Aspect ratio and safe-zone calculator
Pick a platform to see the exact pixel size to export at and where the app's buttons, captions and usernames cover your video. Then work out the exact crop for turning a 16:9 recording into a vertical 9:16 clip.
Free, no sign-in, nothing to install.
Sizes and safe zones by platform
840 × 960
Export sizes for YouTube Shorts
Keep these margins clear at 1080 × 1920
- Top
- 288 px
- 15%
- Bottom
- 672 px
- 35%
- Left
- 48 px
- 4%
- Right
- 192 px
- 18%
Published guidanceThe safe zone Google publishes for vertical video ads on YouTube, which appear in the Shorts feed. Organic Shorts have the same buttons, title and channel name on top of the video.
- →The title and channel name sit at the bottom left, and the like, comment and share buttons run up the right edge.
- →A square 1:1 video also counts as a Short, but it shows with bars above and below.
Checked 17 October 2026. App layouts change with device and version, so preview before posting.
Crop calculator: 16:9 to 9:16
Work out the exact crop window for turning a landscape recording into a vertical clip, then copy the size or a ready-made ffmpeg command.
- Crop window
- 608 × 1080
- Offset (x, y)
- 656, 0
- Frame kept
- 32%
- Scale to 1080 × 1920
- 1.78×
The crop is smaller than the 1080 × 1920 export, so it gets upscaled 1.78× and will look softer. Record in 4K if you can.
Crop and scale with ffmpeg
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "crop=608:1080:656:0,scale=1080:1920" -c:a copy output.mp4
Or fit the whole frame on a blurred background
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -filter_complex "[0:v]scale=1080:1920:force_original_aspect_ratio=increase,crop=1080:1920,boxblur=20[bg];[0:v]scale=1080:1920:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease[fg];[bg][fg]overlay=(W-w)/2:(H-h)/2" -c:a copy output.mp4
How to use it
- 1Choose the platform you are posting to.
- 2Check the safe zone: keep faces, captions and text inside the clear area.
- 3Enter your source video size and pick the target shape.
- 4Slide the crop window to frame your subject, then copy the crop size or the ffmpeg command.
Skip the busywork with Reeltopus
Reeltopus reframes every clip for you: it finds the active speaker in each shot and moves the 9:16 crop with them, then exports at the right size for every platform.
The free plan includes 2 upload hours a month.
Try Reeltopus freeQuestions
What size should a YouTube Short, Reel or TikTok be?+
1080 × 1920 pixels, a 9:16 vertical frame, for all three. Uploading at that exact size avoids the app scaling or cropping your video.
What is a safe zone?+
The part of the frame that the app's own interface does not cover. Usernames, captions, the like and share buttons and progress bars sit on top of your video, mostly along the bottom and the right edge. Keep faces and on-screen text inside the safe zone so nothing important is hidden.
How do I convert 16:9 video to 9:16?+
Crop a vertical slice out of the wide frame and scale it up. From 1920 × 1080 the 9:16 slice is 608 × 1080 pixels, which is under a third of the width, so you have to choose where to put it. Center it on whoever is speaking. Reeltopus does this automatically and follows the active speaker as they move.
Are these safe zones official?+
Partly. Google and Meta publish safe zones for vertical ads on YouTube and Instagram, and we use those numbers. TikTok, LinkedIn and X don't publish pixel figures, so for them we give conservative margins measured from the apps. The interface changes with device and app version, so always preview before posting.
Let Reeltopus make the clips for you.
Join the waitlist for early access. The free plan includes 2 upload hours a month.