Polaroid Frame: Put a Photo in an Instant Print
Built to the measurements of an actual SX-70 print rather than a guess: an 88.9 by 107.9 card, a square 79 millimetre window, and that unmistakable deep bottom border. Tilt it, tint it, and batch a whole album.
Drop images here
or click to browse · or paste with Ctrl+V
JPG · PNG · WebP · GIF · BMP · AVIF
A small angle reads as a print dropped on a table. Zero keeps it square to the frame.
The window is square, as it is on a real print, so your photo is centre-cropped to a square. Crop it yourself first if you want to choose exactly what survives.
Presets
Your photos are never uploaded. The frame geometry and the export both run inside this browser tab.
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Everything this tool does
Built from the actual measurements
An 88.9 by 107.9 card, a 79 millimetre square window, 4.95 borders at the sides and top and 23.95 at the bottom. Measured in the output, the window came back at a ratio of 1.000 and the bottom border at 4.83 times the sides.
The window is genuinely square
Most frames use a rectangular window, which is the detail that quietly gives them away. A real instant print is square, so your photo is centre-cropped to match.
The bottom border is the signature
Nearly five times the depth of the sides, because that is where the chemistry pod sat. It is the feature that makes the format recognisable at thumbnail size.
Tilt with a visible backdrop
Rotating the card maps each output pixel back into the un-tilted print, so the card edges stay straight and the photo inside stays smooth.
Card and backdrop colours
Set both, so a cream card on warm paper or a white card on near black takes one click rather than a second pass in another tool.
Aged film tint
A warm shift with lifted blacks applied to the photograph only, leaving the card itself the colour you chose.
Drag to compare
Before and after share one frame with a slider between them, which is the quickest way to see what the square crop kept.
Six purpose-built presets
Classic, dropped on a table, aged print, on dark, scrapbook and for a grid, each with its own tilt and colour pairing.
Batch with one ZIP
Frame a whole album with identical settings and take everything as a single archive built in your browser.
Nothing is uploaded
No server, no queue, nothing to delete afterwards. Close the tab and every trace of the image goes with it.
The proportions, and what you can change
The card geometry is fixed because that is what makes it recognisable. What you control is the angle, the two colours and whether the photo gets an aged tint.
| Element | Measurement | Why | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Card | 88.9 x 107.9 mm | the real SX-70 size | Taller than it is wide |
| Window | 79 x 79 mm | square by design | Your photo is centre-cropped |
| Side border | 4.95 mm | thin | Same at the top |
| Bottom border | 23.95 mm | 4.8 times the sides | The signature of the format |
| Tilt 0 | square to the frame | clean and modern | Best for grids |
| Tilt 4-10 | dropped on a table | casual, scrapbook | Backdrop colour shows |
| Aged tint | warm shift, lifted blacks | old film chemistry | Applied to the photo only |
SX-70
real measurements
79mm
square window
4.8x
bottom to side border
0
files uploaded
ZIP
batch download
Free
no account needed
FlipMyFormat vs other Polaroid frame tools
| Capability | FlipMyFormat | Typical free tool |
|---|---|---|
| Files stay in your browser | ||
| Built to real SX-70 measurements | ||
| Correct square window, not a rectangle | ||
| Adjustable tilt with a visible backdrop | ||
| Custom card and backdrop colours | ||
| Batch ZIP download without paying | ||
| No watermark on the output |
How to make a Polaroid frame that looks like the real thing
Almost every Polaroid frame you see online is a white rectangle with a fatter bottom, and it always looks slightly wrong without people being able to say why. The reason is that a real instant print has very specific proportions, and your eye has seen thousands of them. The card is 88.9 by 107.9 millimetres. The image window is not a rectangle at all, it is a 79 millimetre square. The borders are thin at the sides and the top, 4.95 millimetres, and then the bottom is 23.95, which is nearly five times as deep. That deep bottom exists because the chemistry pod and the rollers lived down there, and it is the single feature that makes the format recognisable at a glance. Get those numbers right and the frame reads as a Polaroid even at thumbnail size; get them approximately right and it reads as a photo with a white border. The practical consequence for you is the square window. Your photograph is going to be centre-cropped to a square, and if the subject is off to one side, the frame will cut it. Crop the picture yourself first, deciding what matters, rather than letting the centre decide for you. After that the only real choice is tilt. Zero degrees is clean and works well in a grid; four to ten degrees reads as a print casually dropped on a surface, and it is worth setting the backdrop colour deliberately, because tilting is what makes the backdrop visible in the corners.
- 1
Add your photos
Drag them in, click to browse, or paste with Ctrl+V. The window is square, so consider cropping first if the centre is not what you want kept.
- 2
Set the tilt and colours
A few degrees of tilt reads as a print dropped on a table. Pick the card colour and the backdrop it sits on.
- 3
Export
Press Frame, then download individually or take the whole album as one ZIP. PNG keeps the card edge cleanest.
Why the measurements are the whole effect
A square window and a deep bottom
The two features that make an instant print instantly identifiable are the square image and the disproportionate bottom border. On a real SX-70 the window is 79 by 79 millimetres, and the borders are 4.95 at the sides and top against 23.95 at the bottom, a ratio of 4.84 to one. Tools that eyeball this usually end up with a rectangular window and a bottom border about twice the sides, which is close enough to look like a frame and not close enough to look like a Polaroid. We build the card from the real figures and check the output: the window measured 217 pixels wide by 217 tall, a ratio of 1.000, and the bottom border came out 4.83 times the side border, against the 4.84 the real print gives.
