What is the purpose of Content-Aware Scale and how is it used?

• A. Image > Adjustments > Content-Aware
• B. Layer > Smart Objects > Content-Aware
• C. Filter > Liquify
• D. Edit > Content-Aware Scale, then drag to resize and protect areas

Answer: (D)

Content-Aware Scale resizes an image while trying to keep important areas from distortion by analyzing the content and adjusting the surrounding pixels. To use it, go to Edit > Content-Aware Scale, then drag the handles to resize. In the options, you can set Protect to specify areas you want to keep intact (like a person’s face or a landmark) by selecting a region, layer, or channel to guide the scaling. This makes it possible to change the image’s dimensions without warping key elements as much as with ordinary scaling. The other paths listed don’t activate this tool—Adjustments applies color and tonal tweaks, Liquify is a separate warping tool, and Content-Aware Scale isn’t accessed through those menus.