Reframe a landscape video for a vertical screen

Choose a frame, not just a ratio

A vertical version should show the action clearly, not simply remove both sides of a horizontal shot. A face near the edge, a second person, or a caption can disappear when the crop stays centered.

For a common vertical layout, start with a 9:16 frame. Treat that as a composition choice, not a guarantee that every platform will display the whole frame; interface elements may cover parts of it.

Find the subject’s safe area

Scrub through the clip and identify how far the subject moves. A single crop works best when the important action stays within one area. If the subject crosses the full width, splitting the clip into separately framed shots may work better.

• Leave breathing room above the head and around hands.
• Keep existing captions inside the visible frame.
• Do not enlarge a small crop more than the destination needs.

Crop and inspect the export

Work on a copy so you can return to the full-width original if the composition is too tight.

1. Open the crop tool and load the source video.
2. Choose the aspect ratio offered for your intended layout.
3. Position the crop around the action, then preview the full clip.
4. Export and replay the saved video, especially moments with movement.

When cropping is the wrong fix

A slide presentation, two-person interview, or wide sports shot may lose essential information in a narrow crop. In that case, use an editor that can place the whole frame on a vertical canvas, or create a separate vertical edit.

Cropping and scaling normally require video re-encoding. Check fine detail in the export rather than assuming it is an unchanged copy of the source.