What the 16:9 aspect ratio means
A 16:9 picture is wide: 16 parts wide for every 9 parts tall, for example 1920 × 1080 px. It is the shape of TVs, most monitors and video.
| Use | Size in pixels |
|---|---|
| YouTube thumbnail | 1280 × 720 |
| Full HD: slides, screens, video | 1920 × 1080 |
| 4K: large screens, wallpapers | 3840 × 2160 |
Where 16:9 is used
YouTube videos and thumbnails, slides in PowerPoint and Google Slides, TVs, laptop and desktop screens, and the cover images of many websites. A photo cropped to 16:9 fills these screens without black bars.
Turning a portrait photo into 16:9
From a photo taken upright, a 16:9 crop keeps only a band across the middle. Zoom out fully and move the photo so the band holds the face or the subject; leave room for a title if the picture is a thumbnail.
Cropping is not resizing
Cropping cuts off the edges that do not fit the new shape; nothing is squeezed or stretched. Resizing only changes the number of pixels. This tool does both in one go: it cuts the photo to the ratio, then saves it at the size you pick, or with every pixel of the crop under “Original”.
When the photo itself is the problem
A crop cannot fix a photo that is too small, too dark or cut off at the forehead. If you need a portrait and have no good one, a professional headshot made from a few selfies gives you one that fits any frame.