Make a mood board
Uneven layouts, because a mood board is not a grid of equals.
Drop photos here, or paste from your clipboard
Examples
The details
| Images | 6 to 20 — below six it is a comparison, above twenty a gallery |
|---|---|
| Arrangement | justified rows — rows of unequal length, so sizes can differ |
| Best canvas | 2:3 at 1000 × 1500 — the shape Pinterest and most boards use |
| Palette | five colours extracted from your images |
| Spacing | 36 units default — wide, so the pieces read separately |
| Print size | A3 at 300 DPI — 3508 × 4961 px, for a studio wall |
How it works
- Add your images, in any mix of shapes.
- Pick an uneven layout and give the key pieces more room.
- Download for a pin, or print at A3.
A mood board is not a grid, and the difference is the point. In a grid every image claims the same importance, which is exactly what a mood board is not trying to say: there is usually one image that sets the direction and several that support it. The layouts on this page are justified rows — rows of unequal length, where a piece can be twice the width of its neighbour — which is the arrangement magazines use for the same reason.
Mixed sources are normal here. A mood board might combine a photograph, a fabric swatch, a screenshot of a typeface and a flat colour, which vary wildly in proportion. Forcing them into equal cells crops the swatch and stretches the type specimen. Each cell is derived from its image's own proportions instead, so a wide swatch stays wide.
Palette extraction is worth using. Five colours are pulled from the images you added, on your own device, and can be applied to the background or to any text. A board whose background is taken from its contents looks composed rather than assembled, and it is a two-second operation compared to picking a colour by eye.
For output, 2:3 at 1000 × 1500 is the shape most boards are shared in and the tallest Pinterest will show without cropping. If the board is going on a studio wall, A3 at 300 DPI is 3508 × 4961 pixels, which is large enough that a browser cannot hold it on a single canvas — the export here renders in horizontal bands, so it works anyway.
Spacing is set wide by default, at 36 units, because a mood board needs its pieces to read separately. Tighten it if the images share a palette and you want them to blend; that is a real choice rather than an oversight.
Questions
How many images should a mood board have?
Six to twenty. Fewer than six reads as a comparison, more than twenty as a gallery where nothing leads.
Why not use a grid?
A grid gives every image equal weight, which is the opposite of what a mood board says. Uneven rows let the key piece be larger.
Can I mix photos, swatches and screenshots?
Yes, and that is the normal case. Each cell is shaped from its own image's proportions rather than everything being cropped to match.
Can I get a colour palette from my images?
Yes, five colours extracted on your device, which can be applied to the background or to text.
What size should I export at?
1000 × 1500 for sharing. A3 at 300 DPI for a wall, which the banded export handles despite being past a browser's single-canvas limit.