An image with a dimension of 48x48 literally means that you have an image consisting of 48 * 48 pixels. If you load that image into a control with an Image property, and the said control's dimension are bigger than that of the image itself, the image will be stretched (zoomed) to fit the dimension of the control. However, in a Picturebox you can control how an image is displayed - zoomed, stretched, centered, etc. As mentioned before, try and use a higher resolution image. Higher resolution means a higher number of pixels. That will give you an image file with a greater dimension. The control you are using the display the image (other than a picturebox) will fit the image according to its own dimensions and not that of the image. Make sure that the control's dimensions are relative to that of the image to prevent the image from being distorted.