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What to try
- Rotate or mirror the lettered image and follow corners A, B, C and D.
- Compare Resize artwork with Add 20 px of canvas. Crop the center, then undo the transformation.
What to look for: Resize changes the size of the shapes. Adding canvas creates transparent space without scaling the drawing. Cropping changes the bounds and removes outer pixels.
How it works
A quarter-turn or horizontal flip can map each input pixel to exactly one output pixel. Resizing to a different grid generally needs interpolation. Nearest neighbor selects one sample; bilinear interpolation combines four surrounding samples according to distance.
Crop removes the area outside a rectangle and changes the document bounds. Canvas size changes the available area without scaling the artwork. Resize scales image content. Confusing these operations can either cut off a composition or unexpectedly soften its marks.
Use it in the Lab
In the Lab, use the visible document transform controls for Rotate, Mirror, Resize and Canvas size. Set a selection before Crop. Check exported pixel dimensions rather than judging size from screen zoom.
Limits & distinctions
Resampling is destructive once committed, although Undo restores the prior document. Repeated scaling can lose detail; keep a project copy of the original resolution.
Sources & references
Guide updated