Social Media Video Sizes and Image Specs for Videographers

By Lance Coleman · October 16, 2026

Get practical social media video sizes, image dimensions, aspect ratios, export settings, and crop checks for Reels, TikTok, YouTube, and client work.

Social media video sizes: the working export table

For most client deliveries, build around four canvases: 1080 × 1920 vertical, 1080 × 1350 portrait, 1080 × 1080 square, and 1920 × 1080 landscape. These cover the main shapes, but they are not interchangeable. A Reel needs different framing from a LinkedIn feed video, even when both come from the same master.

All dimensions below are width × height. These are practical export targets, not a list of every accepted upload size or platform minimum. Platforms change upload limits, ad specifications, and preview crops. Confirm the actual placement before a paid campaign or unusually long upload.

Keep the social media size cheat sheet alongside your delivery brief. Specify the placement, not just the platform: “Facebook video” could mean a landscape feed upload, vertical Reel, Story, or paid placement.

Social media image sizes for covers, stills, and posts

A video delivery often needs more than an MP4. Covers, announcement cards, thumbnails, and carousel stills each need their own crop.

Use JPEG for photographic stills and PNG when clean graphic edges or transparency matter. Export ordinary social images in sRGB.

Do not assume that a cover upload behaves like a normal photo post. Cover selection, custom-thumbnail availability, and editing after publication differ by platform and upload route. Test the client’s actual workflow before designing a campaign around one thumbnail treatment.

For frame selection and export methods, see how to extract stills from a video on Mac. Choose a sharp expression first, then check whether it survives the required crop.

Aspect ratio, resolution, and file size are different decisions

Aspect ratio controls shape. A 9:16 video is vertical whether it measures 720 × 1280 or 1080 × 1920.

Resolution controls the pixel dimensions. Increasing the export size does not restore detail missing from a small crop.

File size depends mainly on duration and bitrate. Two 1080 × 1920 videos can have very different file sizes because one runs longer or uses a higher bitrate.

This distinction prevents a common handoff problem: a client asks for a “smaller video,” and the editor reduces the dimensions when the real issue is upload weight.

What about maximum file sizes and video lengths?

There is no dependable platform-wide number for every placement. Organic uploads, ads, mobile apps, desktop uploaders, scheduling tools, and account tiers can have different limits.

YouTube’s standard upload ceiling is 256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less, with account verification required for uploads longer than 15 minutes. That does not make those limits applicable to Shorts or every advertising format.

For the other placements, confirm these four items in the intended uploader before final delivery:

• Maximum duration for that placement and account.
• Maximum file size through that upload route.
• Accepted container, codec, resolution, and frame rate.
• Whether a scheduler imposes a tighter limit than the native app.

For paid work, request the placement specification from whoever is trafficking the campaign. A 9:16 organic export is not automatically an approved ad asset.

Reframe the edit, not just the export

Changing a sequence from 16:9 to 9:16 is the start of the work. The crop needs to follow the story shot by shot.

Know how much of the master survives

A full-height 9:16 crop from a 3840 × 2160 UHD master uses a 1215 × 2160 portion of the frame. That can be downscaled to 1080 × 1920 without enlarging the cropped image.

The same crop from a 1920 × 1080 master leaves roughly 608 × 1080 pixels. Filling a 1080 × 1920 export requires upscaling.

Either way, the crop retains only about 32% of the original width. UHD gives you pixels, not permission to cut out the second person in a conversation.

If the master contains baked-in letterboxing, those black bars are part of the file. Crop around the active picture before judging the available resolution.

Make the crop decision per shot

• Music video: Track the performer, but check microphones, hands, and dancers before committing to a tight crop.
• Wedding: Protect both faces during vows and reactions. Cutting between people may work better than forcing both into one vertical frame.
• Event: Watch speakers walking across the stage. A locked center crop can lose the subject halfway through a sentence.
• Brand: Keep the product action visible. A face-centered crop may remove the item being demonstrated.

Use restrained position keyframes when necessary. Excessive digital panning can make an otherwise stable shot feel restless.

When a crop cannot preserve the information, use a deliberately designed background or a smaller landscape picture within the vertical canvas. That is preferable to delivering a full-screen image that no longer makes sense.

