Add Image Border

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image border and frame

Image border and frame

A border can mean three quite different things: growing the canvas around the photo, shrinking the photo inside the original canvas, or building a frame with a fixed ratio for social media. Each mode changes the final file size differently, and mixing the three up is the most common cause of a cropped or stretched photo.

Expand, shrink or frame: three different geometries

In expand mode, the canvas grows around the original photo: a 1920×1080 image with a 5% border (relative to the shorter side) gains 54 px on each edge and becomes a 2028×1188 canvas, and the photo itself does not change by a single pixel. In inset mode, the canvas stays the same size and the photo is shrunk uniformly to fit the inner area, always by the same scale on both axes, which avoids the classic bug of stretching the image when the border removes a different percentage from width and height.
The border width is capped at 40% of the shorter side of the image when measured as a percentage, a ceiling that stops a border thick enough to swallow the photo itself. In frame mode, the canvas is resized to match a target ratio (1:1, 4:5, 16:9 or 9:16) before the photo goes in: a 1920×1080 photo framed into a 1:1 square with a 3% margin produces a 1984×1984 canvas, with the original 1920×1080 photo centred inside it, cropping nothing.
The real trap is the blurred fill in frame mode: the blur radius is not a fixed pixel value, it is calculated as a fraction of the shorter side of the final canvas itself, between 1% and 7% depending on the chosen intensity from 0 to 100. That means the same intensity setting produces a visually proportional blur on a 400 px thumbnail and on a 4000 px export; anyone expecting a fixed value like "20px blur" will see the result change from image to image.

Three modes, three outcomes

Expand 5% on 1920×1080

Input: 1920×1080, modo expandir, borda 5% (percentual)
Expected output: Borda de 54 px em cada lado, tela final 2028×1188

The percentage is always relative to the shorter side (1080), which is why 5% also becomes 54 px on the horizontal border.

Inset 54px on 1920×1080

Input: 1920×1080, modo para dentro, borda 54 px em todos os lados
Expected output: Tela permanece 1920×1080, foto reduzida para 1728×972 e centralizada

The scale is uniform (972/1080 = 1728/1920 = 0.9), the original 16:9 ratio does not change.

Polaroid preset

Input: margens 6% / 6% / 20% / 6% (topo/direita/baixo/esquerda)
Expected output: Moldura branca com "queixo" grosso embaixo para legenda, como uma Polaroid clássica

The margins are asymmetric on purpose: only the bottom gets 20%, the other three stay at 6%.

Full tool FAQ

What is the difference between expand, inner margin and social frame?

Expand grows the final dimensions and surrounds the whole image with the border. Inner margin keeps the original dimensions and shrinks the image to fit inside the border, preserving the aspect ratio (nothing gets squashed). Social frame pads the photo out to a target ratio (1:1, 4:5, 16:9) with colour bars or a blurred copy, computing the asymmetric padding for you.

Is the thickness in pixels or percent?

How do I turn a rectangular photo into a 1:1 for Instagram?

Is the image sent to a server?

Which formats and sizes are accepted?

Does a border help standardize product photos?

Does a 5% border look the same on differently sized images?

Does the inner margin distort the image?

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between "expand" and "inset" border modes?

Expand grows the canvas around the photo without touching a single pixel of the original image, so the final file ends up larger than the original. Inset keeps the canvas size and shrinks the photo proportionally to make room for the border inside it, so the final file has the same dimensions as the original.

Why is a percentage border not equal on all four sides of a rectangular photo?

It is actually equal in pixels: the percentage is calculated over the shorter side of the image and applied equally to all four sides, so the border looks visually uniform on a rectangular photo instead of being thicker on the longer axis.

How large can a percentage border go?

The cap is 40% of the shorter side of the image. Going past that would make the border eat up most of the frame, so the slider is locked at that ceiling.

What changes in the blurred-background Instagram frame preset?

The canvas is resized to a 4:5 ratio (Instagram vertical post format), and the leftover area around the original photo is filled with a blurred version of the photo itself, instead of a solid colour, so photos that were not shot in feed format do not show empty bars.

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image border and frame

Image border and frame

Expand, shrink or frame: three different geometries

In expand mode, the canvas grows around the original photo: a 1920×1080 image with a 5% border (relative to the shorter side) gains 54 px on each edge and becomes a 2028×1188 canvas, and the photo itself does not change by a single pixel. In inset mode, the canvas stays the same size and the photo is shrunk uniformly to fit the inner area, always by the same scale on both axes, which avoids the classic bug of stretching the image when the border removes a different percentage from width and height.

The border width is capped at 40% of the shorter side of the image when measured as a percentage, a ceiling that stops a border thick enough to swallow the photo itself. In frame mode, the canvas is resized to match a target ratio (1:1, 4:5, 16:9 or 9:16) before the photo goes in: a 1920×1080 photo framed into a 1:1 square with a 3% margin produces a 1984×1984 canvas, with the original 1920×1080 photo centred inside it, cropping nothing.

The real trap is the blurred fill in frame mode: the blur radius is not a fixed pixel value, it is calculated as a fraction of the shorter side of the final canvas itself, between 1% and 7% depending on the chosen intensity from 0 to 100. That means the same intensity setting produces a visually proportional blur on a 400 px thumbnail and on a 4000 px export; anyone expecting a fixed value like "20px blur" will see the result change from image to image.

Three modes, three outcomes

Expand 5% on 1920×1080

Input: 1920×1080, modo expandir, borda 5% (percentual)
Expected output: Borda de 54 px em cada lado, tela final 2028×1188

The percentage is always relative to the shorter side (1080), which is why 5% also becomes 54 px on the horizontal border.

Inset 54px on 1920×1080

Input: 1920×1080, modo para dentro, borda 54 px em todos os lados
Expected output: Tela permanece 1920×1080, foto reduzida para 1728×972 e centralizada

The scale is uniform (972/1080 = 1728/1920 = 0.9), the original 16:9 ratio does not change.

Polaroid preset

Input: margens 6% / 6% / 20% / 6% (topo/direita/baixo/esquerda)
Expected output: Moldura branca com "queixo" grosso embaixo para legenda, como uma Polaroid clássica

The margins are asymmetric on purpose: only the bottom gets 20%, the other three stay at 6%.

Full tool FAQ

What is the difference between expand, inner margin and social frame?

Is the thickness in pixels or percent?

How do I turn a rectangular photo into a 1:1 for Instagram?

Is the image sent to a server?

Which formats and sizes are accepted?

Does a border help standardize product photos?

Does a 5% border look the same on differently sized images?

Does the inner margin distort the image?

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between "expand" and "inset" border modes?

Why is a percentage border not equal on all four sides of a rectangular photo?

How large can a percentage border go?

The cap is 40% of the shorter side of the image. Going past that would make the border eat up most of the frame, so the slider is locked at that ceiling.