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How to change a photo’s aspect ratio without stretching people

Intermediate6 minutesUpdated

Quick answer

Select the person with Select then Subject, add any other people near them with the lasso while holding Shift or ⇧, save the selection with Select then Save Selection as Alpha Channel, then choose Select then Deselect. Widen the canvas with Image then Canvas Size… (1680 px for the sample). Choose Edit then Content-Aware Scale, pick the saved channel under Protect, switch the units to Pixels, set W to 1680 and press Enter or ↩, then click the ✓ on the options bar when the preview is ready. Trim the height with Image then Canvas Size… (945 px, anchored at the top) for 16:9. The background widens and the protected people keep their exact size.

A smiling woman in a blue blazer on a sunny café street: the original photo centered on the 16:9 frame with gray strips at the sides, and the 16:9 result in which the street and buildings on both sides are wider while she and the people nearest her keep exactly the same width
The original, with gray strips where the canvas grew, and the result at 16:9. Drag the handle to compare.
Time
6 minutes
Level
Intermediate
You need
A photo with a clear subject and some open background around it: sky, a street, grass, water
Works with
JPEG, PNG, HEIC, WebP, TIFF and PSD photos, and RAW files once developed
Open the sample in Lil CactusUse your own photo

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Changing a photo’s shape, from 3:2 to a 16:9 banner, usually means cropping something off or stretching everything, people included. Content-Aware Scale changes the width while preserving important content where possible.

Save a selection of the people and choose it under Protect to help keep their proportions. Check the result for any unwanted stretching and adjust the selection or the amount of resizing if needed.

Widen a photo without stretching people in five steps

  1. Open the photo and save the person as a selection

    Open the photo with File then Open… (Ctrl+O or ⌘O); to follow along, open the sample from this page. Choose Select then Subject and wait until marching ants surround the person.

    The extra width has to land somewhere, and people near the subject are among the likeliest places, so protect them too. Take Lasso Select from the lasso group in the toolbar (L), hold Shift or ⇧ so each shape adds to the selection, and draw a loose shape around each group: on the sample, one around the man in light blue and the woman in navy just left of her face, and one around the people seated at the café on the left. Then choose Select then Save Selection as Alpha Channel: the selection is stored as a channel named Alpha 1. Remove the selection with Select then Deselect.

    Tip Deselect before you go on. With a selection active, Content-Aware Scale resizes only the selected area, here the person.

    The Select menu, from All at the top, with Subject and Save Selection as Alpha Channel ringed
    Select then Subject and Select then Save Selection as Alpha Channel, ringed.
    The sample with marching ants around the woman, around the man and woman just left of her face, and around the seated café group on the left
    The selection to save: the subject plus the people nearest her and the café group.

  2. Make the canvas wider

    Choose Image then Canvas Size… and type the new Width (px): 1680 for the sample. The last step trims the height to reach 16:9, avoiding a larger width change. Leave the Anchor in the middle and click Resize. Transparent strips appear at both sides; the photo itself is unchanged.

    The Canvas Size dialog with Width 1680 px, Height 1024 px and the anchor in the middle
    Canvas Size: Width 1680 px and the Anchor in the middle, both ringed.

  3. Choose Edit › Content-Aware Scale and protect the person

    Choose Edit then Content-Aware Scale. A frame with handles appears around the photo, and the options bar shows its size. Choose Alpha 1 under Protect first; changing it later reruns the preview. Then switch the units menu from Percent to Pixels, type 1680 in W and press Enter or ↩; Tab or clicking outside the field also applies it.

    • Amount (default 100%): how much of the size change comes from content-aware resizing; the rest is ordinary scaling of the whole result, protected people included.
    • Protect: a saved alpha channel. White areas are protected; gray areas, such as a feathered edge, are partly protected.
    • Protect skin tones: protects skin-colored areas without a saved channel. For the sample, use the saved selection to protect the whole person.
    The size fields on the Content-Aware Scale options bar: W 1680 px and H 1024 px, with W and the units menu, set to Pixels, ringed
    W and the units menu, ringed.

