Nonlinear Image Resizing Tool

(c) Scott M Baker, http://www.sb-software.com/

Purpose:

This tool is used to perform a nonlinear resize (or "warp") of an image. By warping, you can resize an image such that the objects in the center of an image remain clear and undistorted, and distortion occurs near the edges of the image. This tool is useful for situations where you need to convert an image from one aspect ratio to another without cropping. I often use it when creating wallpapers when I have a wallpaper that is not the correct aspect ratio to display on my desktop.

About aspect ratios:

An aspect ratio is the ratio between the width and height of an image. For example, analog TV pictures have an aspect ratio of 4:3 = 1.33:1. Widescreen (HDTV) pictures have an aspect ratio of 16:9 = 1.78:1. If you try to convert an image from one aspect ratio to another, the image will become distorted. For example, converting a analog TV picture to a wide TV picture would amount to the picture being "stretched" horizontally. People in the picture end up looking fat.

However, you can also perform something called a nonlinear resize, or a warp. A nonlinear resize stretches the image more at the edges than at the center. For example, a person standing in the center of a picture may appear normal, whereas a person standing near the edge would become fattened.

Using the tool:

Here are the steps to use the tool:

1. Use the <Open> button to open an image. The image will be displayed in the left hand side of the window where it says "original".
2. Now, adjust the two values for resolution (Width X Height). For example, 1024x768, 1280x1024, and 1600x1200 are common resolutions for wallpapers.
3. Adjust the nonlinear factors ("horiz" and "vert").
   • Setting one of the nonlinear factors to 100 performs a linear resize in that dimension, without any warp effects.
   • Set a nonlinear factor to greater than 100 to squeeze the center of the image and stretch the edges
   • Set a nonlinear factor to less than 100 to stretch the center and squeeze the edges
4. Finally, use the <Save> button to save your image as a BMP file. Saving to other formats (jpeg, gif) is not supported at this time, but a conversion can be done with numerous third-party tools

The software is distributed as freeware and is free for noncommercial use. For commercial use, please contact the author at smbaker@sb-software.com

Revision History

• Version 1.0
  • Initial release