What is Aspect Ratio?
Aspect ratio is the proportional relationship between a video's width and its height. It controls the shape of the frame: square, vertical, or widescreen. Choosing the right one is the difference between a clip that fills the screen on TikTok and one that gets pillarboxed with black bars.
Common Aspect Ratios
- 9:16 (vertical): TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, full-screen mobile feeds.
- 1:1 (square): Instagram feed posts, classic Facebook video.
- 16:9 (landscape): YouTube main feed, Twitter/X, embedded players, TV.
- 4:5 (portrait): Instagram feed when you want more vertical real estate than 1:1.
How to Choose
- Start from where the video will be watched most. The dominant platform wins.
- If you post the same clip to multiple places, generate the dominant format first; you can crop or re-frame afterwards.
- Vertical-first thinking usually wins in 2025–present: most growth comes from short, full-screen vertical feeds.
Tips
- Keep important subjects centered; vertical crops remove the sides.
- Avoid placing text or logos near the top or bottom edge; UI overlays often cover those areas.
- If you change aspect ratio after generation, expect a slight loss of quality at the edges.