Glossary · Publishing
Aspect ratio
Aspect ratio is the shape of a video frame, written as width to height. 16:9 is the wide frame of a TV, and 9:16 is the tall frame of a phone held upright.
Why it matters
The shape decides what fits in the picture. A video made for the wrong shape ends up with black bars, cropped faces or empty space, and fixing it afterward rarely looks right.
Common shapes are 16:9 for widescreen, 9:16 for vertical video, 1:1 for square posts and 4:5 for some tall feed posts. Aspect ratio is not the same as resolution: 1080 × 1920 and 720 × 1280 pixels are both 9:16, just at different sizes.
Vertical feeds use 9:16. Meta's specifications for Reels ads recommend 1440 × 2560 pixels, TikTok's in-feed ad specifications recommend the same 9:16 shape, and Google's specifications for vertical video ads use 1080 × 1920.
Cropping a wide shot down to a tall one throws away most of its width, so people at the edges are lost and the picture can feel cramped. Planning for the tall frame from the first picture keeps faces and text where they belong.
A short about a record-breaking high dive is made in 9:16 from the start, so the whole fall from platform to water fits in one tall frame. In a wide frame, the camera would have had to pull far back to fit the fall, leaving the diver tiny.
How we use it
Our videos are made in 9:16 from the first picture, never cropped down from a wide frame.
Sources
- Instagram Reels ad specs, Meta. Checked 15 October 2026.
- TikTok Auction In-Feed Ads specifications, TikTok. Checked 15 October 2026.
- About video ad specs (universal safe zones), Google. Checked 13 October 2026.
Last reviewed 15 October 2026.