Aspect ratio conversions
Convert 16:9 to 9:16: Landscape to Portrait
Plan a landscape-to-portrait crop, calculate retained area, and compare a padded 9:16 canvas before exporting vertical video.
Turning landscape video into portrait video changes the composition substantially. A 9:16 crop can remove most of a 16:9 source’s horizontal content. Use the comparison to decide whether to crop, pad or reframe shot by shot.
Compare crop and padding to 9:16
Centered crop removes 656.25 px from each left/right edge and 0 px from each top/bottom edge.
Centered placement adds 0 px to each left/right edge and 1166.67 px to each top/bottom edge.
The crop retains 31.64% of the source area. Padding retains all the source.
Results use exact geometry, displayed to two decimal places. Round the final canvas to whole pixels in your editor and recheck the resulting ratio. This planner does not resize or export your file.
Compare other target ratios in the full toolA narrow crop from a wide source
At 1920 × 1080, a 9:16 crop keeps 607.5 × 1080 in exact geometry, retaining about 31.64% of the original area. The centered crop removes 656.25 pixels from each side before rounding. Your editor will need whole-pixel dimensions and may scale the retained region for export.
Preserve the source with a taller canvas
Keeping the full original width requires a 1920 × 3413.33 canvas before rounding. That produces substantial space above and below the image. An alternative workflow is to scale the source to the output width first and then place it in a portrait canvas. Neither approach creates additional original detail.
Reframe rather than rotate
Swapping dimensions describes a different frame, but rotating footage also rotates the subject. For upright portrait video from an upright landscape recording, keep the subject upright and reposition the crop. Multiple subjects may need separate cuts or a composed layout rather than one fixed centered crop.
Calculation method
Let r be the target width divided by target height (9 ÷ 16). A crop fits inside the source: width = min(source width, source height × r), height = min(source height, source width ÷ r). A padded canvas uses max instead of min so the source fits inside it.
The retained percentage is crop width × crop height ÷ source width ÷ source height × 100. Edge amounts assume a centered crop or placement. Position the crop differently if your subject is off-center.