How to Resize an Image in InDesign

There are two options for resizing in InDesign: the easy way and the precise way.
Michael Michael (175)
1 minute

You might think that resizing an image would be as simple as dragging the corner of the frame. Well, it is, and it isn't!

Remember that when resizing an image in InDesign, you're essentially resizing the image's frame. For more information, on inserting an image in InDesign and frames, check our guide.

In this guide, we'll show you the two ways to resize an image: an easy solution and a more precise method.

Adobe InDesignAdobe InDesign ×1

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Raspberry Pi in InDesign with arrow to corner of image

You can easily click and drag an image to resize it in InDesign, if you don't need to make it a precise size.

  1. Select the image by clicking it.
  2. Click and drag any corner of the image frame to resize.

You may need to adjust the image in the frame again by using the Frame Fitting tool (see below). You can select to Auto-Fit to have it automatically resize as you adjust the size of the frame.

Frame Fitting in Adobe InDesign
InDesign Arrow to Transform Image

You might need to resize an image in InDesign using precise measurements for a particular project. Here's how.

  1. Select the image you want to resize
  2. In the Transform toolbar of the Properties screen (see below), select the point of reference using the tic-tac-toe like grid on the left. This affects how the image will resize (in which direction).
  3. From here, you can change the image's width, height, and X/Y coordinates.
Transform Toolbar in InDesign

If you need to change the units of measurement, we made a great guide for that!

When you don't feel like editing the image in Photoshop, you can use this trick to crop.
Michael Michael (175)
2 minutes

You've placed that great image into your InDesign document, but only want to use a portion of it. We've all been there.