When to expand instead of crop
A horizontal photo you need to post at 9:16, or a tall photo you need as a square: cropping cuts off part of the scene or the product, and white bars make it look pasted on. Expand image paints background that matches the original so the photo fills the frame.
For shop photos this helps because marketplaces dislike cropped photos: TikTok Shop requires the main photo to show the whole product, not cropped; Shopee advises against zoomed-in and cropped photos.
How to expand a photo
- Add the photo Open Expand image and drop a JPEG, PNG or WebP (up to 25 MB), or paste with Ctrl+V.
- Choose the new shape Choose 9:16, 1:1, or 16:9, 4:3, 3:2, 3:4, 2:3. To grow one direction only, choose Custom and drag Grow sideways and Grow up and down, up to 100%, split equally between the two sides.
- Let the AI paint It starts as soon as you choose a shape. Drag the divider between Before and After, or press Zoom to check the seam.
- Download Press Download. The photo is saved as a JPEG named after your file with -expanded at the end.
Which shape to choose
- 9:16: Facebook and Instagram Stories, Reels and TikTok.
- 1:1: Shopee and TikTok Shop product photos, square posts.
- 3:4: fashion photos on Shopee, for the photos after the cover (the cover stays 1:1).
- 16:9: YouTube thumbnails, wide banners.
- Need exact pixels, such as 1080×1920: put the expanded photo through Resize & add logo with Tall 9:16 · 1080 × 1920. Same shape, so nothing more is cut.
Tips for a natural-looking result
- Plain backgrounds (a bare wall, a tabletop, the sky) usually blend best. Busy ones with text, people or shelves show the painted part more easily.
- Keep the whole product inside the original photo. If the edge cuts off part of the product, the AI paints that part itself, and it may not match the real item.
- The more you grow, the more the AI guesses. A 4:3 landscape photo turned into 9:16 grows to about 2.4 times its height, so check the top and bottom closely.
- A very large result is scaled down as a whole, so the shape stays the one you chose.
Free runs, and where the photo goes
You get free runs every day, with or without an account: 5 at the time of writing, reset at 00:00 UTC. After that each run costs credits and needs an account; see the pricing page.
The photo goes to Yangopen's server, which sends a copy to an outside cloud AI service to paint the new area. It is processed in memory, not stored and not used to train AI.
When this tool is not the right one
- A cover photo that needs a clean white background: remove the background with Remove background rather than letting AI paint more of it.
- You only need a square with white or blurred bars: Resize & add logo with Keep the whole photo, white around or a blurred copy, free, unlimited and on your device.
- What is missing is the product itself: reshoot. A product photo must show what the buyer receives, and TikTok Shop requires photos that truthfully show the product.
Frequently asked questions
Is expanding an image with AI free?
You get free runs every day, 5 at the time of writing, with no account needed. After that each run costs credits and needs an account.
Does the AI change my photo?
No. It paints only the new area; your photo is kept, with a soft blend along the seam so there is no hard line.
Which shapes can I choose?
16:9, 4:3, 3:2, 1:1, 3:4, 2:3 and 9:16. With Custom, the photo grows sideways and up and down by up to 100% of its width or height.
Where does my photo go?
To Yangopen's server and an outside cloud AI service that paints the new area. It is not stored. If that service does not answer, Yangopen's own server does the whole job.
Can I do it inside Claude?
Yes, through the Yangopen connector: ask Claude to expand a photo to a new shape and get a download link back. Free runs and price are the same as on the web. See how to set it up inside Claude.
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