What the 9:16 aspect ratio means
A 9:16 picture is tall: 9 parts wide for every 16 parts tall, for example 1080 × 1920 px. It fills a phone screen held upright.
| Use | Size in pixels |
|---|---|
| Stories, Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts | 1080 × 1920 |
| Smaller file for the same screens | 720 × 1280 |
Where 9:16 is used
Instagram and Facebook stories, Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts and phone wallpapers. A picture in another shape gets bars or is cut by the app; a 9:16 crop fills the screen as you planned it.
Keep faces and text away from the edges
Instagram and TikTok put the name, buttons and captions over the top and bottom of the screen and along the right side. Keep the face and any text in the middle of the frame.
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.