Average images
This free online tool allows you to combine two or more images into a single image by averaging the pixels. For each pixel, the red, green and blue values of all the images are averaged, creating an image that is the mean of all the uploaded images.
Everything runs directly in your browser: your images are never uploaded to a server.
Drop your images here
Select 2 or more images to average. You can also paste an image with CTRL+V.
How to average images?
To combine your pictures into a single averaged image, follow these simple steps:
- Upload the images - Drop or select 2 or more images. You can also paste an image from the clipboard with CTRL+V. The averaged image will appear on the canvas.
- Choose the size of the averaged image - Use the size of the largest, of the smallest or of the first image, the average size of all the images, or type a custom width and height.
- Choose how to resize the images - Stretch each image to the size of the result, resize it keeping its aspect ratio (fit or cover), or keep the original sizes.
- Choose the alignment - Decide where each image is placed when it does not fill the whole result.
- Choose how to handle transparency (optional) - Ignore transparent pixels, and pick a background color for the areas that are not covered by any image.
- Download the averaged image - Click "Download averaged image" to save the result as a PNG file.
How does the averaging work?
Every pixel of an image has a red, a green and a blue value, from 0 to 255. To average the images, this tool reads the pixels of all the images and calculates, for each position, the mean of the red values, the mean of the green values and the mean of the blue values, and uses these means as the color of the pixel of the averaged image.
For example, when averaging a red pixel (255, 0, 0) and a blue pixel (0, 0, 255), the result is the pixel (128, 0, 128), a purple pixel. Averaging 3 images gives each image a weight of 1/3, averaging 4 images gives each image a weight of 1/4, and so on.
Averaging images is often used to reduce the noise of several photos of the same scene, to create composite faces from many portraits, to build long exposure effects from the frames of a video, or simply to create a ghostly blend of different pictures.
Average options
Below are the options you can configure when averaging images.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Size of the averaged image | The width and the height of the result. It can be the size of the largest image (the largest width and the largest height), the size of the smallest image, the size of the first uploaded image, the average size of all the images, or a custom size typed by you. |
| How to resize the images | Stretch resizes each image to exactly the size of the result, which may distort images with a different aspect ratio. Fit resizes each image, keeping its aspect ratio, until it fits inside the result. Cover resizes each image, keeping its aspect ratio, until it covers the whole result, so the parts that do not fit are cropped. Do not resize keeps the original size of each image. |
| Alignment | Where each image is placed, horizontally (left, center or right) and vertically (top, middle or bottom), when it does not fill the whole averaged image. It is not used when the images are stretched. |
| Ignore transparent pixels | When enabled, transparent pixels do not take part in the average, and semi transparent pixels count less than opaque pixels, so the areas that are covered by only some of the images keep their original colors. When disabled, transparent pixels are averaged like any other pixel, which usually makes the result darker. |
| Transparent background | Keeps the transparency of the averaged image. Disable it to draw the averaged image over a background color. |
| Background color | The color used to fill the background of the averaged image. |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How many images can I average?You can average as many images as you want. Just upload 2 or more images, and all of them are combined into a single image. Keep in mind that averaging many large images takes more time, because every pixel of every image has to be read.
Are my images uploaded to a server?No. All the processing is done in your browser, so your images never leave your computer.
What happens if the images have different sizes?The averaged image has the size you choose in the "Size of the averaged image" option, and each image is resized to that size according to the "How to resize the images" option. If you choose "Fit" or "Do not resize", some images may not cover the whole result, and the areas that are not covered are transparent, or filled with the background color.
Why is the averaged image blurry?Averaging images of different scenes creates a blurry or ghostly result, because the details of each image are mixed with the details of the others. This is expected: the more images you average, the smoother the result becomes. To keep the details sharp, average photos of the same scene, taken from the same position.
Is the average the same as the "blend" of two images?Averaging two images is the same as drawing the second image over the first one with 50% opacity. The difference is that this tool averages any number of images at once, always giving the same weight to each one of them.
In which format is the averaged image downloaded?The averaged image is downloaded as a PNG file, which supports transparency.