Set the import size of large still images

Set the import size of large still images

You can set an option in the Preferences window to import large still images at their original size or scaled to fit the Canvas size.

  1. Choose Motion > Preferences (or press Command-Comma).

  2. In the Still Images & Layers area of the Project pane, click the Large Stills pop-up menu and choose a setting.

    Preferences window showing Project pane with Large Stills pop-up menu set to Scale to Canvas Size

    There are two options:

    • Do Nothing: Imports the image at its original size.

      In the following example, a 2311 x 1525 image is imported into a Broadcast HD 1080 project (1920 x 1080) with Do Nothing selected in Preferences. The image is larger than the Canvas.

      Canvas showing a large still imported using the Do Nothing setting

    • Scale to Canvas Size: Imports and scales the image to fit the project size while maintaining the image’s native aspect ratio.

      In the following example, the same image is imported with Scale to Canvas Size selected in Preferences.

      Canvas showing a large still imported using the Scale to Canvas Size setting

      The image is scaled—the equivalent of using the Select/Transform tool to scale down the image in the Canvas while pressing Shift.

To confirm that the image is merely transformed and has not changed resolution, you can select the image file in the Media list, then open the Media Inspector.

The Fixed Width and Fixed Height parameters display the resolution of the original file.

Media Inspector displaying the unchanged image resolution