How to make a meme: image, text and the rules

To make a meme, pick an image, write a short set-up line for the top and a punchline for the bottom, set them in white capitals with a black outline, and download the result. That is the classic image macro, and it still works because it reads on any picture at any size. The meme generator I built does exactly that on your device, with no upload and no watermark.

Making a meme in a minute

• Choose an image or drop one on the page. Large images are scaled to 1200 pixels wide, plenty for any feed.
• Type the top and bottom text. Lines wrap automatically to fit the width of the picture.
• Adjust the size and outline. The size slider is a percentage of the image width, so text looks the same on small and large pictures, and the outline slider sets how thick the black edge is.
• Keep or drop the capitals. Uppercase is on by default, as tradition demands.
• Download a clean PNG.

Why the classic format works

The top-and-bottom image macro took off on internet forums and image boards in the 2000s, and its look is strict for a reason. Impact is a heavy, condensed typeface with big letters for its width, so a lot of text fits across an image. White letters with a black outline stay readable on both light and dark parts of a photo, so you never have to hunt for a clear spot. If your device does not have Impact installed, as many phones do not, the generator falls back to Arial Black or another heavy sans-serif, which keeps the look. Newer formats, such as a caption in plain text above the image or labels stuck on objects within it, are just as popular; for labels and arrows, the photo annotation tool is the better fit.

Writing text that lands

Memes are read in a second or two while scrolling, so brevity wins. The top line sets up a situation everyone recognises, and the bottom line twists it; if the joke works with the top line alone, cut the bottom one. Aim for a few words per line, and keep the punchline short enough to fit on one line at a readable size. Make sure the text does not cover the face or object the joke depends on. Read it at thumbnail size before posting, check the spelling, which is far more visible in capitals, and resist explaining the joke in the caption.

Choosing and preparing the image

Start from the sharpest version of the image you can find. Every time a picture is saved, shared and recompressed, JPEG artefacts build up, which is where the deliberately crunchy deep-fried style comes from, and a meme made from an already-blurry copy only gets worse. Crop to the part that matters with the image cropper, since a tighter frame leaves more room for the expression or detail that makes the joke. If a platform wants a particular size, the image resizer will scale the finished meme, and Social media image sizes and aspect ratios lists the dimensions each network prefers.

Copyright, fair use and real people

Most images are protected by copyright, including film stills, news photos and pictures found through search. Memes built on them are everywhere, but whether a given use is allowed depends on the country and the circumstances. In the United States, fair use is judged case by case on four factors, including whether the use transforms the original, how much of it is used and whether it harms the market for the original. UK law has a fair-dealing exception for caricature, parody and pastiche. Commercial use, such as a brand posting memes to sell something, carries more risk than a joke among friends, and businesses generally license images or use their own. This is general information, not legal advice; your own photos and public-domain images avoid the question entirely.

Real people deserve more thought than copyright. A photo of a private individual, especially a child, can follow them for years once it becomes a joke. If the joke works without the face, hide it with the face blur tool; How to blur faces in photos so they actually stay hidden explains how to do that properly.