What is half-frame photography?

Half-frame photography uses a camera format that exposes two images on a single standard 35mm film frame. Instead of the usual 36×24mm area, each shot occupies roughly 18×24mm — giving you twice the number of exposures per roll. Cameras like the Pentax 17, Olympus Pen series, and Canon Demi popularized this format from the 1960s onward, and it has seen a resurgence among film enthusiasts looking for a more economical and creative way to shoot analog.

When half-frame negatives are scanned, most scanners treat the full 35mm frame as a single image, producing one file that contains two side-by-side photographs. Manually cropping every pair in an image editor is tedious, especially with a full roll of 72 exposures. An automated splitting tool saves significant time and ensures each half is cut at the exact center.

Tool description

Photo Half Splitter divides images vertically down the middle, producing a left half and a right half from each upload. It is designed primarily for half-frame film scans but works with any image you need to split in two. You can upload multiple images at once, choose your preferred output format and quality, preview every result, and download halves individually or all at once.

Features

  • Batch processing — upload multiple images and split them all in one go
  • Format selection — export as PNG, JPG, or WebP
  • Quality control — adjust output quality from 1–100 for JPG and WebP formats
  • Individual or bulk download — download a single half or every result at once
  • In-browser processing — all splitting happens locally; no images are uploaded to a server

Use cases

  • Half-frame film scanning — quickly separate paired exposures from cameras like the Pentax 17, Olympus Pen F, or Yashica Samurai without manual cropping in Photoshop
  • Diptych separation — split side-by-side photo compositions into individual images for social media or portfolio use
  • Batch scan workflow — process an entire roll of half-frame film in seconds instead of cropping each frame by hand

Options explained

Option Description
Output format Choose between PNG (lossless), JPG (smaller file size), or WebP (modern, efficient compression)
Output quality Sets the compression level for JPG and WebP (1–100). Disabled for PNG since it is always lossless

Tips

  • For the sharpest results with no quality loss, export as PNG at any quality setting.
  • If file size matters more than pixel-perfect quality, use WebP at 85–90 for a good balance.
  • The tool splits at the exact pixel center. If your scan has a slight offset, crop or align it in an image editor first for best results.

FAQ

Does this tool upload my photos to a server? No. All processing runs entirely in your browser using the HTML Canvas API. Your images never leave your device.

Can I split images vertically into unequal parts? Not with this tool — it always divides at the exact midpoint. For custom crop positions, use a general-purpose image cropper.

What image formats can I upload? JPEG, PNG, WebP, BMP, and TIFF files are all accepted as input.