Make a photo fit your phone wallpaper

Why your photo never fits

A phone screen is roughly 9:16 — twice as tall as it is wide. A photo from the same phone's camera is 4:3, and anything shot in landscape is wider still. Set one as a wallpaper and the operating system solves the mismatch the only way it can: it zooms in and crops, which is why your subject ends up half off the screen or uncomfortably close up.

Outpainting fixes the mismatch from the other direction. Your photo keeps its size and proportions, and the AI generates the missing strips above and below it until the canvas is a true 1080 × 1920.

Getting a good result

This is the biggest shape change the tool is routinely asked for, so a couple of choices make a real difference:

• Start portrait if you can. A portrait photo needs far less invented material than a landscape one, and looks better for it.
• Use the anchor. Under Outpaint Options, anchoring to the bottom pushes all the new space above your subject — natural for a photo with a horizon, and it keeps the subject clear of the clock and lock-screen widgets.
• Simple edges extend best. Sky, sea, sand, plain walls and open grass continue convincingly. A busy street or a crowded room gives the AI more chances to invent something that does not match.
• Regenerate freely. Previews cost nothing, and because a landscape-to-9:16 conversion leaves so much canvas to fill, the first attempt is often not the best one.

Other screen sizes

1080 × 1920 covers essentially every modern phone — screens with a taller ratio simply scale it with a negligible crop. If you want an exact match for your handset, or a tablet, enter the numbers in the custom fields (up to 4096 pixels a side). For a desktop background, use 1920 × 1080, 2560 × 1080 for ultrawide, or 3840 × 2160 for 4K.

Common questions

What resolution should a phone wallpaper be?

1080 × 1920 (9:16) is the safe standard and looks sharp on effectively every current phone. Taller screens scale it down with a crop too small to notice.

How do I make a landscape photo fit a phone screen without cropping it?

Extend it instead of cropping it. Outpainting keeps your photo at its original proportions and generates new background above and below until the image is a full 9:16 canvas, so nothing is cut off.

Will my subject be cut off by the clock or widgets?

Anchor your photo to the bottom under Outpaint Options. All the generated space then goes above your subject, which is where the clock and lock-screen widgets sit.

Can I try it before paying?

Yes. The AI runs first and shows you a blurred preview at no cost, and you can regenerate as many times as you like for free. You pay £1.50 only to unlock the full-resolution file.