Local vision models are usually served through a chat interface that takes a file path or a base64 image, and many of those interfaces are built around one image per turn. A merged grid is the simplest way to give a local model several pictures at once without touching the inference code or writing a script.

It also keeps the run lighter in a different sense: context. One 2048px grid occupies a single image slot in the prompt instead of four, and the model reasons about one composed object instead of four unrelated attachments. On a machine with limited memory for the vision encoder, that is often the difference between a comfortable run and a tight one.

Practical cases: (1) comparing two generations of the same model, where both outputs go side by side in a 1×2, (2) documenting a bug in software you run locally, where the console output and the broken screen are merged, (3) reading several scanned pages at once, where a 2×2 holds four pages in reading order, (4) checking a layout at several window widths, where a 1×4 column shows the same page four times. The general preparation rules are gathered in our prepare screenshots for AI analysis guide.

Settings that work well: keep the grid at 2048px on the longest side by default and go higher only if the model and the memory can take it, keep a gap of about 8px between cells so the boundaries stay visible, and export PNG when the source is text-heavy and JPG when file size matters more. Both formats are available on the free plan up to 4000px.

One shared limitation is worth knowing: nothing guarantees that a given local model keeps the cell order reliably, whatever its size. State the layout in the prompt, then check the answer against the image. If the model mixes up the cells, a smaller grid with fewer, larger cells usually fixes it.

MergeFrame itself needs no install, it is a web page. The free plan covers 12 images per grid and 2 exports per day, in PNG or JPG up to 4000px, with no account and no watermark. The 24-hour Pass at $3 adds unlimited exports for 24 hours, PDF and WebP output, and HEIC, SVG or TIFF import when your sources are not already PNG or JPG.