Why did white bars appear above and below my image after resizing, and how do I get rid of them?
Because the default fit mode is 'Fit inside', which adds bands in the background color, white by default, whenever the size you typed has a different shape from your photo. Turn the ratio lock on and type only the width and the bands disappear, or switch to 'Fill and crop' if you need that exact size filled edge to edge.
How the bands got in without you asking
Bands only appear when the ratio of the target size differs from the picture's. That usually happens in one of three ways:
- You typed both the width and the height with the ratio lock off, and the two numbers do not match the picture's shape.
- You chose a size from the common sizes list, and choosing one switches the ratio lock off and sets two fixed numbers.
- You unticked the lock for an earlier picture and forgot, even though the lock comes back on with every new picture you choose.
In every case the tool is doing what it was built to do: keep the whole picture undistorted and fill the difference with the background color.
An example in numbers
A 4032 × 3024 landscape phone photo, with 1000 × 1000 typed in.
With 'Fit inside' the photo is scaled to 1000 × 750 and placed 125 px from the top: a 125 px white band above and another below.
With the ratio lock on and only a width of 1000 typed, the height becomes 750 and the output is 1000 × 750 with no bands.
With 'Fill and crop' the size stays 1000 × 1000, and a centered 3024 × 3024 square is taken from the original, starting 504 px from the left.
Choose the fix by what you need
- The exact size does not matter, you just want a smaller picture: tick 'Lock aspect ratio' and type only the width or the height.
- You need an exact size and the product is centered: choose 'Fill and crop'. The frame is filled, the overflow is trimmed from both ends, and a note tells you the size of the area used.
- You need an exact size and the product is near an edge: crop the part you want in the Image cropper at the target ratio, then resize.
- You want the bands, just in another color: keep the mode and change 'Background color', or tick the transparent background if you save as PNG or WebP.
A different case: white behind a transparent logo
If the white is not in bands above and below but in place of the transparent parts of a PNG, the cause is not the fit mode but the save format: JPEG has no transparency, so transparent areas are filled with the background color, and the Image resizer warns you with a notice before download. Choose PNG or WebP to keep the transparency.
Common questions
Why isn't 'Fill and crop' the default?
Because 'Fit inside' never removes any part of your picture. It is safer for you to decide when something gets cut than for it to happen unnoticed.
Do the three modes differ when the ratio matches?
No. As long as the target has the same shape as the picture, all three modes give the same result, with no bands and no crop.