Best Photo Resizer App for Android: Resize in KB or Pixels
Resize Me! is free on Google Play with no ads and can hit a target size in KB. Samsung's Gallery already shrinks a photo by percentage with no download.
Resizing a photo can mean two things, and forms and websites ask for both. One is its dimensions in pixels, say 600 by 600. The other is its file size, say under 100 KB. Shrinking the dimensions makes the file smaller. Compressing makes the file smaller and leaves the dimensions alone. Cropping is neither: it cuts part of the picture away.
We read Samsung’s and Google’s help pages for what the phone does unaided, then the Google Play listing of each resizer below. All five apps from the 2020 version of this article are still on Google Play, some under new names.
Resize a photo without an app
Samsung Galaxy: the Gallery app
Samsung’s support site gives these steps:
- Open the Gallery app and select the photo.
- Tap the Edit icon at the bottom of the screen.
- Tap More options, the three dots at the top right.
- Select Resize.
- Choose a percentage, then tap Done.
- Tap Save.
Samsung says the smaller file size then shows in the image details. The same page adds three notes. Saving overwrites the original photo, so if you want to keep it, tap More options and Save copy before you tap Save. The Resize option may not be there on every model. And Gallery will not make a photo larger than it started. The steps are on Samsung’s support page.
The limit is that Samsung’s steps offer percentages only. There is no box for an exact number of pixels or kilobytes.
Google Photos: cropping only
Google’s help page for editing in Google Photos covers Crop, including fixed shapes such as a square under Aspect ratio. It describes no way to set a size in pixels or kilobytes.
Google Photos does have a Storage saver setting that compresses photos and brings anything over 16 megapixels down to 16. Google’s page describes it as a quality setting for backups to your Google Account, which is no help when a form wants a file under 100 KB.
So a Galaxy phone can shrink a photo by a set percentage with nothing installed. For an exact size, on any Android phone, you need one of the apps below.
Photo resizer apps compared
| App | Maker | On Google Play | What its listing offers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resize Me!: Photo Compressor | XnView | Free, no ads, no purchases | Seven resize modes, a target size in KB, batches, JPEG, PNG or WebP output |
| Compress Image – MB to KB | Double Ape | Free with ads, in-app purchases | A target file size with a preview of the result before you save |
| Puma: Photo Resizer Compressor | Farluner Apps & Games | Free with ads, in-app purchases | Preset sizes from 50 KB to 2.5 MB, passport and social media sizes, HEIC to JPG |
| Photo & Picture Resizer | Farluner Apps & Games | Free with ads, in-app purchases | Pick a resolution from a list or set your own, in batches |
| Image Size – Photo Resizer | Codenia | Free with ads, in-app purchases | Size in pixels, millimetres, centimetres or inches, then crop to fit |
| LitPhoto – Compress & Resize | coolqoo | Free with ads | Batch compression with a quality setting, crop and rotate |
Resize Me!: the one to install first
Resize Me! comes from XnView and is the only app in the table with no ads label and no in-app purchases on Google Play. Its listing says there is no advertising, no account to create and no internet connection needed, because photos are processed on the phone and never uploaded.
It covers both meanings of resizing. For dimensions there are seven modes, among them a percentage, a longest or shortest side that keeps the proportions, and preset ratios such as 1:1 and 16:9. For file size you set a target in KB and the app finds the quality that meets it. It works on one photo or on hundreds, saves as JPEG, PNG or WebP, and lets you keep or strip the location and date data inside the file.
You do not have to open it first. The listing describes tapping Share on a photo in your gallery, choosing Resize Me! and picking a size.
When a form wants a size in KB
Online forms for exams, visas and job applications often set a ceiling in kilobytes. Resize Me! handles that with its target size. Two more apps are built around the same idea.
Compress Image – MB to KB lets you pick a preset or type the exact size in KB. Its useful extra is a live preview: the listing says it shows the compressed photo and its file size before you save, so you can see what a 20 KB version of your face looks like before you commit to it. Photos are processed on the phone and saved as JPG, and you choose between replacing the originals and saving copies. It has ads and sells upgrades.
Puma works from a list of sizes: 50 KB, 100 KB, 250 KB, 500 KB and up to 2.5 MB. It also has presets for passport and visa photos, including 2 by 2 inches and 35 by 45 mm, and for profile pictures and posts on the main social networks. It converts HEIC photos to JPG. The listing says photos never leave the phone. Batch processing and removing the ads are premium features.
Exact pixels or print sizes
Image Size from Codenia is the one that thinks in real-world units. You type the output size in pixels, millimetres, centimetres or inches, tap the chain icon to keep the proportions, and crop with your fingers to fit. That suits a print or an ID photo with a stated size in centimetres. The JPG quality is set in the settings, and the photo’s Exif data is copied across unless you turn that off.
Photo & Picture Resizer is the simple one. It offers a list of resolutions that match the shape of your photo, plus a custom size, and saves the result to a folder called Pictures/PhotoResizer. The listing says originals are not affected. Its own example is a 4 MB picture coming out at about 400 KB at 800 by 600. It comes from Farluner, the developer of Puma, and has ads.
Shrinking a batch of photos
LitPhoto is for making many photos smaller to save space or to send. You select a batch and choose a compression quality, and the smaller copies go into a LitPhoto folder while the originals stay as they were. The listing says there are no watermarks and no subscriptions. It shows ads.
Resize Me!, Compress Image and Photo & Picture Resizer also take several photos at once.
Which one to pick
- A Samsung phone, and the photo just needs to be smaller: the Resize option in Gallery.
- One app for everything, with no ads: Resize Me!.
- A form with a limit in KB: Resize Me!, or Compress Image if you want to see the result before saving.
- A passport or visa photo with fixed dimensions: Puma.
- A size in centimetres or inches for printing: Image Size.
- A whole folder of photos to shrink: Resize Me!, or LitPhoto.
If the form wants a scanned document and not a photo, a scanner app that saves a PDF is the better tool. Our guide to OCR apps covers those.
What happened to the old list
All five apps from 2020 are still on Google Play. Four are in the table: Codenia’s Image Size, Lit Photo (now LitPhoto), Resize Me! and Photo Resizer, whose icon matches today’s Photo & Picture Resizer.
Resize Me! has changed the most. The old article described separate free and paid apps. Today there is one listing, free, whose description says the complete feature set is in a single app.
The fifth, Z Mobile Photo Resizer, lives on as an app called Photo Resizer, whose Google Play address still carries the zmobileapps name. The developer account is now named photoshop mobile apps, and the app is free with ads. We left it out of the table because its listing describes the same resizing by pixels or percentage as the apps above.
Quick answers
How do I resize a photo on Android without an app?
On a Samsung Galaxy, open the photo in Gallery, tap Edit, then More options, then Resize, and choose a percentage. Google Photos only crops. For an exact size you need an app.
How do I reduce a photo to under 100 KB?
Use an app with a target file size. Resize Me! and Compress Image – MB to KB let you type the size in KB, and Puma has 50 KB and 100 KB presets.
Which photo resizer app has no ads?
Of the six in our table, only Resize Me! shows no ads label on Google Play, and it has nothing to buy.
Does resizing change the original photo?
In Samsung’s Gallery it does unless you choose Save copy first. LitPhoto and Photo & Picture Resizer say they leave originals alone, and Compress Image lets you choose.
Can I make a photo bigger?
Not in Samsung’s Gallery, which will not go above the original size. Puma and Photo & Picture Resizer both list enlarging among their features. Expect a softer picture, because enlarging spreads the same detail over more pixels.
