Best AI image extenders to expand a picture [2024]

Product photos, social media graphics, and marketing materials all rely on crisp, high-quality images to grab attention and make an impact. But these images are never a one-size-fits-all and trying to expand that perfect product shot with your camera and collage apps to fit your website banner will only lead to blurry, pixelated disasters.

However, thanks to AI, you can expand your existing photos to any dimension seamlessly, while keeping them looking crisp and high-resolution. In this article, we'll explore the best free AI image extenders available and how to use them effectively.

What are AI image extenders?

AI image extenders help you to expand images without losing quality. They use artificial intelligence to analyze the contents of an image and generate new visual data to extend it in any direction. This is different from traditional resizing because normal image enlargers simply try to stretch the pixels in the image, while an AI image extender generates new pixels to fill the size up.

For example, let's say you have a great landscape photo of a mountain range, but you need to create a panoramic banner for your website or print materials. An AI image extender can analyze the scene and actually generate entirely new mountainous terrain, skyline, and other details to extend the horizon outward as wide as you need.

Best AI image expanders

We have selected five AI image extenders that use generative AI to give you a "peek" outside of what the original lens captured with highly realistic results. This list has free image expanders and some paid ones with free trials.

1. Photoroom AI Image Expander: Best for content creators and solopreneurs

Photoroom’s AI Image Expander allows you to easily adjust awkward framing issues, preserve zoomed-in visuals, or even convert vertical images to horizontal aspect ratios with just a few clicks. It uses advanced outpainting technology to extend the boundaries of your images, ensuring high-quality results without any visible loss in resolution. 

It’s particularly effective for projects where you might need to alter framing or adapt image dimensions like product images for social media or marketing materials. It saves time and reduces the need for reshoots due to initial framing errors. It’s designed for flexibility, enabling you to achieve the exact look you envision for advertisements, posters, and more. 

The AI Image Expand is part of the Resize function in the mobile app. So, when you want to resize an image to fit a particular dimension, you no longer have to worry about losing some parts of the picture. 

Photoroom’s expansion process is very easy. Once you upload the image and click resize, you immediately get a list of sizes ranging from social media platforms to online marketplaces like Shopify, Etsy, Amazon, etc. After you select your size, it generates multiple AI output options so you can choose the one that best fits your specific design vision. It is currently available on iOS only but it is coming soon to all platforms. 

Key features

Creative control: Photoroom gives you full control over the editing process including positioning. You can choose to position the original image on the far left and expand to the far right or center it and expand all around. 

Extensive custom sizes: Photoroom has a more exhaustive list of custom sizes for multiple content creation use cases.

Multiple outputs: Another flexibility advantage with Photoroom is that you are not restricted to one result. It generates multiple outputs for you to choose from. 

Pricing

Photoroom’s AI Image Expander is available on the Pro plan at 9.99 USD per month. There is a 7-day free trial to fully test out the features.

See here the review for the best image generator if you are interested in learning more about image generators.

2. Canva Magic Expand: Best for design and marketing agencies

Magic Expand is an AI image extender by Canva that uses advanced machine learning algorithms to extend images beyond their original borders seamlessly.

It leverages artificial intelligence to analyze the existing visual elements, patterns, textures, and context within an image, and then intelligently generate new pixel data to expand the canvas in any direction desired by the user.

Canva has integrated this AI image extender directly into their design interface, making it easily accessible to Pro users alongside Canva's existing editing tools. You need to select the image you want to expand within a Canva design and activate the Magic Expand feature. The process might be a bit too lengthy if you need a quick AI extended image.

Key features

Freeform selection: Users can select a specific freeform area of the image to expand, giving flexibility. 

Aspect ratio: There are multiple aspect ratio presets to choose from, but no platform-specific resolution templates like in Photoroom.

Style matching: The AI matches the color palette and style of the original, blending the newly generated areas naturally.

Multiple options: Users can explore different AI-generated expansion options to pick the one that best fits their design vision.

Pricing

The tool is currently available only as part of Canva's Pro subscription plan at $12.99/month. There is a 30-day free trial period.

3. Fotor AI Image Extender: Best for graphic designers

Fotor AI Image Extender allows users to extend images by zooming out to a maximum of 2x around the original image or by inputting a custom size. The AI algorithm analyzes the existing image and creates a seamless extension by intelligently generating realistic content that blends with the original.

