Add a clean border to your photos
Frame a photo with a solid-color border — ideal for social posts that need a consistent look, print-style mats, or simply adding breathing room around an image. Pick any colour and set the thickness with a slider, and the border is drawn around your photo ready to download.
How it works
The tool loads your image onto a local <canvas>, then draws a solid rectangle of
the chosen colour around it:
border width = thickness% × shorter side of the photo
new size = original + 2 × border width (each dimension)Because thickness is a percentage of the shorter side, the frame looks proportional whether the photo is a small thumbnail or a large print, and the result is exported as a PNG.
Worked example
A 1000 × 800 photo with a 5% white border:
- Border width: 5% × 800 (shorter side) = 40 px
- Output size: 1080 × 880, with a 40 px white frame on every side
| Thickness setting | Shorter side | Border width | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | 800 px | 16 px | Thin accent frame |
| 5% | 800 px | 40 px | Social media mat |
| 10% | 800 px | 80 px | Print-style wide mat |
| 15% | 800 px | 120 px | Gallery frame effect |
Common use cases
Instagram and social media consistency
Photographers who post a mix of landscape, portrait, and square shots often use a white border to standardise the visual rhythm of their grid. Adding a consistent 5–8% white border to every image creates a neutral mat that makes different aspect ratios appear uniform in a feed without needing to crop or distort the original.
Print matting without a darkroom
A traditional print mat is a thick border of mounting board placed around a photograph to give it visual breathing room and set it apart from the frame. A white or off-white border added before printing on a home or lab printer achieves the same effect digitally. Use a 10–15% thickness for a classic mat look.
Product and e-commerce photography
Items photographed against a white background already blend with most platforms, but adding a thin 2–3% border keeps the image edge from merging with the page background and gives the product a clean, defined boundary.
Branding and identity
For businesses that add a solid-color brand border to photos — using a brand colour at the edge — this tool lets you apply that treatment in seconds without opening design software. Enter the brand hex code in the colour picker and export.
Border color tips
- White (#ffffff): The classic neutral mat. Works with almost any subject and platform.
- Black (#000000): Bold and graphic. Works best for high-contrast or monochrome photography.
- Off-white / cream: Warmer and more traditional than pure white; good for portrait and film photography styles.
- Brand color: Any custom hex code is supported via the colour picker.
It all runs on a local canvas, so your photos are never uploaded.