How do I change the size of an image in a PDF using Adobe Acrobat?

Open your PDF in Acrobat. Go to 'Edit' > select the image. Drag the corners of the image to resize it. Save your PDF to keep the new size.

How does editing an image in Acrobat compare to editing text in Acrobat?

Feature Image Editing Text Editing. Primary Actions Move, resize, rotate, crop, replace Change words, fonts, size, color External Tools Often uses Photoshop for pixel edits Rarely uses external tools Complexity Basic changes in Acrobat, advanced in external editor Most changes done directly in Acrobat

Cover Photo Fix Needed in Adobe Acrobat — How-to & AI prompts

AI prompts

1 way to ask · copy any one

CDecide — “help me choose”The cover shot we picked crops the artist’s hand at an awkward place and the designer says…+

The cover shot we picked crops the artist’s hand at an awkward place and the designer says they’ve aligned it to the center grid. I’m new to asserting art direction under a tight schedule and worried I’ll sound petty. Diagnose whether recropping or a slight reposition is the correct move given our trim, and give me the exact instruction to send the designer to get the artist's hand fully visible without requiring another photoshoot.

when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed.

How to do it

the tool · the steps · what to avoid

1
Open the PDF file containing the image you want to crop or rotate.
2
Select Edit PDF from the right pane.
3
Click on the image you want to crop or rotate to select it.
4
To crop: Click Crop Image in the secondary toolbar above the document.
5
Drag the handles on the image to define the crop area, then press Enter to apply the crop.
6
To rotate: With the image selected, hover near a corner handle until the rotate cursor appears, then click and drag to rotate the image to the desired angle.
Best practiceHolding the Shift key while rotating snaps the image to 45-degree increments for precise alignment.
7
Save the PDF to keep your changes.

In the appWith the API

You can undo image cropping or rotation immediately by pressing Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac).

This runs in the Acrobat app - there is no separate API for this task.

Glossary

words on this page

PDFA common file type used to share documents that look the same everywhere.ExampleShe saved the brochure as a PDF so everyone would see the exact same layout and fonts.

Pixel editsPixel edits mean making very small, detailed changes to an image's individual color dots.ExampleUsing an editing tool, you adjust the brightness of a single pixel to fix a tiny imperfection.

Round-tripTo open a file in another program, edit it, and then save it back to the original program.ExampleYou can round-trip the design file to Photoshop for editing and then save it back to the original program.

Who does this

3 roles

Graphic DesignerMarketing SpecialistLegal Assistant

FAQ

about this task

Open your PDF in Acrobat.
Go to 'Edit' > select the image.
Drag the corners of the image to resize it.
Save your PDF to keep the new size.

You use an external editor like Photoshop for images in PDFs when you need to make very detailed changes, such as adjusting colors, sharpening, or removing blemishes. Acrobat is great for basic tasks like moving or resizing, but it does not have the advanced tools for pixel-level editing that professional image editors offer. Using Photoshop ensures your image quality remains high for complex adjustments.

Round-tripping an image means you send it from Acrobat to another program, like Photoshop, for editing. After you make your changes and save them in the other program, the image automatically updates back in your PDF in Acrobat. This allows you to use specialized tools for editing.

If your PDF image looks blurry after resizing in Acrobat, it might be because the original image quality was low, or you enlarged it too much. To fix this, try to get a higher-resolution version of the image. If that's not possible, send the image to an external editor like Photoshop through Acrobat's 'Edit' menu. In Photoshop, you might be able to apply sharpening filters or other adjustments to improve its appearance, though major blur from low resolution is hard to fully fix.

Feature	Image Editing	Text Editing
Primary Actions	Move, resize, rotate, crop, replace	Change words, fonts, size, color
External Tools	Often uses Photoshop for pixel edits	Rarely uses external tools
Complexity	Basic changes in Acrobat, advanced in external editor	Most changes done directly in Acrobat

Cover Photo Fix Needed

When to use it

AI prompts

How to do it

Glossary

The real tasks

Who does this

FAQ

Sources

Adobe help