3 Ways To Auto Resize Images In HTML CSS (Simple Examples)

Welcome to a quick tutorial on how to auto-resize images in HTML and CSS. Just started with HTML CSS and struggling to fit images?

The easiest way to create an auto-resize-to-fit image is to set 100% width – <img src="IMAGE.JPG" style="width: 100%">

Yes, that’s all, we don’t need crazy CSS and Javascript. Read on for more examples!

Download & Notes

HTML CSS Resize Images

Extras

The End

DOWNLOAD & NOTES

Here is the download link to the example code, so you don’t have to copy-paste everything.

EXAMPLE CODE DOWNLOAD

Click here to download | Example on CodePen

The example code is released under the MIT license, so feel free to build on top of it or use it in your own project.

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HTML CSS AUTO-RESIZING IMAGES

All right, let us now get into the examples of auto-resizing images in HTML and CSS.

TUTORIAL VIDEO

1) RESIZE IMAGE WITH 100% WIDTH

1-width.html

<style>
.resizeA {
  width: 100%;
  max-width: max-content; /* optional */
}
</style>
 
<img src="demo.webp" class="resizeA">

As in the above introduction, this is the easiest way to create an auto-resizing image.

Setting width: 100% on the image will make it fill the full width of its container automatically.
Images are set to height: auto by default, so it will scale while retaining the original aspect ratio.
Lastly, max-width: max-content is optional – It limits the maximum resize to the image’s original width.
- For example, if the image has a width of 1000 px, width: 100% will only scale up to 1000 px.
- For you guys who are new, over-stretched images will turn blurry, and this is to prevent that.

2) RESIZE IMAGE TO FIXED DIMENSIONS

2-fit.html

<style>
/* (A) DESIRED FIXED DIMENSION */
.resizeB {
  width: 200px;
  height: 200px;
  border: 1px solid black;
}
 
/* (B) RESIZE METHOD */
.fill { object-fit: fill; }
.contain { object-fit: contain; }
.cover { object-fit: cover; }
.scale { object-fit: scale-down; }
</style>
 
<img src="demo.webp" class="resizeB fill">
<img src="demo.webp" class="resizeB contain">
<img src="demo.webp" class="resizeB cover">
<img src="demo.webp" class="resizeB scale">

If you want to resize the image to fit certain dimensions, object-fit is the way to go.

none The default if nothing is defined. No scaling or resizing.
fill This one is funky. The image is simply stretched to the specified dimensions, ignoring the original aspect ratio.
contain The image will be contained within the specified dimensions, but scaled according to the original aspect ratio.
cover The image is scaled to its original aspect ratio and clipped to cover the given dimensions.
scale-down This is either none or contain. Whichever fits better.

3) RESIZE BACKGROUND IMAGE

3-background.html

<style>
.resizeC {
  /* (A) FIXED DIMENSIONS */
  width: 100%; height: 300px;
  overflow: auto;
 
  /* (B) BACKGROUND IMAGE */
  background: url(demo.webp) center no-repeat;
  background-size: cover; /* contain | cover | auto */
}
</style>
 
<div class="resizeC">
  <p style="margin-bottom:1000px">Test</p>
</div>

Test

To resize a background image:

url(IMAGE.JPG) Self-explanatory, image to insert into the background.
center Position the image in the middle.
no-repeat Resize the image to fit the container, not repeat to fill the container.
background-size: cover As in the previous example, this will scale the image to fill the container. We can also set this to contain.

EXTRAS

That’s all for the tutorial, and here is a small section on some extras and links that may be useful to you.

LINKS & REFERENCES

Object Fit – MDN
Background Image – MDN
Responsive Full-Screen Background Image – Code Boxx

INFOGRAPHIC CHEAT SHEET

THE END

Thank you for reading, and we have come to the end. I hope that it has helped you to better understand, and if you want to share anything with this guide, please feel free to comment below. Good luck and happy coding!