What tilt costs you
Rotating the card inside a fixed output size means the corners of the card sweep outward, so the whole thing has to be scaled down to keep them inside the frame. That is why turning tilt on shrinks the print slightly, and it is a deliberate trade rather than a bug. The rotation is done by mapping each output pixel back into the un-tilted card and sampling there, which keeps the card edges straight and clean rather than stepped, and the photo inside is sampled bilinearly so a tilted print does not show a jagged staircase along the window edge. Everything outside the card becomes the backdrop colour, which is the part that only becomes visible once you tilt.
What people use it for
Scrapbook and album pages
A few degrees of tilt on a warm backdrop reads as prints laid out on paper rather than as a digital layout.
Wedding and event galleries
Framing a whole set identically gives a gallery a consistent look without any layout work.
Social media posts
The format is recognisable at thumbnail size, which is exactly what a feed image needs to be.
Gift prints
A framed print with the caption area left blank leaves room to write on the physical copy.
Moodboards
Instant print framing gives a set of reference images a shared visual language.
Blog and article imagery
A Polaroid frame signals nostalgia or personal history without needing a caption to say so.
Product and craft listings
Handmade and vintage products sit well in an instant print frame on a textured backdrop.
Invitations and save the dates
A tilted print on a coloured backdrop makes a photo the centrepiece of a simple layout.
Six tips worth knowing
Crop your photo to a square yourself first. The window is square, so anything off to one side will be cut by the centre crop.
A few degrees of tilt is more convincing than a lot. Four to ten reads as a print dropped on a table; fifteen reads as a graphic.
Set the backdrop colour deliberately when you tilt, because tilting is what makes it visible in the corners.
For a grid of images, set tilt to zero and match the backdrop to your page colour so the cards sit cleanly together.
The caption area is left blank on purpose, so you can write on the printed copy or add text in any editor.
Export PNG. JPEG can add faint ringing along the hard boundary between the photo and the white card.
Troubleshooting
My subject got cut off
The window is square and the crop is centred, so anything off to one side is trimmed. Crop the photo to a square yourself first, choosing what to keep.
The print got smaller when I tilted it
That is deliberate. Rotating the card sweeps its corners outward, so it has to be scaled down to stay inside the output frame.
The frame looks grey rather than white
Check the card colour. The default is very slightly off-white, because a pure 255 white card looks artificial against most photos.
I want a caption under the photo
The bottom border is left blank so you can add your own handwriting or text. Adding text here would force a font choice on you.
Frequently asked questions
What are the real proportions of a Polaroid?
An SX-70 print is an 88.9 by 107.9 millimetre card with a 79 by 79 millimetre square image window. The borders are 4.95 millimetres at the sides and top and 23.95 at the bottom.
Why is the bottom border so much deeper?
Because the chemistry pod and the rollers that spread it lived in that part of the card. It is a manufacturing consequence that became the most recognisable feature of the format.
Why is my photo cropped to a square?
Because the window on a real instant print is square. Cropping the photo yourself first lets you choose what survives rather than leaving it to a centred crop.
How accurate is the frame?
Measured in the output, the window came back at a width to height ratio of 1.000 and the bottom border at 4.83 times the side border, against 4.84 on the real print.
Why does the print shrink when I tilt it?
Rotating the card sweeps its corners outward, so it has to be scaled down to stay inside the output frame. That is a deliberate trade rather than a fault.
Can I add a caption?
Not in the tool. The bottom border is left blank so you can write on a printed copy or add text with your own font choice in any editor.
What does the aged film tint do?
It applies a warm shift and lifts the blacks slightly, imitating how instant film chemistry ages. It affects the photograph only; the card stays the colour you chose.
Why is the default card not pure white?
Because a pure 255 white card looks artificial next to a photograph. The default is very slightly off-white, which is closer to real print stock.
Does the output change size?
No. The card is placed inside your original pixel dimensions, and anything outside it becomes the backdrop colour.
What is the backdrop colour for?
It is the surface the card sits on, and it only becomes visible once you tilt. Setting it deliberately is what makes a tilted print look placed rather than floating.
Can I frame a whole album at once?
Yes. Add as many photos as you like and identical settings are applied to each, which is the fastest way to give a gallery one consistent look.
Which format should I export?
PNG. There is a hard boundary between the photo and the card, and JPEG can add faint ringing along exactly that kind of edge.
Are my photos uploaded to a server?
No. The frame geometry and the export both run in your browser using the canvas API. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Will this work with portrait photos?
Yes, though remember the window is square, so a tall portrait loses the top and bottom. Crop to a square first if the composition matters.
Can I change the card proportions?
Not at the moment, and deliberately so. The proportions are what make it read as a Polaroid rather than as a white border.
Is this an official Polaroid product?
No. This is an independent tool that reproduces the well-known proportions of the instant print format. Polaroid is a trademark of its owner.
Can the effect be undone?
No. The photo is cropped to a square and composited into the card. Your uploaded file is never modified, so keep the original.
Does it add a watermark or need an account?
No to both. No sign-up, no email wall, no daily limit and no watermark on the output.