When a video needs a background
Every platform has its preferred shape. TikTok, Reels, Shorts and stories are tall 9:16, the Instagram feed likes 4:5 or 1:1, and YouTube and TVs are wide 16:9. When a clip has the wrong shape, there are two options: cut parts of the picture away, or place the whole video on a bigger canvas and fill the empty space. This tool does the second, so nothing of the original picture is lost.
Typical cases are a horizontal phone or camera clip posted as a story, a vertical phone video placed on a wide YouTube frame, a screen recording shown on a coloured card for a presentation, or a product clip framed with brand colours.
Four kinds of background
- Blur: an enlarged, blurred copy of the video itself fills the space. The colours always match, and it is the most popular look on social media because it keeps the frame full without drawing attention.
- Colour: a solid colour. Black is neutral and cinematic, white looks clean, and a brand colour makes the clip recognisable.
- Gradient: a blend between two colours (From and To) at any angle, for a softer and more designed look.
- Image: any picture as the backdrop, such as a texture, a branded template, a photo of a location or a pattern.
Making it look designed
Three settings turn a simple letterbox into a card-like layout:
- Space around shrinks the video inside the canvas, leaving a margin of background on every side.
- Rounded corners soften the edges of the video, the way apps show cards and phone screens.
- Shadow lifts the video off the background so it looks like it floats above it.
Under Position you can move the video up, down, left or right inside the canvas. Moving it up in a 9:16 frame, for example, leaves room at the bottom for captions or a title that you add later with Add text to video.
Shapes and output size
| Shape | Use it for |
|---|---|
| 9:16 Stories | TikTok, Instagram Reels and stories, YouTube Shorts, WhatsApp status |
| 1:1 Square | Feeds, profile videos, marketplaces |
| 4:5 Feed | Instagram and Facebook feed posts, which take more screen space than square |
| 16:9 Wide | YouTube, presentations, TVs and computers |
| 4:3 | Older screens, some classroom and conference systems |
| Same size | Keeps the original shape; use it with Space around to add a border |
The canvas is a standard social media size, 1080 pixels on the short side (for example 1080×1920 for 9:16 or 1920×1080 for 16:9), and smaller when the source video is smaller. Keep in mind that a wide video placed in a tall frame only fills the width, so it appears smaller than in its original form. You can still choose a lower resolution in the export settings for a smaller file.
Background or crop?
If the important part of your video is in the middle and the edges don't matter, cropping fills the screen better; use Crop video for that. Resize video has social media presets and also offers a blurred fill or crop to fill. Use this page when you want more control over the look of the background itself. All three tools work in your browser, and your video is not uploaded.