Safe zones: protect information, not empty space

There is no universal safe-zone rectangle across Reels, TikTok, Shorts, Stories, and ads. Controls, descriptions, caption settings, and calls to action occupy different areas.

As an editing starting point, keep essential text within the central 80% of the width. On a 1080 × 1920 canvas, initially reserve roughly 250 pixels at the top and 400 pixels at the bottom. These are conservative working margins, not official platform specifications or a guarantee against overlap.

Then test the actual placement:

1. Preview through the intended account and upload route.
2. Check the right-side control stack, bottom description, and any ad button.
3. Watch with platform captions enabled where relevant.
4. Check the feed preview and profile-grid crop separately.
5. Move graphics and rebuild the export if needed.

Reposition captions after reframing. A lower third designed for landscape usually needs more than a smaller font. Rebreak the lines, shorten the wording if approved, and keep names readable on a phone.

Practical video export settings

These are delivery starting points, not platform-mandated limits.

Fast motion, grain, confetti, foliage, and concert lighting can need more bitrate than a clean interview. Inspect the encoded file, not just the timeline preview.

Do not convert 24 fps footage to 60 fps merely because an uploader accepts it. Duplicated frames do not create smoother captured motion. For HDR sources, make a controlled SDR conversion unless HDR delivery is intentional and tested.

To estimate upload weight:

File size in MB ≈ total bitrate in Mbps × duration in seconds ÷ 8.

A 60-second export at 12 Mbps is approximately 90 MB before allowing for audio and container overhead. If it exceeds a limit, adjust bitrate or duration before sacrificing useful resolution.

Build a delivery pack the client can identify

For a typical short campaign, agree on a small, explicit set:

• 9:16 video: Reels, TikTok, Shorts, or Stories, with placement-specific adjustments where needed.
• 4:5 or square video: Only when the feed or campaign brief calls for it.
• 16:9 video: YouTube, presentations, or landscape feed use.
• Cover and thumbnail images: Separate files with approved crops.
• Captioned and clean versions: When requested, clearly distinguished.

Name files by project, placement, ratio, dimensions, caption status, and version. For example: Acme_Launch_Reel_9x16_1080x1920_captioned_v03.mp4.

Before handoff, watch each export from beginning to end. Check the first and last frames, caption timing, spelling, audio, crop movement, and accidental black bars. Confirm that announcement cards use the approved date and that all files belong to the same revision.

A correct pixel size does not catch an outdated logo or a clipped wedding vow.

Where ShotBatch fits

ShotBatch is a native Mac app for videographers working from a finished MOV or MP4 master already on the Mac. Its review pass reads scene cuts, sharpness, faces, motion, lyrics, and audio energy to surface candidate frames the editor approves.

It exports a white-label pack that can include named source-resolution stills, vertical and square social crops, H.264 clips, GIF loops, captioned verticals, contact sheets, and JSON and CSV manifests with source timestamps. It fits the derivative-delivery stage. Keep shot-specific reframing and placement checks in your editorial workflow.

The export includes a self-hosted share folder with a passcode option. You choose the host; ShotBatch never uploads footage.

Free alternatives remain useful: an existing editor can handle reframing, and FFmpeg can extract frames or encode fixed crops without a software purchase. ShotBatch uses one-time licenses: Lite is $39 and Pro is $129, with no subscription. See pricing for the license options and 14-day money-back guarantee.

FAQ

What size should social media videos be?

Use 1080 × 1920 for full-screen vertical placements, 1080 × 1350 for portrait feed assets, 1080 × 1080 for square, and 1920 × 1080 for landscape. Choose by placement, not platform name alone.

Can I use one vertical video everywhere?

Often, but check duration, interface overlap, captions, and cover behavior separately. Keep a clean vertical master so you can make placement-specific versions without rebuilding the edit.

Is 4K better than 1080p for social media?

A UHD source gives you more cropping room. A UHD upload does not guarantee better playback after platform compression. For many vertical deliveries, a clean 1080 × 1920 export is a sensible target.

Why is my video cropped even though the dimensions are correct?

Full-screen playback, feed previews, and profile grids can use different display crops. Check each surface separately and position cover text to survive the previews that matter.

Should I export MOV or MP4?

MP4 with H.264 is a practical default for social delivery. MOV is a container, not a quality setting, and may contain a codec or file size unsuitable for the intended uploader.