  4. Wait for the preview and apply

    The size readout after Protect shows Processing and a percentage, then the new size, 1680 × 1024 px, when the preview is ready. Check the edges of the person and any straight lines, then click the ✓ at the end of the options bar; the ✕ cancels. Enter or ↩ and Esc do the same only when the cursor isn’t in a field. The curved-arrow button between the readout and the ✓ resets the frame’s size and position.

    The end of the Content-Aware Scale options bar: Protect set to Alpha 1, the size readout 1680 × 1024 px, the reset button, and the tick and cross buttons, with Protect and the tick ringed
    Protect and the ✓, ringed.

  5. Check the result, trim to 16:9 and save

    Compare the protected people with the original and inspect the background, including the planter, buildings and cyclists. If an important area looks stretched, undo and add it to the protected selection, or reduce the width change.

    Then trim the height to 16:9: choose Image then Canvas Size…, type 945 in Height (px), click the top-middle Anchor square and click Resize. That removes 79 px from the bottom of the photo, here the lower edge of her blazer.

    Export with File then Export then JPEG… To keep the layer and the saved channel, save with File then Save As then Lil Cactus Project… (Ctrl+Shift+S or ⇧⌘S); after that, File then Save saves the project. File then Save on the PNG you opened writes the result back into it, flattened.

    The same area around the woman in three 16:9 versions, both edges of her blazer in view, top to bottom: an ordinary stretch with her visibly wider; Content-Aware Scale without protection, with her about as wide; and with Protect set to the saved selection, at her original width
    Top to bottom: an ordinary stretch, Content-Aware Scale without protection, and with the person protected.
    An enlarged view of the planter between the café group and the man in light blue, before above after at the same scale: the planter is about half again as wide after
    The planter between the protected café group and the protected man, enlarged: before (top) and after (bottom).

Fix common problems

Content-Aware Scale is grayed out

The active layer must be an unlocked pixel layer with its pixels unlocked, in a group that isn’t locked, and no transform or Puppet Warp may be open: finish or cancel it first. Turn a text, shape or Smart Object layer into pixels with Layer then Rasterize then Rasterize Layer, or duplicate the layer and rasterize the copy.

Straight lines bend or buildings warp

Add the line to the protected selection, or widen the canvas less and crop the rest.

The background repeats in an obvious pattern

The photo didn’t have enough open background for the change. Lower Amount so part of the change is ordinary scaling, or widen less.

Protect is grayed out

The document has no saved alpha channel. Save a selection first with Select then Save Selection as Alpha Channel.

What to do next

Coming from another editor

Photoshop
Edit › Content-Aware Scale; Protect and a skin-tone button are on the options bar.

Content-Aware Scale: questions and answers

Can Content-Aware Scale make a photo narrower?

Yes. In Lil Cactus, choose Edit › Content-Aware Scale and set a smaller W to reduce the width while preserving important content where possible. Then crop the canvas to the new width with Image › Canvas Size…

How much can I widen a photo with Content-Aware Scale?

It depends on how much open background the photo has. In Lil Cactus, check the background beside the person and any straight lines after each try. Protect important areas and use a smaller width change if needed.

Can I protect more than one person with Content-Aware Scale?

Yes. In Lil Cactus, add everyone to the selection before you save it as an alpha channel, for example with Select › Subject and then the lasso with Shift held to add the others. Protect keeps everyone in the channel. Leave enough open background for the extra width; if the subject’s own edge starts to change, protect less.

Can I undo Content-Aware Scale?

Yes. In Lil Cactus, applying it is one step, so Edit › Undo (Ctrl+Z, or Command+Z on a Mac) brings the photo back to its original width; the wider canvas stays until you undo Canvas Size too. Before you apply it, the ✕ on the options bar cancels it.

Is my photo uploaded when I use Content-Aware Scale in Lil Cactus?

No. Content-Aware Scale runs in your browser on your own device, and the photo is never sent to a server. See the privacy policy.

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