Vertical video aspect ratio (1080×1920) — the native format for Reels, Shorts, TikTok, and Stories.
Last verified · 2026-05-29 · by Moe Ameen
9:16 is the dominant aspect ratio for short-form video. Practical resolution: 1080×1920 (full HD vertical). It matches a phone screen held in portrait orientation, which is the default state for ~95% of social-video consumption.
Layout discipline matters. Reels/TikTok UI elements (caption, like/share buttons, user info) eat the bottom 25% and parts of the top 15% of the frame. Critical visual content — face, on-screen captions, key text — should sit in the middle 60% (vertical pixels 288–1632 on a 1080×1920 canvas).
Kompozy's HyperFrames templates and Persona Shorts both default to 1080×1920 with a safe-zone-aware layout. Captions burn in via libass at the middle-third position by default; templates that need custom positioning (e.g. quote-callout templates) expose per-template overrides.
9:16 video is the vertical aspect ratio with a practical resolution of 1080×1920, the native format for Reels, Shorts, TikTok, and Stories. It matches a phone screen held in portrait orientation, the default state for roughly 95% of social-video consumption.
Critical visual content — face, on-screen captions, key text — should sit in the middle 60% of the frame, which is vertical pixels 288 to 1632 on a 1080×1920 canvas. The Reels and TikTok UI eats the bottom 25% and parts of the top 15%.
It matches a phone held in portrait orientation, which is how about 95% of social video is consumed. That makes it the native format for every major short-form feed.
The practical resolution is 1080×1920, full HD vertical. Kompozy's HyperFrames templates and Persona Shorts both default to this size.
Kompozy defaults to 1080×1920 with a safe-zone-aware layout, burning captions in via libass at the middle-third position. Templates that need custom positioning, such as quote-callout templates, expose per-template overrides.