What this border tool does
It adds space around a photo and fills it with a color, so the picture gets a frame. The border goes around the photo, never over it: every pixel of the picture stays, and the file gets larger by the border width on each side. On top of a plain border you can round the outer corners, draw a thin line in a second color along the edge of the photo, put the whole frame on a background with a soft drop shadow, and pad the result to a fixed shape.
Common uses:
- Prints: a white border, like the margin of a classic photo print, gives the picture room on the paper.
- Social posts: when a site shows pictures in a fixed shape, such as a square, a wide photo can lose its edges. Padded to that shape, the whole photo stays visible.
- Product photos: an even white or light gray border with a shadow sets a cut-out product apart from the page.
- Screenshots: rounded corners and a shadow make a screenshot look like a card on a slide or in a document.
Border width in pixels, percent and inches
Percent is measured on the shorter side of the photo, so a 5% border looks the same on a small and a large picture: 150 pixels on a 4,000 × 3,000 photo, 54 pixels on a 1,080 × 1,350 one. Pixels give an exact width, which matters for prints.
For a print, think in inches. Print shops ask for about 300 pixels per inch at the final size, and pixels divided by 300 give the width in inches. The guide to PPI and DPI explains the numbers in more detail.
| Border on the print | Pixels at 300 ppi, rounded |
|---|---|
| 1/8 inch | 38 |
| 1/4 inch | 75 |
| 1/2 inch | 150 |
| 1 inch | 300 |
A worked example: a 6 × 4 inch print at 300 ppi needs 1,800 × 1,200 pixels. To give it a quarter inch white border inside the same paper size, the photo itself must be 1,650 × 1,050 pixels, since 75 pixels go to each side. Resize the photo first with the image resizer, then add a 75 pixel border here. A wider bottom edge, set with Each side, gives the classic gallery look.
Padding to 1:1, 4:5, 9:16 or 16:9
Pad to a shape makes the canvas the smallest rectangle of that shape that holds the photo and its border, and centers the photo. Without a shadow the extra space has the border color, so it simply looks like a wider border on two sides. With a shadow the extra space goes to the background, so the frame and its shadow stay the same and float in the middle.
The square image maker does a similar job and is often the better choice: it can fill the space with a blurred copy of the photo, handles many photos at once, saves them as a ZIP and can output 1,080 or 2,048 pixels wide. This tool works on one photo, fills with a solid color only, never scales the photo and adds what the square maker lacks: a 16:9 shape, borders per side, rounded corners, an inner line and a shadow.
Rounded corners: PNG or JPEG
Rounded corners leave four small areas outside the curve. A PNG file can keep them transparent, because PNG stores an alpha value for every pixel, so the picture sits cleanly on any background. JPEG has no transparency, so the tool fills those areas with white, or with the background color you choose. The same goes for the space around a shadow. Pick PNG for rounded corners on a colored page and JPEG for smaller files on a white page. If the radius is larger than the border is wide, the curve also cuts the corners of the photo.
A photo with transparent parts, such as a logo, gets the border color behind it, so the frame is filled in. The shadow is drawn by the browser's canvas and uses a soft blur scaled to the size you set.
How to add a border to an image
- 1Drop a photo on the box or tap it to choose one. HEIC photos from an iPhone work too.
- 2Set the border width in percent or pixels, the same on all sides or per side, and pick a color, or the average or dominant color of the photo.
- 3Add rounded corners, an inner line, a shadow or a shape if you like, and check the preview.
- 4Choose PNG or JPEG and press Download image.
The download uses the full resolution of your photo. Only when the result is larger than the browser can draw, for example above 16.7 megapixels in Safari on iPhones before iOS 18, it is scaled down, and the tool says so.
Sources
- PrintNinja: Recommended resolution: 300 dpi recommended for all images at the size they print
- PrintingForLess: Image resolution for printing: at least 300 DPI at the final size
- W3C PNG Specification, third edition: section 4.5, truecolor with alpha, where every pixel has red, green, blue and alpha samples
Related guides
- How to Compress a Photo Under 100 KB
- PPI vs DPI: Image Resolution for Print and Screen
- Passport Photo Size by Country: US, UK, Canada and More
Frequently asked questions
Is my photo uploaded?
No. Your browser opens the photo, adds the border and saves the new file on your own device. Nothing is sent to a server.
Does the border cover part of my photo?
No. The border is added around the photo, so the picture keeps every pixel and the file gets bigger. A 4,000 × 3,000 pixel photo with a 150 pixel border on every side becomes 4,300 × 3,300 pixels. The only exception is rounded corners: a large radius with a thin border cuts the corners of the photo off along the curve.
How wide should a border be for a print?
Print shops ask for about 300 pixels per inch at the printed size, so 300 pixels of border print as one inch. A quarter inch is 75 pixels and half an inch is 150 pixels. Switch the width to pixels and the tool shows the width in inches at 300 ppi as you type.
Why are my rounded corners white instead of transparent?
JPEG has no transparency, so everything outside the rounded frame is filled with white, or with the background color you pick. Save as PNG to keep the corners transparent, for example to place the picture on a colored page.
What is the difference to the square image maker?
Both pad a photo to a square, 4:5 or 9:16 without cropping. The square image maker can fill the space with a blurred copy of the photo, works on many photos at once and saves them as a ZIP. This tool does one photo at a time with a solid color, and adds borders, 16:9, rounded corners, a thin inner line and a drop shadow.
What do the Average and Dominant colors mean?
Average is the mean of all pixels of your photo, which is usually a muted, calm tone. Dominant is the most common color: the tool sorts the pixels into 4,096 groups of similar colors and takes the mean of the largest group. Both are worked out from a smaller copy of the photo on your device.