How to Use the Content Aware Scale in Photoshop

The Basics

First, let´s work with a very simple PNG image to have a better idea what this tool can do and how easy to use it is. Let´s say that we want to make this frame much more wider (or taller) to match the ratio of a picture that we have.

The Normal Transformation Method:

Step 1

Open the Picture Frame image in Photoshop.

Step 2

Go to Edit > transform > Scale (or press “Ctrl + T” on your keyboard).

Step 3

Hold the Alt + Shift keys on your keyboard and click and drag on the top left handle of the bounding box as shown.

As you may notice, all the frame widths has been totally distorted and are not on the initial scale.

The Content Aware Scale Method:

Step 1

Open the Picture Frame image in Photoshop.

Step 2

Go to Edit > Content Aware Scale (or press “Alt + Ctrl + Shift + C” on your keyboard).

Step 3

Hold the Alt + Shift keys on your keyboard and click and drag on the top left handle of the bounding box as shown.

As you can see, all the widths of the frame keeps the original aspect, but now we have a much more wider frame.

A Step Further

The Content Aware Scale also works for images with a background on it, and can be used to scale specific areas of our image while keeping the original content scale intact. To show you how powerful it is let´s see another example of a frame, but this time over a background. In this case, we want to make only the left part of the frame wider so we keep the lamp intact.