Key takeaways
- Cropping 1920 × 1080 to 9:16 keeps 31.6% of the frame: a 608 × 1080 box, 656 px left and right.
- The crop box is the largest rectangle of the target shape inside the source; padding the other axis is the alternative.
Choosing between crop and padding
A crop throws pixels away and fills the frame. The more different the shapes, the more is lost: a 16:9 picture keeps under a third of itself in 9:16. Padding keeps everything and leaves empty bars.
If the subject is not in the middle, the centered box is the wrong box. Use the numbers as the size of the box and place it where your subject is.
Scenarios
| Scenario | Crop box | Frame kept | Cut from each side |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p to 9:16 | 608 × 1080 | 31.6% | 656 px left and right |
| 1080p to 1:1 | 1080 × 1080 | 56.3% | 420 px left and right |
| 1080p to 4:5 | 864 × 1080 | 45.0% | 528 px left and right |
| 4K to 9:16 | 1216 × 2160 | 31.6% | 1313 px left and right |
| Phone vertical to 16:9 | 1080 × 608 | 31.6% | 656 px top and bottom |
| 4:3 to 1:1 | 1080 × 1080 | 75.0% | 180 px left and right |
How much of the frame is kept
Share of the frame kept by a centered crop, for common sources and targets.
| Source | 9:16 | 1:1 | 4:5 | 16:9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16:9 (1920 × 1080) | 31.6% | 56.3% | 45.0% | 100.0% |
| 4:3 (1440 × 1080) | 42.2% | 75.0% | 60.0% | 75.0% |
| 21:9 (2560 × 1080) | 23.7% | 42.2% | 33.8% | 75.0% |
| 9:16 (1080 × 1920) | 100.0% | 56.3% | 70.3% | 31.6% |
| 1:1 (1080 × 1080) | 56.3% | 100.0% | 80.0% | 56.3% |