Meme Generator
Make a meme from your own picture with white Impact captions and a black outline, or a caption bar above it. Long lines wrap and shrink to fit. No watermark.
The interactive tool loads here when JavaScript runs.
About this toolWhat is the Meme Generator?
Load any picture, type the top and bottom lines, and the meme is drawn in the classic style: white Impact capitals with a black outline, centred at the top and bottom of the image. Captions wrap onto new lines and shrink until they fit within about 30% of the image height, so a long joke still stays on the picture.
Switch to Caption bar for the newer format, with black text in a white band above the image. You can turn off capitals, change the text and outline colours, and set the largest text size. The result downloads as JPEG, PNG or WebP with no watermark.
Your image is not uploaded anywhere. Captions are drawn on a canvas in your browser and the download is created on your device.
- Classic top and bottom captions with outline
- Caption bar format above the image
- Automatic wrapping and shrink-to-fit
- Capitals toggle, text and outline colours, size control
- JPEG, PNG or WebP download with no watermark
- Works on your own image in the browser, no upload
How to use the Meme Generator
- Choose your picture or drop it on the box. A sample image is shown until you do.
- Type the top text and bottom text. Press Enter to force a line break.
- Choose Classic (on image) or Caption bar, and switch ALL CAPITALS on or off.
- Adjust the largest text size and, for the classic style, the text and outline colours.
- Pick JPEG, PNG or WebP and press Download meme.
Worked examples
Classic two-liner
Input
Top: "When the build passes", bottom: "on the first try", 1000 x 1000 image
Output
White Impact capitals with a black outline, text shrunk only if a line would exceed 940 px
The largest size is 11% of the width (110 px). Each caption is wrapped first and then reduced until it fits a 300 px tall band.
Long caption
Input
"One does not simply walk into Mordor" on a narrow image
Output
Three or four lines at a smaller size
If wrapping still leaves too many lines for the band, the font gets smaller one pixel at a time until it fits.
Caption bar format
Input
Caption bar style, one line of text, 1200 px wide image
Output
A white band added above the image with black Arial text
The image is not covered; the canvas grows taller by the height of the wrapped caption plus padding.
Background and insight
The look of the image macro, bold condensed capitals with a thick outline, comes from Impact, a typeface designed by Geoffrey Lee in 1965 and bundled with Windows from 1998 and with macOS. It was available on almost every computer, its heavy strokes survive JPEG compression, and a black outline keeps white letters readable over any photo. Early meme generators adopted it, and the style stuck.
Fitting a caption is a small layout problem. The tool wraps words greedily into lines no wider than 94% of the image, then tries font sizes from the largest you allow downwards until all lines fit in a band 30% of the image tall. A word longer than a whole line is broken by character. The outline width is one-eighth of the font size; because a canvas stroke is centred on the letter edge, half of it shows outside the glyph.
Memes are usually built on someone else's picture. In the US, commentary and parody can be fair use under 17 U.S.C. 107, but the decision depends on the purpose, how much of the original is used and the effect on its market, and commercial use of a recognisable photo or a person's likeness carries more risk. Using your own photos avoids the question.
Common use cases
Group chats and social posts
Turn a photo from your own camera roll into a reaction image in seconds.
Team and classroom humour
Caption screenshots and diagrams for slides, retros and newsletters.
Marketing tests
Mock up meme-style social creatives before handing them to a designer.
Teaching media literacy
Show students how easily captions change the meaning of a picture.
Tips and limitations
- Short captions read better. If the text shrinks a lot, cut words instead of letting it get small.
- Put the setup on top and the punchline at the bottom; readers scan in that order.
- Busy photos need the outline. For the caption bar style it is not needed because the text sits on white.
- Impact is used when your device has it (Windows and macOS do). On phones without it, a heavy fallback font is used and the look changes slightly.
- Use JPEG for photos and PNG for screenshots with flat colours and sharp text.
- Do not use other people's photos or likenesses in ads without permission.
Frequently asked questions
What font is used for memes?
Classic image macros use Impact in white capitals with a black outline. This tool uses Impact when your system has it and falls back to a similar heavy sans-serif font otherwise.
How do I make a meme with my own picture?
Choose the picture, type top and bottom text, and download. The captions are drawn onto your image in the browser; nothing is uploaded.
Why does my meme text get smaller?
Each caption must fit in a band about 30% of the image height and 94% of its width. When wrapped lines do not fit, the font size is reduced until they do.
Can I make a meme with the caption above the picture?
Yes. Choose Caption bar. The image gets a white band on top with black text, the format common on modern social media.
Does the meme have a watermark?
No. The download contains only your picture and your captions.
Is it legal to make memes from movie stills or photos?
Often it is tolerated and parody or commentary may be fair use in the US, but it depends on the use. Commercial use of copyrighted images or real people's likenesses needs permission. Your own photos are always safe to use.
Is there an in-depth guide to the Meme Generator?
Yes. “How to Make a Meme: The Impact Font, Outlines and Caption Layout” covers the background, how it works, common pitfalls and worked examples. Read the full guide.
People also search for
- make a meme with my own picture
- add top and bottom text to image
- meme maker without watermark
- white text with black outline on photo
- caption meme with white bar above image
- impact font meme generator online
- put text on a picture for a meme
- meme text too long to fit
Related Tools You May Like
Free, in-browser tools that pair well with this one.