ShottieTo add padding to an image, open it above and drag the Padding slider; the space is added evenly on every side. Keep the checkered Transparent background for see-through padding in a PNG, or pick White or any colour. To pad to a shape, choose 1:1, 16:9, 4:3 or 4:5 and the padding grows on the short sides instead of cropping anything.
How to add padding to an image
- Open, drop or paste your image.
- Under Background, keep Transparent (the checkered tile) or choose a colour.
- Drag Padding. It starts at 10% here; 0% with a ratio pads only as much as the shape needs.
- Pick Auto to keep the image's own shape, or a ratio to pad to one.
- Download the PNG.
Transparent or coloured padding?
Transparent padding keeps the file see-through around the image, so it sits on whatever is behind it. That's what you want for logos, icons and cut-out stickers going onto a website or into a design. Coloured padding is for anything that gets posted: most social networks and chat apps convert uploads to JPEG, which has no transparency, so transparent edges usually come out white or black there. Pick the colour yourself instead of letting the platform choose.
How much padding to add
| Use | Padding | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Logo for a website header or an email signature | 3–5% | Auto |
| Icon or sticker with a transparent background | 5–10% | 1:1 |
| Product photo for a marketplace listing | 5–8%, white | 1:1 |
| Screenshot for a social post | 8–12%, a colour or gradient | 16:9 or 4:5 |
Padding in pixels
The slider is a share of the image's average side (the square root of width × height), so a wide banner and a tall portrait get the same visual breathing room. For a 1,000 × 1,000 image, 10% is 100 pixels on each side. For a 1920 × 1080 screenshot, the average side is 1,440 pixels, so 10% adds 144 pixels on each side. To hit an exact number, divide the pixels you want by that average side: 50 pixels on the 1920 × 1080 screenshot is about 3.5%.
Pad to square without cropping
Choose 1:1 and the canvas grows on the short sides until it's square, with the image centred. With Padding at 0%, a 1920 × 1080 image becomes 1920 × 1920, with 420 pixels added above and below. Add some padding as well and it's spread around all four sides first, then the short sides grow to square it off. 4:5 does the same for Instagram's portrait posts, and 16:9 turns a tall screenshot into something that fills a slide or an X post. For a visible frame rather than empty space, see add a border.
Padding on a web page, without editing the file
If the image lives on a web page you control, CSS can add the space around it without touching the file: img { padding: 16px; background: white; }. Edit the file itself when it goes somewhere you can't style: a social post, a marketplace, an app store, a slide or a document.
Quality and privacy
Your image isn't resampled: the padding is added around it and the download contains your original pixels, at the same resolution, as a PNG. JPEG, PNG, WebP and anything else your browser can open all work. Nothing is uploaded; the whole tool runs in this tab. If you want depth as well as space, the screenshot beautifier adds rounded corners and a shadow on a gradient.
Frequently asked questions
How do I add transparent padding to a PNG?
Open the image here, keep the checkered Transparent background selected, drag Padding, and download. The added space is transparent in the PNG.
How do I pad an image to a square?
Choose the 1:1 ratio. The short sides grow until the image is square, centred, with nothing cropped.
Can I add an exact number of pixels?
Padding is a percentage of the image's average side (the square root of width × height). Divide the pixels you want by that number: on a 1,000 × 1,000 image, 5% is 50 pixels.
Does adding padding reduce quality?
No. The image is never resized; the padding is added around your original pixels.
Is my image uploaded?
No. Everything runs in your browser, so there's no upload, queue or size limit from a server.
