Post a landscape video to Reels and the algorithm doesn't punish you out of spite — it punishes you with math. A 16:9 video in a 9:16 feed uses about a third of the screen; the rest is dead space, viewers scroll past, watch time tanks, and distribution follows. Video size isn't a technical detail. On social platforms, the aspect ratio is the format. Here's the ratio every platform actually wants, and how to cut one video into all of them — free, in your browser, in a couple of minutes.
Why the ratio decides your reach
Three forces make video dimensions matter more than almost any other packaging decision:
- Screen real estate. Vertical full-screen video (9:16) occupies roughly three times the pixels of a landscape video in the same mobile feed. More screen means more attention means more watch time — the metric every algorithm feeds on.
- Platform preference. Feeds are built around a native shape. Match it and your video looks like it belongs; miss it and the platform letterboxes you into a small window that reads as "old content, wrong place."
- Composition survival. When a platform auto-crops your mismatched video, it decides what gets cut — often your subject, your caption, or your logo. Cropping deliberately means you decide.
The ratio cheat sheet
| Where it's going | Ratio | Typical resolution | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| TikTok, Reels, YouTube Shorts | 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 | Full-screen vertical. Keep key action centered — platform UI overlays the edges. |
| Instagram / Facebook feed | 4:5 | 1080 × 1350 | The tallest shape feeds allow — takes more screen than 1:1. |
| Square posts, carousels | 1:1 | 1080 × 1080 | The safe universal shape; works almost everywhere. |
| YouTube, websites, presentations | 16:9 | 1920 × 1080 | The classic landscape standard — still king off the vertical feeds. |
| X / LinkedIn feed | 16:9 or 1:1 | 1080p | Landscape works; square takes more feed height and often performs better. |
| Classic / retro formats | 4:3 | 1440 × 1080 | Occasionally used deliberately for a vintage look. |
Exact pixel recommendations drift as platforms update, but these ratios are the stable standards — get the shape right and the platform handles the rest.
One video, every platform: the crop workflow
You don't need five edits — you need one good master video and a cropper. The free video crop tool runs entirely in your browser (your footage never uploads anywhere) and keeps the audio in the export. Here's the full workflow:
- Drop in your video. MP4, WebM or MOV. It loads instantly because there's no upload.
- Pick the destination ratio. One tap on 9:16, 1:1, 4:5, 4:3 or 16:9 locks the frame to that shape.
- Frame the shot. Drag the frame onto your subject and pull the corners to size it. A rule-of-thirds grid inside the frame keeps the recomposition intentional rather than accidental.
- Zoom and position the video. Scroll (or use the zoom slider) to punch in, and drag the video itself to reposition it under the frame — so the subject sits exactly where you want it in the new shape.
- Or don't crop at all — letterbox on your terms. Hit Fit and the whole video sits inside the frame with the empty space filled by a background color you choose. A landscape clip inside a 9:16 story with brand-colored bars looks designed; the same clip floating in default black looks like an afterthought. Cover does the opposite — fills the frame completely and trims the edges.
- Export. One click records the result to MP4/WebM at up to 1080p with the original sound, and it downloads automatically. No watermark, no account.
Composition rules that survive the crop
- Shoot with cropping in mind. Keep your subject centered and leave breathing room at the edges of the original — that margin is what makes a 16:9 master recut cleanly into 9:16 and 1:1.
- Respect the UI zones on vertical. TikTok and Reels overlay captions, buttons and usernames along the bottom and right edge. Keep text and logos in the middle 80% of the frame.
- Don't stretch — ever. Distorting a video to fit a ratio is the one option worse than letterboxing. Crop or fit; never warp.
- Check the first frame. Feeds show a still until the video plays — make sure the opening frame composes well in the new shape too.
Finishing the pipeline
Cropping is usually the middle step of a social video, not the whole job. Open with a title card from the free text animation maker, close with your animated logo, and if a platform or chat app wants a GIF instead of video, the GIF converter handles that — with the right compression settings. And if the clip that needs to exist in every ratio is your logo animation itself, our custom packages deliver 16:9, 9:16 and 1:1 masters so you never have to crop a compromise.
FAQ
What size should my video be for Reels and TikTok?
9:16 vertical — 1080 × 1920 is the standard. The crop tool's 9:16 preset locks the frame to exactly that shape.
Should I crop or letterbox?
Crop when the action survives the tighter frame — full-screen always wins on vertical feeds. Letterbox (Fit + a background color) when the full width matters: screen recordings, wide product shots, anything where cutting the edges cuts the content.
Does cropping reduce quality?
The pixels you keep are re-encoded at high bitrate, so the kept region looks essentially the same — you're discarding the rest, which is the point. Punching in with heavy zoom magnifies the source, so the more you zoom, the more the original resolution matters.
Do I need different exports for Instagram feed and Stories?
Ideally yes: 4:5 for the feed post, 9:16 for the Story. With one master and a browser cropper, the second export costs about a minute.
Grab whatever footage you posted last, open the free video cropper, and cut it for the platform where it flopped in the wrong shape. Same content, right ratio — it's the cheapest performance upgrade in social video.