After expansion, it also auto-fills missing contextual details in the newly generated areas in a realistic manner that matches the scene/environment of the photo background. This might make the processing speed a bit slower than the rest of the tools on the list.

Fotor’s AI Image Extender does not have pre-set size templates like most of the tools on the list. So, it might not be ideal for content creators or online business owners who need quick images that fit into a desired platform. You would have to know the exact dimensions of the platform if you want to use Fotor’s tool. 

It is best for graphic designers and photographers looking to refine and expand their visual content, such as zooming out an image to make it look like the shot was taken from a far distance.

Key features

Flexibility: You can adjust the output image size, reposition the original image on the canvas, change aspect ratios from square to rectangle/landscape, etc. 

Pricing

Fotor’s AI Image Extender is part of their premium plan. There is a free trial period. Afterward, you can subscribe to the Pro plan at $8.99 per month or $3.99/month if billed annually.

4. PicsArt AI Image Extender: Best for social media and personal photos

Picsart AI Expand uses context-aware generative AI to resize images from portrait to landscape and vice versa. It uses inpainting and outpainting to fill in the missing pixels in your image and extend it beyond the original size. 

This makes it easy to transform portraits into landscape images (like YouTube thumbnails), extend backgrounds for product shots, or create entirely new imagined scenes and environments from your original photo background

To use Picsart AI Expand to extend your images, you can select a predefined size or just drag the corners of your image to your desired size. You can also take it a step further by using prompts to customize what you want AI to include in the expanded area.

For example, if you want to expand a picture of a bedroom, you can include a prompt asking the AI to add bedside lamps in the expansion instead of plants.

Key features

Context-aware AI: This allows the system to understand the image context and generate new matching pixels.

Social media templates: Picsart AI Expand has a few size templates you can choose from to fit your image into any social media platform.

Custom expand prompts: It uses a prompt system to help you add specific details to the extended area.

Pricing

PicsArt AI Expand is free for the first three images. You will need a subscription to expand more. The paid plans start from $13 per month or $60 annually.

5. ExtendImageAI: Best for simple image resizing

ExtendImageAI is a simple, web-based, free image expander. One of its standout features is the ability to input image URLs directly, enhancing user convenience significantly. You can also guide the expansion process through specific prompts, which allows for a more directed and intentional design outcome. 

However, this tool has a very limited sizing proportion. You can only select three sizes for your image: square, mobile screen size, and PC screen size. The size of your image cannot go outside these dimensions. Also, the maximum file size allowed is 4MB which can be restrictive, depending on your goal. 

Key features

Direct URL input: ExtendImageAI offers a unique feature where users can directly input an image link instead of uploading an image.

Image prompts: You can provide specific expansion prompts, allowing for a highly personalized editing process.

Custom output control: Users can specify the number of output variations they wish to generate.

Pricing

ExtendImageAI is free to use.

Benefits of AI Image Extenders 

There are multiple benefits of using an AI image extender in your creation process. These include: 

Maintain high image quality: One of the biggest benefits is that you can resize and extend images to any dimension without losing quality or getting blurry images. AI extenders generate new realistic pixel data to extend the canvas seamlessly.

Expand creative possibilities: AI extenders open up unlimited creative potential for transforming images in ways that were previously impossible or extremely difficult. You can expand backgrounds, add new visual elements, change aspect ratios, and create entirely new composite scenes from your original photos.

More cost-effective than reshoots: For businesses, product photographers, and content creators, AI extenders provide a much more cost-effective solution than reshooting images or purchasing stock photos in various sizes.

Enables repurposing content: A single image can now be repurposed and optimized for any use case - social media posts, website graphics, print marketing, product packaging, etc. No need to shoot multiple versions, just extend and resize as required.

360-degree product photography workflow with Photoroom

Photoroom’s suite of tools is designed to give you everything you need to upgrade your product images with AI. You can remove backgrounds from your images, or create entirely new imagined scenes and environments around your original photo - all powered by AI understanding of visual context.

The AI Image Expander is a recent addition that takes things one step further. Instead of reshooting photos or compromising with awkward crops, you can simply “uncrop” and extend images as needed - all while maintaining flawless quality. Download Photoroom on the Google Play Store or App Store to get started or sign up on Photoroom Web.