拡大 and 縮小: changing a photograph’s display size
Read 拡大 and 縮小 when they change the represented size of a photo or drawing. Distinguish an enlarged photograph from the actual object shown in it.
拡大 makes the photograph larger
拡大, read かくだい, means enlargement. 小さな写真を拡大して壁に飾った。 says that someone enlarged a small photograph and displayed it on the wall.
The object enlarged here is the photograph. Even if a person appears in it, the sentence does not say that the person’s body grew larger.
縮小版 is a smaller representation
縮小, read しゅくしょう, means reduction in size. 写真の縮小版を資料に載せた。 says that someone included a reduced-size version of the photograph in the materials.
縮小版 is a representation made smaller than the original photograph. The sentence describes the photo included in the materials, not a reduction in the real size of the objects it shows.
Identify what was enlarged or reduced
If a photograph is printed at twice a particular length, the comparison concerns that length of the print. It does not double the real length or number of objects shown in the photograph.
Identify the noun naming the representation, such as a photo or drawing, before interpreting 拡大 or 縮小. Questions about area or volume require additional conditions about which lengths changed and by what ratio.
Does including a 写真の縮小版 in the materials mean the real object in the photo became smaller?
Show the answer and why
No. The representation included in the materials was made smaller. The sentence gives no change in the real object’s size.