of an object slightly
• Making a perspective effect by skewing text or shapes
• Flipping a character or object to face the opposite direction
• Rotating an image to correct a sideways photo
• Scaling the entire canvas to a specific size for web or print use

Practical Exercise

1. Open MS Paint and draw a rectangle in the centre of the canvas
2. Select the rectangle
3. Open the Resize and Skew dialog (Ctrl + W)
4. Resize it to 150% horizontally and 150% vertically — observe how it grows
5. Undo (Ctrl + Z) and resize to 50% — observe how it shrinks
6. Undo again and apply a Horizontal skew of 25 degrees — observe the tilt
7. Draw text on the canvas and apply a Horizontal skew of -15 degrees to make it lean
8. Use Rotate right 90° on the entire canvas to see how the drawing rotates

Understanding resize and skew creates many possibilities for image transformation in MS Paint.