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Contact Sheet Generator

A contact sheet is one page showing every image in a set as a small thumbnail, usually labelled with filenames. The name comes from darkroom printing, where a strip of negatives was laid in contact with the paper to make a same-size index of the roll.

Images
Drop images here or click to browse
JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 60

How to make a contact sheet

  1. Add your images

    Drop a batch of images onto the drop zone, or click to select them. You can add more at any point.

  2. Set the columns

    Drag the slider to choose how many thumbnails go across. The number of rows follows automatically.

  3. Choose the labels and background

    Show filenames under each thumbnail if you need an index, and pick a light or dark background.

  4. Download the sheet

    The preview rebuilds as you adjust. Download it as a single PNG when it looks right.

Why use this tool

Up to 60 images on one sheet

Add them in batches, and remove any individual image by clicking its name.

Nothing is cropped

Each thumbnail is fitted inside its cell rather than filled, so tall and wide images both keep their whole frame and their proportions.

Filenames as captions

Names are drawn under each thumbnail and truncated when long, which turns the sheet into a usable index.

Light or dark background

Dark suits screenshots and artwork with light edges, light suits photographs and print.

Runs entirely in your browser

Your images are never uploaded.

About this tool

The name comes from the darkroom. A photographer would lay a strip of developed negatives directly in contact with a sheet of photographic paper and expose it, producing a single print showing every frame on the roll at negative size. It was the fastest way to see what you had before deciding which frames were worth enlarging, and the filenames written beside them made the sheet an index as well as a preview.

The digital version does the same job for a folder of images. One page, every frame visible, labelled, in a fixed order. It is genuinely useful for reviewing a shoot, sending a client a set of options, documenting screenshots for a bug report, or printing a visual index of an archive that would otherwise only exist as a directory listing.

Two layout choices matter. Thumbnails here are fitted inside their cells rather than cropped to fill them, so a portrait photo and a wide screenshot both appear whole rather than having their edges cut off, which would defeat the point of an index. And the grid is defined by columns alone, with rows following from how many images you added, because the count is already known and asking for both would let you specify a grid that does not fit. For related work there is the collage maker, the image resizer, and the sprite sheet splitter for the reverse operation.

Frequently asked questions

What is a contact sheet?
A single page showing every image in a set as a small labelled thumbnail. It comes from darkroom practice, where negatives were printed in contact with the paper to index a roll of film.
How many images can I add?
Up to 60 in one sheet. Beyond that the thumbnails become too small to be a useful index and the resulting PNG gets unwieldy.
Are the thumbnails cropped to squares?
No. Each image is scaled to fit inside its cell with its proportions intact, so nothing is cut off. That is why cells with tall or wide images have space around them.
Can I change the order?
Images are laid out in the order they were added, so add them in the order you want. Remove any image by clicking its name in the list to take it out of the sheet.
Why is the output a PNG?
Because contact sheets contain text labels and hard edges between cells, both of which a lossy format would soften. PNG keeps the filenames legible.
Are my images uploaded anywhere?
No. The sheet is drawn in your browser and the images never leave your device.

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