Mac BorderTool Pro creates professional photo borders straight from the menu bar –
no Photoshop, no subscription, no detour. Drag once, load a preset, done.
When PetaPixel nails the core of the app, it is more than a press mention. It tells photographers exactly what BorderTool Pro is built for: high-end presentation without a heavy Photoshop workflow.
Whatever editor you use, something as simple as a clean white border still takes too many steps and too much time.
Resize canvas, set background color, create a layer, export. Five steps for one clean border. For 50 images, that can eat half an afternoon. “The learning curve is completely out of proportion to the result.” – Maximilian R., customer
Borders are possible, but there is no double border, no real batch workflow, no fast presets. “Luminar Neo is a nightmare for this, Pixelmator Pro still complicated.” – Lynton J., UK. For 30 images, you click through 30 dialogs.
Uploading images to third-party services. Often subscription-based, often watermarked, often with quality loss. Your images on someone else’s servers is not acceptable for professional work.
Writing scripts, recording actions, maintaining export presets, and starting over for every new look. No live preview, no color harmony assistant, no simple double-border preset.
No tutorial. No setup ritual. No learning curve. You instantly know what to do.
Drag a file from Finder directly onto the menu bar icon, including HEIC files from iPhone. Or right-click → “Open with”. Drag & Drop
One keystroke loads your saved setup. Or press H for automatic color harmony, and the app chooses a matching border color for your image.
⌘S saves. ⌘C copies straight to the clipboard. Or share via AirDrop, iMessage or email, without another export detour.
You can set every border color manually with the picker, HEX values or saved color slots. BorderTool Pro supports single borders, double borders, rounded corners and beveled edges. Color Harmony is the fast optional route: the app analyzes your photo and suggests matching border colors.
6 examples, 6 very different images. You define the look yourself or let Color Harmony analyze every photo individually.
BorderTool Pro is not just a white edge. You combine borders, shapes and corners to fit the image: fast, repeatable and without Photoshop.
A clean border around your image. Minimal, fast and controlled, perfect for series, web galleries and social posts.
Control inner and outer border separately: width, color and visual weight can be set independently.
Soft corners for modern presentation, portfolios and images that should feel calmer and more digital.
Straight 45-degree edges for a distinctive look, especially strong with graphic images.
Drop folders or complete subfolder structures. BorderTool Pro processes everything in parallel on roughly 80% of your CPU cores, with progress and ETA right in the menu bar icon.
The settings panel is where the batch power lives. Format, quality, destination folder, resolution: configure once, and every export runs exactly the way you want.
Originals stay untouched by default, with a Trash fallback when overwriting.
Keep the original format or convert. Image quality and compression are controlled by slider.
Limit the long edge in pixels, ideal for web export or social media. Never upscale.
Built by a photographer, for photographers. Every feature solves a real everyday problem.
Einzel- & Double border, Passepartout, Drop-Schatten, Polaroid – hochwertiger Auftritt ohne einen Editor zu öffnen.
Drag and drop onto the menu bar icon, choose preset, done. What used to take minutes now takes seconds.
200 images? Drop a folder and start. Parallel processing with ETA directly in the menu bar icon.
7 modes analyze your image and suggest border colors. Cycle through them with the H key.
No upload, no cloud, no accounts. Your images stay on your Mac. Apple-notarized.
⌘1–⌘8: one keystroke loads your complete setup. Consistent across entire series.
Add borders directly in Apple Photos, non-destructively. The original always stays intact. Included.
€39 once. No monthly surprises. All future updates included.
Not a single unhappy customer. That is not luck; it is the result of real photographer feedback built directly into the app.
“I used to try creating borders with Affinity, but the learning curve is completely out of proportion to the result. BorderTool Pro is exactly the fast and uncomplicated solution I was missing. As a music producer, I have spent plenty of money on far less efficient plug-ins. With this tool, you do not have to think twice.”
"I've spent ages trying to add borders simply and easily. Luminar Neo is a nightmare for this, Pixelmator Pro still complicated. Then I discovered BorderTool Pro. It is a dream — very simple and intuitive. This is exactly what an app should be. It does one job easily, without any complications. First class!"
"The ability to add two separate borders, corner styles, colours and then save them as presets is a game changer. The time savings alone was worth the upgrade, but it's also so easy to use. The support from Michael is second to none. I'd give it more stars if I could."
Whether you use Capture One, Lightroom, Apple Photos or Darkroom, BorderTool Pro fits right in.
“I always used Darkroom, but by comparison it is simply slow and cumbersome. On top of that, the double border is missing. Even complete folders can be processed incredibly quickly. I would buy it again any time.”
"This tool is a must in order to present images in a professional way. The double border is a wow! I have used it for more than 300 images and the borders really lift my images. The developer is superb in replying to questions and proposals. I can only recommend this."
“Some tools make one specific use case truly simple. BorderTool Pro is one of those tools. A very simple interface, and a friendly developer who listens to user ideas. My absolute recommendation, from genuine conviction.”
