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From the "X" Files


How to 'uncrop' an image.


A couple weeks ago I stumbled upon this awesome tool that allows you to extend the borders of any image using AI. Since then I've found myself returning to do it quite often, and for various reasons!

Maybe you're already aware of this, but I had no idea!

A few weeks back I generated an image that I really liked, but had accidentally created it in the wrong dimensions. It was square, but I always create with a rectangular canvas size around 4:3. I manually stretched out the image to the dimensions I wanted it to be, but the content looked stupid after doing so, so I went to Google to see what I could find.

That's when I discovered uncrop.com, an AI application that allows you to add content beyond the borders of your image. It can be used for photos, artwork, or any other sort of image you have, and it does a surprisingly good job of it!

I 'saved' my square image, making it the dimensions I wanted it to be and moved on, but since then I've found myself returning to the site several times to change other pieces I've created. I thought I'd talk about it a bit here in case it can also help you out with your artwork.

For the purpose of my demonstration of the app, I thought I would use my "Field of Dreams 2" picture, as it has a lot of detail and I wanted to see how the AI would deal with it.

The site is super easy to use. Just upload any image into it. Once it's there, you'll notice the little 'slide bars' that appear on the outside of the middle of each side of your picture:

Just grab one of those and pull it outward to where you'd like it to be, which will be a black area that the AI will fill in when you click on 'generate'.

I started by pulling the right side outward, then I grabbed the top slide bar and expanded it also:

Then I clicked on the 'generate' button and in no time the AI had filled the black areas with content! As you can see, it did an amazing job of re-creating the look and feel of the picture:

Then I decided to continue my eXploration and pull the top and bottom out further to see what it would do. Conveniently, you can just keep working on your image and don't have to upload it again after you've generated new content.

After clicking on the generate button again, I came up with the following image:

As you can see, it did a fantastic job of dreaming up new content, AND making the new content match-up perfectly with the original's. It's given me a cloudy sky that didn't eXist in the original, and now there's a path that wasn't there before. There's a couple sketchy areas that I'd fiX, either by just erasing them or feeding the entire image into an Upscaler, but that would be easy to do!

For reference, here is the above image with the border of the original drawn in:

All of the areas outside the red lines were created by the AI at uncrop.com, which I think did an amazing job!

Not only is it great for changing the dimensions of an image, but it's also great for changing the composition as well. For instance, when creating an AI image, I've found it has a bad habit of placing the main content or subject matter smack-dab in the middle of the image, when often it would look much better if placed off center or to the side. Now it's easy for me to do that!

If you haven't used this wonderful tool, go ahead and eXperiment with it a bit. I'm sure you'll soon find out just how handy and amazing it is!

Just click HERE to try it out. It's absolutely FREE to use : )

Have fun!

"X"

January 26th, 2025