# Resize images in MS Paint

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resize-images-in-ms-paint/229663>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 17, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resize-images-in-ms-paint/229663 "2004-02-17T14:49:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resize-images-in-ms-paint/229663/1 "2004-02-17T14:49:47Z")

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I know this must be simple, but how do I resize an image using Microsoft Paint? I can’t seem to figure it out.

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**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resize-images-in-ms-paint/229663/2 "2004-02-17T14:53:45Z")

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Try CTRL-E, or the Attribute item under the Image menu…

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**Author:** ![Phage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a4c791/32.png) [@Phage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phage)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resize-images-in-ms-paint/229663/3 "2004-02-17T15:02:34Z")

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Now that your question has been answered, I think I insert a small hijack: You really don’t want to be using MSPaint. Use The Gimp, it is similar to Photoshop except that it is free.

[http://www.gimp.org/~tml/gimp/win32/](http://www.gimp.org/~tml/gimp/win32/)

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**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resize-images-in-ms-paint/229663/4 "2004-02-17T15:25:46Z")

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You will have better luck with [Irfanview](http://download.com.com/3000-2192-10223761.html?tag=lst-0-1). If you simply change the size of an image, you will distort it. CTRL-R does the trick.

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**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resize-images-in-ms-paint/229663/5 "2004-02-17T15:28:30Z")

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> [@Phage](#):
>
> Now that your question has been answered, I think I insert a small hijack: You really don’t want to be using MSPaint. Use The Gimp, it is similar to Photoshop except that it is free.
> 
> [http://www.gimp.org/~tml/gimp/win32/](http://www.gimp.org/~tml/gimp/win32/)

The Gimp is cool, too. But a little more complicated to use.

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**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resize-images-in-ms-paint/229663/6 "2004-02-17T15:52:51Z")

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Both Irfanview and the GIMP are great for their purposes. Irfanview is quick and easy for resizing and converting formats (batch mode too!), and includes a very nice slideshow facility (including standalone .exe files). On the other hand, it only runs in Windows, and doesn’t do any drawing or pixel editing. The GIMP is available for Linux and Mac machines, and does nearly all that Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro can do, but it’s big and complicated enough to take quite a while to learn. Get both!