Fit Image and the Tile filter in Paint by Zaweba
Fit Image in Paint by Zaweba shrinks pictures to fit a width and height and records in actions. Filter > Tile fills a new image with copies of a layer.
Some sizing jobs are not about one exact size but about fitting a box, and some pattern jobs are about turning a single tile into a large sheet. Paint by Zaweba has a small command for each: File > Automate > Fit Image for the first, and Filter > Tile for the second.
Fit Image
Fit Image shrinks a picture so it fits inside a width and height you give it. The picture keeps its proportions; it is scaled down until neither side exceeds the box.
That is different from setting an exact size. Say a website wants images no wider than 1600 pixels and no taller than 1200. A landscape photo and a portrait photo need different exact sizes to fit, but with Fit Image you just enter the box once and each picture fits, landscape or portrait.
Why it records in actions
Fit Image records in actions. That is the main reason it exists alongside Image Size. When you record an action, you want a step that works for any picture, not one tied to a particular photo's dimensions. Fit Image, recorded once, does the right thing for every picture you play it on.
So the typical use is in batch work. Record an action that fits images in a box, perhaps sharpens them a little and saves a copy, then run it over a folder. Paint by Zaweba has batch automation built in, so a whole set of photos can be prepared for a website, an online shop listing or an email in one go.
Tile
Filter > Tile makes a new image of any size, filled with copies of the layer. Make one tile and Tile repeats it across a canvas of the size you ask for.
This is the natural partner to Pattern Preview, which shows a picture repeated 3 by 3 while you work on it. Use Pattern Preview to make a tile that repeats with no visible joins. Then use Tile to produce a large finished sheet: a desktop wallpaper, a website background, a page of wrapping paper, a texture for a game or a fabric print.
Making a good tile
Start small and square. Paint or retouch the tile with Pattern Preview on, so you can see joins and remove them. Watch for one distinctive mark that will repeat obviously; soften or remove it. When the preview shows no joins, run Tile at the size you need, and look at the result at normal zoom.
They meet in a useful workflow for product images. Fit Image keeps every product photo inside the same box for a shop. Tile can make a patterned background sheet from a small tile of your brand pattern. Place the fitted product on top and you have a consistent look across a set.
Little things to know
Fit Image only shrinks to fit a box; for exact sizes or enlarging, use Image Size. Tile works from the layer, so make sure the right layer is active and that it contains just the tile. A tile with a transparent border will repeat with gaps, so trim it first if that is not what you want.
Where each one fits
Image Size and Canvas Size are for setting one picture's size by hand. Fit Image is for fitting many pictures into the same box, especially in actions. Tile is for filling a new image with a repeating pattern. Between them, Paint by Zaweba covers the routine sizing and repeating jobs that would otherwise take a lot of hand work.
