How to Maintain Aspect Ratio When Resizing | Rune

Changing width without adjusting height (or vice versa) creates distorted, stretched images. Aspect ratio locking prevents this.

What is Aspect Ratio?

Aspect ratio is the proportional relationship between width and height. Common ratios:

• 1:1 (square)
• 4:3 (standard photo)
• 16:9 (widescreen)
• 3:2 (classic camera)

The Problem: Distortion

If you resize a 1920x1080 image to 800x800 without care:

• Original ratio: 16:9
• Target ratio: 1:1
• Result: Image is squished or stretched

The Solution: Lock Aspect Ratio

With aspect ratio locked:

• Change width → height adjusts automatically
• Change height → width adjusts automatically
• Image proportions stay the same

How to Lock Aspect Ratio

1. Open Rune's Image Resizer.
2. Upload your image.
3. Enable "Lock Aspect Ratio" toggle (usually on by default).
4. Enter new width OR height.
5. The other dimension adjusts proportionally.

Example

Original: 1920 x 1080 (16:9 ratio)

• Set width to 800
• With lock: Height becomes 450 (maintains 16:9)
• Without lock: Height stays at 1080 (distorted)

When to Unlock

Sometimes you need non-proportional resizing:

• Creating square thumbnails from rectangles
• Matching specific, non-proportional dimensions
• Intentional stretching effects

Alternatives to Stretching

For different aspect ratios without distortion:

• Crop the image (remove edges)
• Add padding (letterbox/pillarbox)
• Use our Crop Image tool for precise control

Conclusion

Keep aspect ratio locked to prevent distorted images. Rune's Image Resizer makes proportional resizing easy and automatic.