I have previously talked about resizing images using seam carving or retargeting method. This impressive image resizing algorithm is capable of resizing an image without making it looked “squeezed” or “stretched” while still retaining the key areas. One convenient way to test this technology is by going to rsizr.com and use their free web application so that you don’t need to download and install any software. If you haven’t noticed, I did not directly link to rsizr.com because the website seems to be a bit dodgy. Try doing a search in Google on rsizr.com and you’ll see that it contains some directories with viagxx and cialxx… Not to worry if you’ve already used the website because it doesn’t contain any malicious scripts. If you’re uncomfortable in using rsizr.com, do give Seam Carving GUI a try.
Seam Carving GUI is a front-end graphical user interface for the Content Aware Image Resizer command line tool. Although command line tools are generally more configurable and powerful than graphical applications, but the GUI provides an easy and convenient way to use the program. All you need to do in order to use Seam Carving GUI is to download and install it. The installer already comes with the latest version of CAIR so there is no need to download the program separately.
First you need to load an image that you want to resize from File > Open. When the image is loaded into Seam Carving GUI, you can immediately resize it by specifying the new image width and height dimensions at the bottom right. Click the Resize button and the image is instantly resized. If you’re not happy with the result, click on the Edit from menu bar and select Undo (alternatively you can use the hotkey Ctrl+Z). Now if you noticed that some of the important key areas are being removed, you can retain that area by marking it. Make sure that “Mark area for retaining” is selected and then use your mouse with the left click to mark the areas that you want to retain. You can also use the mark areas for removal or clear marked area options and changing the brush size and width. Clicking the Clear Marked Area button will remove all the markings on the image.
Seam Carving GUI is free and it runs on Windows and Mac OS X.
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