Chitra: free photo print layouts for home printing

Chitra is a free, privacy-first web app for laying out photo prints and phone-case inserts for home printing. Whether making instant-style keepsakes, photo strips, or custom phone-case inserts, Chitra gives you millimetre-exact control over layout, sizing, and cut lines without subscriptions, accounts, or software installation.

What you can make

Chitra lets you compose several popular physical formats directly on your printer paper:

  • Instant-photo style prints: Proportions comparable to popular instant film formats (Mini, Wide, Square) and classic white frames. Enjoy instant film proportions using standard photo paper.
  • Photo strips and collages: Vertical strips with multiple photos, margins, background colors, and borders.
  • Wallet prints and keepsakes: Pocket-sized photo grids for wallets and scrapbooks.
  • Phone-case inserts: DIY inserts with camera cut-outs, corner radiuses, and margins.
  • Frame details: Typography, date stamps, location labels, borders, and emoji.

How it works

Designing and printing with Chitra follows four simple steps:

  1. 1

    Add photos

    Pick pictures from storage. Images are processed locally in your browser.

  2. 2

    Arrange in a frame

    Place photos in slots, crop, pan, rotate, or add captions.

  3. 3

    Choose paper and cut marks

    Select paper sizes (A4, Letter) and corner, dashed, or guillotine marks.

  4. 4

    Export a true-scale PDF

    Generate a vector PDF at 100 percent actual scale (25.4 mm per inch).

Print at the right size

Default print dialogs often shrink layouts to fit printable margins. Chitra eliminates scaling errors with mathematical precision:

Exact millimetre sizing: All dimensions are configured in real-world millimetres, matching physical ruler measurements.
Calibration page: An integrated test pattern with ruler scales lets you measure mechanical printer offsets and apply compensations.
Cut-mark styles: Select corner crop ticks, dashed scissors guides, or guillotine lines for rotary cutters.
Margin awareness: Chitra alerts you if layout items overlap printer unprintable margins (typically 3 mm to 5 mm).

Private by design

Privacy is an architectural foundation of Chitra:

Your work stays on your device

Everything you make in Chitra, including your photos, designs, text, projects and settings, is processed and stored in your own browser. Chitra has no accounts and no server that receives your content: your photos and projects are never uploaded, and nobody, including the site owner, can see them. Chitra doesn't ask for your name, email or any other personal details, shows no ads, and its own code contains no tracking. It loads no third-party fonts, and the only third-party script on the page is Cloudflare's analytics script, explained below.

Cloudflare Web Analytics

Chitra is hosted on Cloudflare. Like any website host, Cloudflare processes standard request information when you load the app, such as your IP address, browser type and the page requested. Chitra's host also adds Cloudflare Web Analytics, a script that reports basic visit and performance information to Cloudflare, such as the page visited, load timings and the approximate device type, browser and country, so the site owner can see aggregate visit statistics. None of your photos, designs, text or projects are part of this. If you prefer, you can block the analytics script with a content blocker; Chitra works the same without it.

Works offline

Chitra operates offline through its service worker. You can disconnect your network and continue creating, editing, and exporting PDFs.

Local backups

Projects are stored locally in IndexedDB. You can export complete standalone .chitra backup files anytime to transfer projects or safeguard your work.

Free, with no ads

Chitra is completely free with no paywalls, watermarks, or ads. Development is supported entirely through voluntary contributions from users who find the tool helpful. If Chitra helps you, support its continued development via the in-app Support link.

Frequently asked questions

Do you upload my photos?

No. Your photos never leave your device. All image cropping, layout rendering, and PDF generation happen locally in your browser.

Does it work offline?

Yes. Chitra caches application code, fonts, and assets locally via a service worker. After the first visit, you can use it offline.

Which paper sizes are supported?

ISO A4, A5, and A3, US Letter, US Legal, and custom user-defined paper sizes with millimeter dimensions.

How do I print at actual size?

When printing your exported PDF, select Actual Size or 100% scale, and disable Fit to printable area.

Can I make phone case inserts?

Yes. Enter millimeter dimensions, corner curvature, and camera cut-out coordinates to fit inside clear cases.

Is it really free?

Yes. Every feature is available with zero fees, no watermarks, and no registration. Development is funded purely through optional voluntary support.

Which browsers are supported?

Chitra runs on all modern browsers supporting canvas and WebAssembly, including Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, and mobile browsers.

Can I print on photo paper?

Yes. Chitra PDFs print cleanly on copy paper, heavy cardstock, matte inkjet photo paper, and glossy photo sheets.

About the maker

Chitra was designed and built by Gokul P, a computer science student and software developer focused on building useful, user-centered, and privacy-respecting tools. Explore more projects and connect at gokulp.in.

Note: Chitra is an independent project and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Fujifilm, Polaroid, Apple, Samsung, or any camera, film, or phone brand. Mentioned formats and trademarks belong to their respective owners.