Standing further back, after the fact
Zooming out grows the canvas uniformly around your photo so the subject sits smaller in a larger scene. The original stays pixel-exact in the middle; only the ring around it is built, by an instant fill or the edge painter.
It's the fix for a shot that's cropped too tight — a portrait with no headroom, a product with no backdrop, a landscape that needed more sky.
How far is sensible
A gentle zoom out, up to about 1.5×, reads as a real wider shot on most pictures. Larger factors build most of the frame, so they suit plain backgrounds and backdrops rather than detailed scenes. The readout shows the share of the result that is newly built.
Questions
Does my photo get uploaded?
No. The picture is read, grown and encoded by code running in this browser tab. It is never sent to a server — there is no server to send it to. The only download that ever happens is the optional edge-painter model, which travels one way, from our model file server to you.
Is this the same as digital zoom on a camera?
The opposite. Camera zoom crops in and makes the frame tighter; this grows the frame outward and adds surroundings.
Does the middle lose detail when I zoom out?
No. Your original is kept at full resolution and drawn on top of the new area, so the part that was photographed stays exactly as sharp as it was.
Which fill looks best?
Continue-edge suits skies and walls, mirror suits symmetrical scenes, and the blurred backdrop is the safe choice for busy pictures. The edge painter is best when you want real continued scenery.