Image

The Image menu contains commands for transforming and modifying the image you are working on.

Unless otherwise specified, these commands apply to either the active layer or the selection. For example, you can flip just part of your image by creating a selection first.

New Layer

Adds a new, empty layer to your document. The layer will be the same size as the canvas.

Layer

Provides access to layer commands

Flatten

Merges all visible layers into a single layer, and discards any invisible layers.

Resize

Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+R

Allows you to resize the image to your specifications. You can choose to resize in terms of pixels or percentage, and specify interpolation (smoothing) mode to reduce jagged edges.

Canvas Size

Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+R

Allows you to resize the canvas, or area around the image you are editing. (Think of the canvas like a page on which you are drawing.) You can specify the size in terms of pixels or percent, anchor the current image data at the specified point, and the color with which to fill any new areas that are created.

A simpler alternative to using the Canvas Size command is to drag the resize handles on the bottom and right edges of the canvas itself.

Tile

Keyboard Shortcut: None

Tiles the image to either fill the specified dimensions, or by the specified number of tiles. This allows you to create a bigger pattern from many small images.

Offset

Keyboard Shortcut: None

Slides the current image horizontally or vertically, and fills in the other side with the remaining pixels. This effectively "rolls" the image and allows you to put the edges of the image in the middle.

One common use of this feature is when you are creating tileable backgrounds. With the edges directly visible, you can use the tools of your choice to blend them in smoothly to guarantee that the resulting image can be smoothly tiled.

Skew

Keyboard Shortcut: None

Allows you to skew the image by specifying 3 points of a parallelogram. This allows for shear transformations, scaling, and even flipping.

Flip

Keyboard Shortcut: None

Allows you to flip the image horizontally, vertically, or both ways. This produces a mirror image, as if it were possible to see through the canvas and turn it upside down.

Rotate

Keyboard Shortcut: None

Allows you to rotate the image. Predefined rotations of 90, 180, and 270 degrees can be chosen.

Alternatively, you can choose a custom angle of rotation. In Custom mode, you can choose to automatically resize the canvas to fit all pixels of the final image, and specify the background color of any areas that open up. (Note that if you are rotating the selection, the main image will show through and you will not be able to specify a custom color here.)

Clear Image

Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+N

Clears all data in the image to either the background color or transparency, depending on the transparency mode selected.

Crop and fit

Keyboard Shortcut: Alt+C

Allows you to crop or fit the selection, active layer, all layers, or canvas.