Polaroid Frame
The instant-photo frame with a handwritten caption and a tilt.
About this tool
The instant-photo treatment: even white borders, the famously fat bottom edge, a handwritten-style caption, a tilt slider so it sits naturally on a page, and a faded-film toggle that warms colours and lifts blacks. Exports as a PNG with transparent corners when tilted.
Why the bottom border is fat (and why we love it)
The instant photo's proportions weren't design โ they were chemistry. The thick bottom edge of a real instant print housed the developer-paste pod that squeezed across the frame as it ejected; the white border was the sealed margin. People discovered the fat edge was a perfect place to write โ a date, a name, a joke โ and the accident became the format's soul: a photo plus a human note in one object. That's what this recreates, caption and all (the font rides your device's handwriting face). The faded-film toggle mimics what the chemistry did over decades โ dyes warming, blacks lifting toward gray โ and the tilt sells the tossed-on-a-table life these prints lived. A grid of tilted polaroids in the collage tool makes a convincing pinboard; the date stamp adds the orange film date instead; and the frame-without-nostalgia version is the border tool.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the bottom border thicker than the sides?
Faithful to the real thing โ instant prints housed their developer chemicals in that edge. It became the world's favourite caption space, and the proportions read 'polaroid' instantly.
What font does the caption use?
Your device's handwriting-style face (Snell Roundhand on Apple, Segoe Script on Windows) โ honest system fonts, so the preview always matches the export.
What does the faded-film look do?
Warms the tones and lifts the blacks toward gray โ the way instant-print chemistry actually ages. Subtle on purpose; stack photo filters first for stronger vintage grading.
Do tilted photos export with clean corners?
Yes โ the canvas around a tilted print is transparent PNG, so it drops onto any background, document or slide without a white box around it.