How to print borderless photos
Print edge-to-edge photos from Windows, a Mac or a phone: pick a supported size and photo paper, turn on borderless and control how much is cropped.
Borderless printing puts the image right to the edges of the paper with no white margin, like a print from a photo lab. To do it, the printer slightly enlarges the image so it runs just past the paper edges, which means a thin strip of the picture is cut off on each side. It's mainly offered by inkjet printers, on photo paper in particular sizes; most laser printers can't print borderless at all.
Steps
Before you print
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Check that your printer supports borderless
Look for borderless printing in your printer's specifications or manual, along with the sizes it supports. Many inkjets can print borderless on 4 × 6 in (10 × 15 cm) and 5 × 7 in (13 × 18 cm) paper, and some on Letter, A4 or larger. If yours can't, print with a narrow margin and trim the edges instead.
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Load photo paper the right way up
Put the photo paper in the tray the maker recommends, often a dedicated photo tray or the main tray, and slide the guides in against the paper's edges. Load it with the glossy or coated side facing the way the tray's marking or the paper pack shows. If the printer asks for the paper size and type when you load it, answer accurately, because borderless and quality settings depend on them.
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Crop the photo to the paper's shape
A 4 × 6 print has a 3:2 shape, which matches most cameras, but many phones shoot in 4:3, so part of the image has to go to fill the page. Crop the photo to the print size in a photo editor first, so you choose what's lost rather than leaving it to the printer.
Windows 11 / 10
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Open the printer settings
Open the photo, press Ctrl + P, choose your printer and open Printer Properties, Preferences or More settings, depending on the app.
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Choose a borderless size or setting
Many drivers list borderless sizes separately in the paper size menu, for example a 4 × 6 in size with borderless in its name. Others have a Borderless checkbox on the main, paper or page setup tab. Pick the size that matches the paper you loaded.
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Set the paper type
Set the paper type, also called media type, to the photo paper you loaded, such as a glossy or matte photo paper. On many printers the borderless option only becomes available once a photo paper type is selected, and the paper type also controls how much ink is laid down.
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Adjust the expansion if offered
Some drivers have a slider or setting for how far the image extends past the paper edges. Less expansion crops less of the picture but can leave thin white slivers if the paper feeds slightly off; more expansion makes clean edges more likely. Leave it at the default until you've seen a print.
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Avoid shrink to fit
In the app's own print options, choose a fill or crop-to-fit layout rather than fit to page or shrink to fit, or the app may add white margins even though the driver is set to borderless. Print one photo and check the edges before you print a batch.
macOS
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Open the print dialog
Open the photo in Photos or Preview, choose File > Print and select your printer.
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Choose a borderless paper size
Open the Paper Size menu and choose your paper's size with borderless in its name, if one is listed. Whether these sizes appear depends on the printer and on whether it was added with AirPrint or the maker's driver; if there are none, try adding the printer the other way.
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Set the paper type and quality
Open the Media & Quality section and set the paper type to the photo paper you loaded, with the best photo quality setting. With some maker drivers, these options sit in a section named after the printer or called Print Settings instead.
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Fill the page
In Photos, choose a fill option rather than fit so the image covers the whole sheet. In Preview, choose Fill Entire Paper rather than Print Entire Image in the scaling options. Check the preview shows the photo reaching every edge before you print.
iPhone, iPad and Android
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Use the phone's print option
On an iPhone or iPad, open the photo, tap the share button, then Print. On Android, open the photo app's menu and choose Print. Select the printer, then set the paper size and, if shown, the paper type; borderless sizes only appear if the printer reports them.
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Try the maker's app for more control
Printer makers' own apps usually have a photo print mode with a borderless switch, a paper type setting and sometimes a choice of how the image is cropped. They often give better results than the phone's built-in print option.
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Print straight from the printer
Some photo printers can print directly from a memory card or USB drive using their own screen. Look for a layout or borderless setting in the printer's photo menu before you start.
Tips
- Keep faces and important details away from the edges, since a few millimetres can be cropped from each side.
- Use photo paper from your printer's maker, or set the paper type to the closest match, to avoid smearing, banding and slow drying.
- Let prints dry flat for several minutes before stacking or framing them, especially on glossy paper.
- If the backs of later prints pick up ink marks, borderless printing may have left ink on the paper path. Clean it as the manual describes, and turn the printer off and unplug it before you reach inside.
- Borderless printing can be slower and uses a little more ink than printing with margins, because ink is sprayed slightly past the paper edges.
Common questions
Why is the borderless option greyed out?
Usually the paper type is set to plain paper, or the size you chose isn't supported for borderless on your printer. On many models, two-sided printing also blocks it. Select a photo paper type and a supported size and turn off duplex; most laser printers don't offer borderless at all.
Why do I still get a thin white edge?
The app may be fitting the image inside the page, the expansion setting may be too low, or the paper fed slightly crooked. Choose a fill option, raise the expansion one step, and reload the paper with the guides snug against it.
Why is part of my photo cut off?
Borderless printing always crops a little to cover the edges, and more is lost when the photo's shape doesn't match the paper. Crop the photo to the paper's proportions before printing, or reduce the expansion if your driver has that setting.
Can I print borderless on plain paper?
Most printers don't allow it. Plain paper soaks up ink and can curl or smear when ink reaches the edges, so drivers usually limit borderless printing to photo and other coated papers.