When you add an image to your PDF file, it is likely you will need to resize the image to fit snugly into your document. The image file will be inserted into your document with its original dimensions by default. Depending on the pool of graphics at your disposal, you may not have the opportunity to choose custom sizes, and this could present issues with formatting.
Thankfully, the PDF format is designed to accommodate your images, whether they are too big or too small at first. Unlike a Microsoft Word file which is predominately used for text, a PDF is more like a canvas without conventional page limits. The flexibility the format provides allows you to easily resize an image in a PDF file with minimal efforts.
A reliable PDF editor like Soda PDF will make it quick and easy to resize an image. Not only can you change an image’s size, you can clip/crop your image, providing full customization.
Moving an image
Before resizing the image, it is key to ensure it is in the correct place first.
You can easily identify an image based on the red border that surrounds it.
First, select the Edit tab.
You can also move the image using View Mode, however, it will only move your image vertically and won’t move the image to another side or element of the PDF.
Next, select your image and the red outline border will appear around the image.
NOTE: You’ll also notice that the Modes toolbar has now been replaced with other options and tools for modifying your image even further. You do not need to use any of these tools in order to move your image.
Once you select the image, you can now freely move your image anywhere on the page. You will likely need to move the graphic along with sizing it.
- Hold down the left mouse button anywhere on the red outline that is not a circle
- Drag your mouse across the document and the image will move with it
You cannot drag a document element (in this case an image) across the pages of your PDF. Instead, you can move it to a new page by cutting and pasting it.
Remember, once you select your image, new options will appear such as Crop, Clip & OCR to recognize or edit the text within your image.
You can cut your image:
- Right-click on your image
- Choose Cut
Your image will disappear from the document. It is temporarily being stored in the clipboard of your computer. This is a special section that holds whatever you cut or copy before it is pasted.
You can use the Paste option at any time to bring your image back from the clipboard to your PDF. Simply use the universal Paste shortcut (Ctrl+V) to place your image where it last was on the page.
Or, you can paste your new image to another area of your document using these steps:
- Make sure you are in the Edit tab
- Go to the page or section where you want to add or move the image to
- Right-click on the page where you want your image to be moved to
- Select Paste from the options
Once you click on Paste, your image will now appear in the location you’ve selected to move it to:
How to resize an image
Now that your image is in the correct place, it’s easy to make sure it’s the perfect fit for your document.
- Make sure you are in the Edit tab
- Select your image so you can see the red border
- Hold down your mouse button over one of the circles on the border
- The corner circles will adjust the height and width at the same time
- The top and bottom ones will change only the height
- The left and right ones will change only the width
- Drag your mouse cursor and you will see the outline for the new image size
- Release your mouse button to resize the image in your PDF.
You can also clip out part of your image at any time. Select the image using Edit Mode, then select Clip from the mini-toolbar that appears:
You can also:
- Right-click on your image
- Select Clip
- Hold down your left mouse button and drag the cursor over the area of the image you would like to keep
- Release your mouse button to reveal clip area remove the extra parts of your image.
Click Apply Clip to finalize.
All that will be left is the portion you clipped. Soda PDF will not forget the original image content.
Now that you’ve learned how to resize an image in Soda PDF, try it for yourself!
You have resized you image, and now you can also try to reduce your PDF size!
