How to Easily Resize Your Video for Social Media

You probably know by now that video content is essential to your digital marketing strategy. But once you’ve created and edited some quality videos to share on social media, you’re going to come face to face with a new question: what size should your video be?

There’s no one simple answer to that question because every social media platform has different requirements when it comes to video sizes. That’s why we’re going to give you a breakdown of the different video aspect ratios and which sizes work best on which platform. Plus, we’ll show you how to easily and quickly resize your video so it’s optimized for each of your social accounts. Let’s get started!

What to Know Before You Resize Your Video

If you’ve never resized a video before, then you’re probably not familiar with the various options. Here are the four standard sizes you need to know:

1. Widescreen/Landscape

Landscape is the most common video size. Simply put, if you’re watching a video that stretches horizontally across your screen, then you’re probably watching a video that’s been resized to landscape. The aspect ratio for landscape is 16:9.

Common uses: Twitter, Facebook, & Youtube

Landscape has traditionally been the standard video format, but this has is changed in recent years due to the ever-changing world of social media...

2. Square

A square video looks exactly as the name would imply. Each of its four sides is exactly the same length, making the aspect ratio for square video 1:1.

Common uses: Instagram Feed, Facebook, & LinkedIn

3. Vertical/Portrait (9:16)

A vertical video is, once again, aptly named. It is the exact opposite of landscape (and the standard size of most smartphone screens, meaning your video will fill the entire screen of your viewer), and the aspect ratio will be 9:16.

Common uses: Instagram Stories, IGTV, & Snapchat.

4. Traditional Portrait (4:5)

Portrait is currently the least common video size used on social media, yet it is worth mentioning since certain popular Instagram creators are using it to get more visibility on the Instagram Feed. Its aspect ratio of 4:5 is usually cropped from a video originally shot in 9:16 vertical.

Common uses: Instagram Feed

Resizing Your Videos for the Top Social Platforms

Now, the next thing you need to know is which of these video sizes works best on which social media platforms. Here are the top four you need to know:

1. Instagram

When you’re trying to resize your video for Instagram, you have to decide first where you’ll be uploading it. If you’ll be putting your video on IGTV or using it in an Instagram Story, then the best option is the vertical size (9:16). As we talked about earlier, this size fits perfectly with standard smartphone screens, so your video will fill the screen (which is exactly what you want in IGTV and Stories).

If you’re putting the video on your Instagram feed, then you technically have three options: landscape, square, or vertical. But it’s important to bear in mind that Instagram will not rotate on smartphones, so any landscape video you put on Instagram will appear fairly small. Your best bet for Instagram feed videos is resizing to 1:1 (square). This will ensure that your video’s quality is top-notch for both mobile and desktop users.

2. Facebook

Facebook is easy to get along with. They’ll let you upload your video in any of the four video sizes we’ve discussed. But, just like Instagram, there are sizes that work best depending on where you’re placing the video.

If you’re putting the video on your Facebook feed, resize your video to 4:5 (portrait). For stories, it’s the same as Instagram: resize your video to vertical (9:16).

3. Twitter

Twitter is almost as easy as Facebook. They’ll allow landscape, vertical, and square videos. But remember this: it’s been shown that most people hold their phones vertically when they’re watching a video, so it’s always a good idea to have your video optimized with that in mind. Short answer: stick with vertical or square.

4. YouTube

In the land of YouTube, horizontal video is king. With this platform, your job is very simple: resize your video for landscape.

How to Resize Your Video for Social Media (Step-by-Step)

Now that you know the deal with optimizing your video sizes for social media, you just need to figure out how to actually resize your videos. Luckily, we’ve made that easy with Zubtitle. Follow the steps below in order to easily resize your video for the desired social platform:

1. Sign in to your Zubtitle account

Or create a new one!

2. Upload your video

Click the “Add New Video” button on the right-hand side of the screen.

3. Select the "Resize" option

You’ll find it on the right-hand menu.

4. Select your size

Simply choose between the four options and see your video automatically resize on the left-hand side of the screen. And that’s it!

5. Download Your New Video

Just use the down arrow Download symbol at the top of the screen to render a new video and download it to your computer or device.

As you can see, Zubtitle makes it quick and easy to resize your video for every social media platform. If you don’t have a Zubtitle account and you’re ready to start creating videos for FREE, sign up today!