Social Video Aspect Ratio Calculator
Exact crop and pad numbers for 9:16, 1:1, 4:5, 16:9 and 2:3.
- Runs entirely in your browser
- Nothing is uploaded
- Works offline once loaded
Crop to fill, or pad to fit
Moving between aspect ratios always costs you something. Either you lose part of the image, or you add empty space around it. This calculator tells you exactly how much, in pixels, before you commit.
- Crop to fill — the frame is completely filled and the overflow is cut away. Nothing is letterboxed, but you lose part of the picture.
- Pad to fit — the whole image is preserved and bars are added to fill the gap. Nothing is lost, but the subject gets smaller.
The crop figure is the important one. If it tells you that going from 16:9 to 9:16 removes 1312 pixels of width, you know immediately that a wide shot will not survive the transition and needs reframing rather than cropping.
Recommended export sizes
- 9:16 — 1080 × 1920 px. Reels, TikTok, Shorts, Stories.
- 4:5 — 1080 × 1350 px. The tallest format the Instagram feed allows.
- 1:1 — 1080 × 1080 px. Safe everywhere, wastes vertical space on mobile.
- 2:3 — 1000 × 1500 px. Standard Pinterest pin.
- 16:9 — 1920 × 1080 px. YouTube and landscape embeds.
Shooting for more than one format
If you know a video will be posted both vertically and horizontally, frame it with that in mind: keep the subject centred and leave headroom, so a 9:16 crop from a 16:9 original still works. Deciding this while shooting is far easier than rescuing it in the edit.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, cropping or padding?
Cropping almost always looks more professional for video, because bars waste screen space and signal that content was repurposed.
Padding is the right choice when nothing can be cut — a full-width logo, a graphic with text to the edges, or a product shot that must be shown complete.
Does this change my file?
No. This is a calculator — it tells you the numbers to use in your editor. To actually resize an image, use the Social Image Resizer.
Every SnapView tool runs inside your browser. Files you open here are read by your own device and are never uploaded, stored or transmitted anywhere. You can disconnect from the internet after this page loads and the tools will still work — which is the simplest way to verify that claim for yourself.