Changing rectangle dimensions in Photoshop

[petewilliams]

I know this is a REALLY basic question but I just can't figure it out.

I'm used to mocking up my sites in Fireworks, but am trying to move to Photoshop instead, but I'm stuck at the first hurdle!

I've drawn a rectangle that I want to use as my header. I'm trying to resize it to exactly 750x100px and position it at 0,0 but I just can't find any way of changing the dimensions. Any help would be very gratefully received, I'm tearing my hair out!

Pete

[Major Payne]

Changing images sizes is under the Image menu in PS. Click on "Image Size..." and set your size to what you need in the units you want to use. Check or uncheck box depending on whether you need to maintain the aspect ratio.

Ron

[petewilliams]

Hi Ron, that's not quite what I meant I'm afraid. I want to resize just a rectangular shape, not the entire document.

Pete

[Major Payne]

That's what I meant. I was referring to your image that you want to resize. If you load your rectangle image into PS, you should be able to resize it to whatever you want. If you have the image already merged with your complete image page, then you're not going to be able to do it this way unless the rectangle image was layered on separately. Maybe I'm still missing the mark here.

Ron

[petewilliams]

Hi Ron, the rectangle isn't an image, it's just a shape created using the rectangle tool. As far as I can tell there's no way to resize it to exact dimensions, the only way to do it is by dragging handles and guessing.

Pete

[infinityspiral]

What I do is keep the Info palette up and floating and then like a marquee selection you can see the exact size as you click and drag. Keep in mind also that shapes can have partial pixels so you might have to zoom in very close and tweak the anchor points after you're done or if you've scaled the shape.

[nasTone]

It has been a while since the last reply, but you can insert guides as well. I find this helps me a lot when laying out pages in Photoshop. Simply click on View>New Guide. You can then choose if it is going to be either a horizontal or vertical guide. You then define the placement. The guide will show up in Photoshop as a light blue line. To hide these guides, Ctrl+H

Hope this helps.

[petewilliams]

Yeah I think guides are as close as I'm going to get, but I'm still amazed that Photoshop doesn't seem to have such a basic feature.

Pete

[Centauri]

I'm still amazed that Photoshop doesn't seem to have such a basic feature.

One of the reasons I prefer Paint Shop Pro - the status bar always displays cursor position and the size of anything being sized.

[Tazlord]

This is kind of an old thread but the best way to manually resize a rectangle (or any object) in Photoshop is to use the "Free Tranform" tool.

- Select the layer you created your rectangle on
- Click Edit -> Free Transform
- Use the guides to resize your rectangle

Hope this helps...

[scouse]

I may have missed the point, but what I would do is create a new layer then choose the rectangle select tool. Once that is highlighted I would change the "style" dropdown in the top toolbar from "normal" to "fixed" and then I would change the dimentsions to 750px by 100px.

Then clicking anywhere on the screen creates a fixed selection with those dimensions. I would then fill the selection with a colour to get my rectangle. (This is done with CS3 - not sure whether this is the case on other versions)

Like I said, I might have missed the point... if so, ignore my post! :D

Phil

[klmnt]

Tazlord is somewhat right except that you don't need guides...

- Select the layer you created your rectangle on
- Click Edit -> Free Transform
- Right click tool options W and H fields and select pixels and specify size.
- alternatively specify size and put "px" after (200px)

[Kor]

- New layer
- Rectangle Tool
up in the toolbar select
- Fill pixels (the simple square icon)
- Geometry options (the small arrow next to the Custom Shape Tool icon) and Fixed size - set your square size W and H

Now click on the layer, The result is a square which has the desired size.

[klmnt]

Kor, your solution is same as #11.
The question was more about how to resize and position object in PS by specifying values(as in Fireworks' object properties). Refer to my previous post - #12
Anyway, thanks for your effort...

[slowhand]

Each shape tool provides specific options; for example, you can set options that allow you to draw a rectangle with fixed dimensions or a line with arrowheads

Select the rectangle tool
In the horizontal tool bar at the top click on the drop down arrow and you get a choice of options, of which Fixed size is one of them

slowhand

[enthrombed]

I assume your real question is: can i modify a shape after you already drew it.
Simple:
-select the shape
-edit->free transform (or "ctrl+T")
-in the top side of the screen , in the transform bar you will notice the options appear X:value(px) Y:value(px) W:value(%) and H:value(%) and some other regarding agles.
-modify the W: and the H: value by inputing the size you want.Even though the values are given in "%" by default, just type your own value and add "px" or any other type of unit(works in cm, inches, etc).

Ex: if i want to modify a rectangle to have the size of 800/600px i just modify the W:100% to W:800px and the H:100% to H:600px

...simple

If you play a bit with that bar you will discover how to position too,easier to draw guides though

[elevatus]

I think this last post does the trick. But man, Here I am July 2011, when this string started in 2007, and Photoshop hasn't improved in this regard.

It is pretty crazy that Adobe has not started carrying over the best features of each app into the others - in terms of usability not capability. Ex. Why is layer management in Illustrator not as good as Fireworks & Photoshop? Make it happen.

[elevatus]

The only way I have been able to draw a "crisp box" (without those annoying 50% trailer lines on the exterior of my shape(s) is to perform some of the instructions above, nail down the size I want, then use the marquee to redraw the shape and fill it. That's crazy work compared to Fireworks, where you just draw it and edit it on the fly without fuzzy edges.

[Kor]

The only way I have been able to draw a "crisp box" (without those annoying 50% trailer lines on the exterior of my shape(s) is to perform some of the instructions above, nail down the size I want, then use the marquee to redraw the shape and fill it. That's crazy work compared to Fireworks, where you just draw it and edit it on the fly without fuzzy edges.
Why don't you use "Smart Objects"?
http://www.viget.com/inspire/smart-ways-to-use-adobe-photoshops-smart-objects/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtM-BhYDtRc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnPrZZ1e0Zg

[noddle]

The way I done it was to click "Ctrl + T" and right clicked in the box where it has the % with width and height, and chosen my form of measurement.