Add a white border to a photo
Set a photo on a white surround. Keep its shape with an even border, or pad it out to a square, portrait or story shape so that the whole picture fits where a crop would cut it.
- Runs in your browser
- Nothing is uploaded
- No sign-up
- Batch up to 20 images
Drag & drop your image here
or tap to browse · you can also paste from the clipboard
JPG · PNG · WebP · GIF · BMP · AVIF · SVG · up to 50 MB each · up to 20 files
Choose imagesBefore
Result
Processed image will appear here.
How to use the white border tool
Add the photo and choose the shape of the result: the same as the photo, or square, 4:5, 9:16, 16:9 or 3:2. White is added around it until it has that shape, with at least the border thickness you set on every side. The photo is not cropped or resized.
- Add your photoIt is given an even white border to start with.
- Pick a shape and thicknessSame shape, square, 4:5, 9:16, 16:9 or 3:2.
- DownloadThe whole photo, on its surround.
About this tool
Social feeds, print sizes and profile slots all have fixed shapes, and a photo that is the wrong shape gets cropped to fit. Padding is the alternative: instead of cutting the picture down to the shape, white is added on two sides until the picture and its surround together have that shape. Nothing in the photo is lost.
Choose the target shape, then set the border thickness. With thickness at zero the photo touches two edges of the new shape and has white bands on the other two. Raising it adds breathing space all round, the look of a matted print. White is the default because it disappears into most feeds and pages; the colour can be changed.
What you get
- Pads to square, 4:5, 9:16, 16:9 or 3:2 without cropping
- Or an even border that keeps the photo's shape
- White by default, any colour if you prefer
- The photo itself is never resized or cut
- Batch up to 20 photos
When to use the white border tool
Posting a whole photo to a feed
A tall or wide picture padded to a square or 4:5 shape appears complete where the app would otherwise crop it.
Stories and vertical video covers
A landscape photo padded to 9:16 fills a story frame with white above and below instead of being zoomed in.
Prints with a white margin
An even white border round a photo gives room for a mount or a frame to overlap without hiding the picture.
A gallery of mixed shapes
Padding every picture to the same shape lets portraits and landscapes sit in one tidy grid.
Shapes and where they are used
| Shape | Commonly used for | A wide photo gets | A tall photo gets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Same as the photo | Prints, a matted look | Even border all round | Even border all round |
| Square 1:1 | Feed posts, profile grids | Bands top and bottom | Bands left and right |
| Portrait 4:5 | Feed posts, the tallest most feeds show | Bands top and bottom | Narrow bands at the sides |
| Tall 9:16 | Stories, reels and shorts covers | Large bands top and bottom | Bands at the sides, or none |
| Wide 16:9 | Video thumbnails, slides | Thin bands, or none | Large bands left and right |
| Classic 3:2 | Photo prints such as 6 × 4 | Thin bands, or none | Bands left and right |
How it works
First the border thickness you set is added to all four sides, giving the smallest canvas that leaves that much white everywhere. If a target shape is chosen and that canvas is not already the right shape, it is then extended in one direction only, wider or taller, until its proportions match. The photo is placed in the centre, so the extra goes equally to both sides. Thickness is up to 25% of the photo's shorter side, and zero is allowed.
The photo is copied in at its original pixel dimensions, which is why the result is always larger in pixels than the original and never softer. The surround is painted as a flat colour. Where the photo has transparent areas, they stay transparent in PNG and WebP and are filled for JPG. A combination that would exceed what a browser can hold, such as a very large wide photo padded to 9:16, stops with a message.
Common problems and how to fix them
- The app still crops my picture
- Check which shape that part of the app uses and choose it here. A feed post is usually square or 4:5, a story is 9:16. If it still crops a little, raise the border thickness for more margin.
- The photo looks small inside the result
- A photo far from the target shape needs wide bands, a landscape picture in a 9:16 frame for instance. That is unavoidable without cropping. A shape closer to the photo's own wastes less space.
- The white bands do not match the app's background
- Dark-mode screens show white bands as bright bars. Change "Border colour" to black, or to the app's background colour.
- The file is too big to upload
- Padding adds pixels. Reduce the result with the Image Resizer or the Image Compressor.
Frequently asked questions
How do I post a full portrait or landscape photo without it being cropped?
Choose the shape the platform shows, usually Square 1:1 or Portrait 4:5 for a feed and Tall 9:16 for a story, and download. Your whole photo is inside that shape with white bands filling the rest, so the platform has nothing to crop.
Does it shrink my photo?
No. The photo is placed on the surround at its original pixel size, so the result is larger in pixels than the original, never smaller. If the platform then scales the whole image down, the photo inside it gets smaller on screen; that is the trade for not being cropped.
Can the border be a colour other than white?
Yes. Change "Border colour". Black suits dark-mode feeds, and a colour sampled from the photo can look more deliberate than either.
What is the difference between this and Add Border to Image?
That tool adds a frame of the same thickness on all four sides and never changes the picture's shape. This one can also change the shape, by adding more on two sides than on the other two, so that the result is exactly square or 4:5 or 9:16.
What size should the border be?
For a matted print look, 10 to 20 on the slider. To fit a shape with the photo as large as possible, set it to 0, so the photo reaches two edges of the result.
Can I get a blurred background instead of white?
Not here. The Zoom Out Image tool fills the space around a picture with a blurred copy of it, though it keeps the picture's own shape.