image tool
Add border to image
Pick a colour and a width in pixels and the border is added around the outside of the photo, so none of the picture is covered. Round the corners if you like, or pad the result to an Instagram square or 4:5 portrait without cropping anything.
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- Runs on your device, nothing is uploaded
- Free, no sign in
- No watermark, no file limit
How it works
- 1
Drop the image
A white border at 4% of the shorter side is added at once, and the readout shows the old and the new pixel size.
- 2
Choose colour and width
Pick any colour, then type the width in pixels or drag the slider. The same width goes on all four edges.
- 3
Square or rounded
Rounded corners curve the outside of the frame, and the photo's corners inside it curve by that radius less the border, so the band stays even.
- 4
Pad for Instagram if needed
Instagram 1:1 or 4:5 adds more border on two sides until the whole frame is that shape, so nothing is cropped on upload.
- 5
Download
Save as JPG or PNG. The file name gets border added. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is stored, ever.
Outside the picture, never on top of it
Some border tools paint the frame over the edge of the photo, which quietly crops it. This one makes a bigger canvas, fills it with the border colour and places the untouched photo in the middle. Every pixel of the original is still there, and the result is exactly twice the border width larger in each direction. The readout under the preview shows the before and after sizes, so you know what you will get before you download, which matters when a site or a printer asks for exact dimensions.
The white border for Instagram
Instagram's feed shows posts from 1.91:1 landscape to 4:5 portrait at 1,080 pixels wide, and a square at 1,080 by 1,080. A landscape photo posted as a portrait gets cropped at the sides; posted as is, it shows small. Padding it to 4:5 with a white or brand colour band keeps the whole photo and fills the tall frame, which is why the white border look is common on photographers' grids. The 1:1 preset does the same for a square grid. Both presets keep your border width as the minimum and add the rest where the shape needs it.
Choosing a width and colour
Thin borders, 1 to 2% of the shorter side, read as a neat edge on a busy page. Around 4 to 6% looks like a print mount, which is the classic gallery feel. White suits most photos and pages; black makes colours look richer and works on dark slides; a colour picked from the photo itself, or your brand colour, ties a set of images together. Rounded corners suit app style layouts and profile cards more than prints, where square edges look more natural.
Limits worth knowing
The border is added outside the pixels, so the export grows by twice the width, and the Instagram presets can make it grow more on two sides. If a platform needs an exact size, resize after adding the border, not before. Rounded corners need transparency outside the curve, which only the PNG keeps; JPG fills those corners with white. The tool opens images up to 8,192 pixels on the long side and refuses bigger ones with a plain message.
The same frame inside the builders
A flyer image slot has its own frame setting, None, Thin, Medium or Thick, in Mat, White, Ink or Brand colours, plus corner radius and a drop shadow. A slide image slot has frames of 6, 12 or 20 pixels in the same four colours. If the photo is going into one of those, upload it plain and set the frame there, so it follows the theme when the theme changes.
Limits
- The border is added outside the pixels, so the export grows by twice the width: a 1,080 wide photo with a 40 px border saves 1,160 wide.
- Rounded corners leave the four outside corners transparent in a PNG; a JPG fills them with white.
- The Instagram presets pad the frame to the shape but do not resize it. Instagram scales anything wider than 1,080 pixels down itself.
- The width box takes up to 2,000 pixels. Images larger than 8,192 pixels on the long side are refused with a message.
What it does not do
- It does not draw decorative frames, shadows, film edges or patterns. One flat colour only.
- It does not crop. To fill a shape by trimming instead of padding, use the image cropper.
- It does not keep EXIF data.
Questions people ask
How wide should a border be for Instagram?
On a 1,080 wide post, 30 to 60 pixels on each side reads as a clean mount without shrinking the photo much. Pick the 4:5 preset for portrait posts, which adds extra above and below a landscape photo. Keep the same width and colour across a series so the grid looks planned, and preview it at phone size before posting.
Can I add a border to only some sides?
Not directly; the width applies to all four edges equally. The padding presets are the one exception: they add extra on two opposite sides to reach a 1:1 or 4:5 shape. For a caption strip at the bottom only, a flyer or slide layout is the better tool, because it can hold text in that space as well.
Will the border make my photo blurry?
No. The photo is placed at its original size, one pixel to one pixel, with no scaling. Only the canvas around it grows. If it looks soft after upload, the site has resized it. Instagram, for example, scales anything wider than 1,080 pixels, so a large photo plus a border can be resized more than the photo alone would be.
What colour border looks best on a photo?
White is the safe default for prints and light pages, black for dark pages and moody photos. A colour sampled from the photo looks deliberate: pick it with the colour picker from image tool, then paste the hex into the colour box here. Avoid a strong colour that competes with the subject, because the eye goes to the frame first.
Why are the corners of my rounded border white?
You saved as JPG. Rounded corners leave the area outside the curve empty, and JPG cannot store empty, transparent pixels, so it fills them with white. Choose PNG in the Save as list to keep those corners clear, so the frame sits on any background. The checkered pattern in the preview shows exactly which areas will be transparent.
Frame the photo inside a flyer
Take what you made here into flyers.
Create a flyer with OneCraftMore tools like this
- Round image corners onlineRound image corners online with a radius slider, or crop a full circle for a profile photo. Saves a PNG with transparent corners, made on your own device.
- Image cropperCrop with a draggable box and 44 pixel handles, locked shapes for square, 4:5, 9:16 and 16:9, thirds guides, quarter turns and arrow key nudging.
- Image resizerResize a batch of images to an exact width, height or percentage. Fit, fill or stretch, with a stepped downscale that keeps detail. Nothing is uploaded.
- Colour picker from imageDrag a magnifier across a picture and read the pixel under it as hex, RGB, HSL and OKLCH, with sample averaging, arrow key nudging and a history of picks.
- Add text to image onlineAdd text to an image online: pick one of 27 fonts, a size, colour, opacity and rotation, drag it into place and save a PNG. Your photo is never uploaded.
Background reading: the question page on this.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .