How to use PixPad

Getting started

PixPad frames and styles one image at a time. It runs in your browser, needs no account and costs nothing. Every control is optional, so you can open an image, pick a size and download.

1. Open an image. Drag it onto the canvas, click Choose image, or paste it with ⌘V on a Mac or Ctrl+V on Windows.
2. Pick a size. Open Aspect ratio and choose a ready-made size or a ratio such as 1:1.
3. Adjust. Move, scale or crop the image inside the frame. A background fills any empty space.
4. Decorate if you like. Add a border, an effect, text, arrows or other shapes.
5. Download. Choose a file format and click Download. To paste the result into another app instead, click Copy to clipboard.

Source

Open an image from your device by dragging it onto the page, clicking Choose image to browse, or pasting it from the clipboard. PixPad reads the image in your browser. It never leaves your device.

There is also Blank canvas, for when you want to build a graphic from a background, text and shapes without a photo.

Presets

A preset is a saved set of your settings. In My presets, type a name under Preset name and click Save. Later, click Load to apply it to another image in one step, or Delete to remove it.

Export presets writes them to a file and Import presets reads such a file back, which is how you move them to another browser or computer. Presets are stored in this browser.

Canvas

The canvas is the frame your image sits in. Aspect ratio sets its shape.

• Social media aspect ratios lists ready-made sizes for platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube and X (Twitter).
• General aspect ratios lists plain ratios such as 1:1, 4:5 and 9:16.
• Original keeps the shape of your image. Landscape, Portrait and Custom choose the direction of the frame, and Custom lets you type a width and a height yourself.
• Output resolution shows the size in pixels of the file you will export.

Image

Scale & Position

Scale the image up or down, move it inside the frame and rotate it. Flip horizontal and Flip vertical mirror the image, and pressing a button again turns the mirror off. The mirror applies to the image and its blurred background only, never to shapes or text. Reset to center also turns both mirrors off. While this panel is open you can also drag the image directly on the canvas. Turn on Scale resizes the canvas to make the canvas follow the image instead of adding a background.

Crop

Trim any edge of the image to remove unwanted space or to focus on one area. Maintain aspect ratio keeps the image in proportion while you trim. Crop resizes the canvas shrinks the canvas to match the crop. Undo crop puts the image back as it was.

Effects

Round the corners of the image with Corner radius, add depth with Shadow, or change the mood with a Filter: None, Vivid, Grayscale, Sepia, Warm or Cool. Tick Apply to background to give the background the same filter.

Composition

Background

The background fills whatever the image does not cover. Choose Blur, a blurred copy of your image, Solid, one colour, or Gradient, a blend of colours at an Angle you set. Suggested colors are taken from your image, so they match it.

Border

Tick Enable border to frame the image. Set the Thickness of the Top, Right, Bottom and Left sides separately, or switch on Link sides to move all four together, and pick any colour.

Shapes

Use Add shape to place a rectangle, a rounded rectangle, an arrow, a circle, a blur area or a text on the image, then drag it where you want it. Hold Option on a Mac, or Alt on Windows, while dragging to leave a copy behind.

A blur shape hides what is under it, for example a face or a licence plate. Edge softness sets how gradually its edge fades. For a text shape, type the words into Text content.

Guide grid

Turn on the Guide grid to line up text and shapes precisely.

Output

Choose the Image file format, then click Download to save the file. Copy to clipboard copies the image so you can paste it straight into another app, and a copy is always a PNG. Estimated file size shows roughly how large the download will be.

The top bar

The bar along the top holds Light and Dark tiles and Help, which opens this page. PixPad remembers your choices in this browser.

Reset all parameters, at the bottom of the side panel, puts every setting back to its default after you confirm. The line under it shows the version, how much storage PixPad uses in this browser, and your screen’s pixel ratio.

Handy tips

• Pick the size first. It saves guessing the right dimensions later.
• If the image does not fill the frame, a blurred background usually looks the most polished.
• Use Suggested colors for the background or border to match the image exactly.
• Save your favourite combinations as presets to keep one style across everything you post.
• Not sure about the format? PNG for sharp text, JPG for photos, WebP for the smallest file.
• Hide private details with a blur shape before you share an image.

Privacy

PixPad counts how often it is used, nothing more. It counts three things: the app was opened, an image was loaded, and an image was exported. A count carries no image, file name, setting or text. Your images never leave your device.

The counting is done by GoatCounter, a service for simple visit counts. With each count, GoatCounter also receives the page address including anything after a question mark, the website you came from when you opened PixPad, and your screen size. GoatCounter says it does not store your IP address or browser name. It keeps them in the memory of its server for 8 hours so the same visit is not counted twice.

PixPad does not count when your browser sends the Global Privacy Control signal, or when you switch counting off here.