Crop and Resize Images for Use in an Article

Overview

Before inserting images into the knowledge base article, it's important to crop, resize, and add any highlights if necessary.

There are many tools available for editing images and covering the nuances of the major onces are beyond the scope of this article. Instead we'll focus on Preview for macOS, and Paint for Windows since both are free and included with their respective operating systems.

In this article:

• TDX limits
• UAA Practices
• Cropping an Image
• Resizing an Image

TDX limits

TDX has several elements to be aware of with regards to using images within Knowledge Base articles.

• 900 pixels (px) max width - Any image uploaded to TDX that exceed 900px in width will be scaled down. If you do not want them scaled down, make sure the image is 900px wide or less before uploading.
• 750 pixels (px) viewing width - While TDX support a maximum image width of 900px, the client viewing window in the Client Portal is restricted to 750px. While images larger than 750px will not be resized, they will appear squished in the window.
• Animated GIFs - If an animated GIF is resized automatically during upload, the resize process re-saves the image, which in turn removes all animations! Be sure that any animated GIFs are no wider than 750px before uploading.

UAA Practices

Below are general practices that are in use at UAA in order to provide a consistent experience. Before uploading images open the image in your preferred image editor and do the following:

• Crop the image to the desired focus.
• Increase DPI to at least 144, preferably 288, as this increases readability on high-dpi displays
• Resize image to no more than 700 px wide, or 800 px tall

If you are interested in additional details please review the TDX Rich Content Editor HTML Whitlist article.

Cropping an Image

Cropping out extraneous parts of an image helps to focus the viewer's attention on what's important.

macOS

1. Open the Finder and navigate to the desired image.
2. Right-click on the image and select Open With then click Preview.
3. Click the View menu, and select Show Markup Toolbar (if necessary).
   
   
    
4. Click the Selection tool.
   
   
    
5. Drag the selection region around the part of the image you want to keep.
   
   
    
6. Click the Crop button.
   
   
    
7. From the File menu click Save.

Windows

1. In the File Explorer navigate to the desired image.
2. Right-click on the image and select Open with then click Paint.
3. Click on Select in the toolbar.
4. Drag the selection region around the part of the image you want to keep.
   
   
    
5. Click the Crop button.
   
   
    
6. Save the file.

Resizing an Image

Images should be as small as possible but easy to read.

macOS

1. In the Finder navigate to the image.
2. Right-click on the image and select Open with > Preview.
3. Click the Tools menu
4. Click Adjust Size...
   
   
    
5. Change the measuring with Width and Height to Pixels.
   
   
    
6. Enter the value you want for the image width, or height. We recommend leaving the Scale proportionally option selected.
   
   
    
7. Click Ok.
8. Save the file. 

Windows

1. In File Explorer and navigate to the desired image.
2. Right-click on the image and select Open with then click Paint.
3. Click on Resize in the toolbar.
   
   
    
4. Click the Pixels radio button.
   
   
    
5. Enter the value you want for the image width, or height. We recommend leaving the Maintain aspect ratio option selected.
6. Click the Ok.
7. Save the file.