An honest comparison, so you know exactly what you are getting.
| Feature | BorderTool Pro | Photoshop / LR | Darkroom | Web-Tools |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drag & Drop from the menu bar | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Double border / Passepartout | ✓ Yes | ~ Cumbersome | ✗ No | ~ Sometimes |
| Batch processing | ✓ Yes | ~ Actions | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Color Harmony (automatic) | ✓ 7 modes | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Apple Photos Extension | ✓ Included | ✗ No | ~ Limited | ✗ No |
| 8 Presets per Shortcut | ✓ ⌘1–⌘8 | ~ Actions | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| 100% local / offline | ✓ Always | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✗ Upload required |
| No subscription | ✓ One-time purchase | ✗ Subscription | ~ Freemium | ✗ Usually subscription |
| Price | €39 one-time | ≥ €54 / month | Free / subscription | Variable costs |
| Setup time to first result | 30 seconds | Hours | Minutes | Every time again |
Built from real photographer feedback, not from a feature checklist. Every feature is there because someone needed it.
Every reach for the mouse costs time. BorderTool Pro is designed so your hands can stay on the keyboard.
| Presets & Color Harmony | |
| ⌘1 – ⌘8 | Load preset |
| H | Next Color Harmony mode |
| ⌘H | Color Harmony on/off |
| X | Swap border colors |
| D | Defaults (black inside, white outside) |
| R | Randomize borders |
| Preview & export | |
| Space | Quick Look – full resolution |
| ⌘S | Save preview |
| ⌘V | Paste image from clipboard |
| ⌘C | Copy result to clipboard |
| ⌘P | Print – full resolution |
| ⌘+Scroll | Adjust border width live |
A 3 % border looks just as proportional on a 1080 px Instagram export as it does on a 6000 px print-ready file. Pixel values feel too heavy on small exports and barely visible on high-resolution prints. Set it once in %, and it stays consistent across cameras and formats.
Export from Capture One or Lightroom as TIFF whenever quality matters: lossless, no compression. BorderTool Pro can convert to JPEG at the end, so JPEG compression happens only once. Exporting JPEG first and saving JPEG again means two compression passes, with visible artifacts.
Neither Capture One nor Adobe Lightroom offers a native border tool. BorderTool Pro closes that gap and fits into your export workflow like an invisible plug-in. Set it up once, and it runs automatically after every export.
Open or create a Process Recipe template in Capture One.
In “Open With…” select BorderTool Pro.
Start the export. BorderTool Pro frames automatically. No manual retouching, no Photoshop detour.
Open the Export dialog in Lightroom (File → Export).
At the bottom: “After Export” → “Open in Other Application” → select BorderTool Pro.
Export. BorderTool Pro immediately applies your preset settings. No Photoshop, no extra app.
⌘1–⌘8. Every exported image instantly gets the right look, fully automatically.Select a photo in Apple Photos → click “Edit”.
Top right “…” → Extensions → choose BorderTool Pro.
Configure the border → “Save Changes”. The original always stays intact.
Select any image file or files in Finder.
Right-click → “Open with” → BorderTool Pro. Also works with multiple selection.
Or simply drag onto the menu bar icon. It starts immediately.
No subscription. No hidden costs. All updates included.
Instant download · one-time purchase · lifetime use · no subscription
No risk. See for yourself: download the free trial and try BorderTool Pro with your own images before spending a cent.
Download free trial
Combine BorderTool Pro with BatchMark Pro, the watermarking tool for photographers. Add borders, add watermarks, done. Your complete presentation workflow in one step.
The four most common concerns, and why they should not stop you.
Understandable. BorderTool Pro is Apple-notarized, so macOS verifies the app automatically on first launch. No security scare, no Gatekeeper problem. Like an App Store app, just without Apple’s 30 % cut added to the price.
No. Everything happens 100 % locally on your Mac. No servers, no cloud, no account. Your images never leave your computer: not on launch, not on export, not during updates.
By default, the app always creates a new file. “Replace original” is a deliberate option with a clear warning and Trash fallback. It only happens if you actively choose it.
Very likely yes. Supported: JPG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, GIF, HEIC/HEIF, including iPhone photos directly. If your camera writes a standard format, it works. Or try it for free and check with your own files.
No. BorderTool Pro is a one-time purchase for €39. No subscription trap, no monthly fees. All future updates are included.
Yes. Download the free trial and try the app with your own images: no account, no subscription risk.
macOS 11 (Big Sur) and newer. Universal Binary – native performance on Apple Silicon (M1–M4) and Intel.
PayPal and credit card give instant access. Bank transfer is activated after payment is received, usually within 24 hours.
Actively. Many features came directly from community requests; some users wrote a second review after only four days because of new updates. Purchase includes all future updates.
Yes. The batch engine scans folders and subfolders recursively. Progress and ETA are shown directly in the menu bar icon.
Yes. BorderTool Pro processes images through ImageIO, preserving EXIF metadata and color profiles.
Yes, directly from the developer. Michael personally answers questions and feedback. You can see that in the reviews where customers explicitly mention the support.
No Photoshop. No subscription. Buy once, use forever.
28 photographers already did. Every review is five stars.
