One shoot, every format: what survives the crop?

What the tool answers

A campaign shot once in 16:9 now usually ships as 9:16 for Reels and TikTok, 4:5 for the Instagram feed, 1:1 for LinkedIn and perhaps a 2.39 version for cinema. Each of those is a different crop of the same image, and each platform lays its own buttons and captions over the picture. The Framing tab shows all crops on top of your actual frame, lets you slide each one to where the subject is and tells you whether the remaining pixels still fill the delivery master.

The Deliverables tab turns platforms, lengths and language versions into the list post-production has to work through — with file names, a count and a time estimate that shows its assumptions instead of hiding them.

How we calculate

Each crop is the largest rectangle of the target ratio that fits inside the source. If the target is narrower than the source, the crop uses the full height; otherwise the full width. For anamorphic formats the source is de-squeezed first (a 3072 × 2560 sensor with a 2× lens becomes a 6144 × 2560 image), and the table shows the sensor pixels actually used.

A crop needs no scaling if it is at least as large as the master in both directions. The master is set by its long edge: 1920 px for HD, 3840 px for UHD — so 9:16 means 1080 × 1920 or 2160 × 3840. The red bands in vertical frames mark the interface: Meta shows 14 % at the top, 35 % at the bottom and 6 % at the sides as the Reels safe zone; TikTok and YouTube publish no pixel values, so those masks are measured from their templates and rounded.

narrower target: crop = (H × ratio) × H wider target: crop = W × (W ÷ ratio) cut away = 1 − crop area ÷ source area upscale factor = max(master width ÷ crop width, master height ÷ crop height)

Where the tool is wrong

• Interfaces change. Platforms move buttons, add lines to captions and test layouts per country. The masks are an approximation as of October 2026; for paid ads, check the platform’s own preview before final delivery.
• Scaling is not a cliff. An upscale of 1.1× from a good camera rarely shows; 1.8× from a soft Full HD file does. The tool tells you the factor, not whether your audience will notice.
• Frame-line PNGs are not camera files. The PNG works as an image overlay on monitors that support one, and in every edit system. ARRI, RED, Sony and Blackmagic cameras use their own frame-line formats — use the pixel values from the table to build them in the manufacturer’s tool.
• Time estimates are averages. A 6-second cut-down of a strong 30-second spot can take ten minutes or half a day. Change the minutes under “Time assumptions” to your own numbers once you have them.

From the set

A product film in UHD, the presenter framed on the right third of the 16:9 image — her eyes sit at x = 2560. The centred 9:16 crop runs from x = 1313 to x = 2528, so it misses her face by 32 pixels. Slide the 9:16 frame until she is centred and the offset becomes x = 1953: the crop works, but the product on the left third is gone from the vertical version. That is a decision for the set, not for the edit — either a second set-up for vertical or a wider composition with both elements nearer the centre.

Delivery is the second surprise. Four platforms (YouTube, Reels, Instagram feed, TikTok), three lengths (6, 15, 30 s), German and English audio, English subtitles burned in and a textless version of every cut: that is 48 files from nine separate edits. With the default assumptions it comes to about 35 hours of post — four and a half editing days that belong in the quote.