What is aspect ratio?

Aspect ratio is the proportional relationship between the width and height of an image, video, or screen. It's expressed as two numbers separated by a colon (e.g., 16:9, 4:3) or as a decimal (e.g., 1.78:1).

The aspect ratio describes the shape of your content,whether it's wide and rectangular (like 21:9), more square-like (like 4:3), or somewhere in between (like 16:9). This ratio remains constant regardless of the actual size of the image or video.

For example, a 16:9 aspect ratio means that for every 16 units of width, there are 9 units of height. This could be 1920 pixels wide by 1080 pixels tall, or 1280 x 720, or any other dimensions that maintain that same 16:9 proportion.

Understanding aspect ratios is crucial because they affect how your content displays across different devices and platforms. Using the wrong aspect ratio can result in black bars, cropping, or stretched images.