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Mastering YouTube Shorts Size and Layout

What Are the Pixel Dimensions for YouTube Shorts?

YouTube Shorts are vertical videos under 60 seconds that you can upload as short-form media. Alongside TikTok and Instagram Reels, they are one of the big three in the short-form world.

<The Big Three of Short-Form Media - YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Instagram Reels>

YouTube specifies that the video ratio for Shorts should be 9:16. In terms of pixels, the optimal size is 1080 X 1920.

Considering the Smartphones That Display Shorts...

Many Shorts creators start their projects at the 1080 X 1920 size because it’s the official YouTube Shorts size. But there’s a catch we often overlook. The screens of smartphones displaying our content all have different aspect ratios! (Smartphones are getting longer and longer…)

<From 9:16 to now 9:20... Smartphones are getting longer...>

So, if you start working at 1080 X 1920 without any guidelines, two issues can arise.

<(Left) 9:16 Smartphone, (Right) 9:19.5 Smartphone>

1) Interference from YouTube Shorts Basic Buttons

When you start a project at 1080X1920 in a typical video editing tool and work on it freely, there's an easy-to-miss detail: the YouTube Shorts app displays buttons like likes and comments over your video.

Therefore, you should intentionally avoid most of the right and bottom areas. These spaces are unsuitable for placing text or important scenes. In the example above, you can see that part of the text is obscured by the YouTube buttons.

2) YouTube Shorts screen cropping on the latest smartphones

The bigger issue is that on smartphones with longer vertical screen ratios, your video gets forcibly zoomed in to fill the screen. In the image above, the right smartphone is an iPhone 13. Although you might think there's enough padding when working in a 9:16 ratio, in reality, some text gets cut off. (Hence the popular search term “YouTube screen cropping”...)

Let's draw safety lines for the 9:16 screen

Considering the long screen ratios of modern smartphones, we've created a guideline. You can refer to the coordinates of each corner in the image below while working.

<Optimal Layout for YouTube Shorts Videos>

While there may be slight variations since smartphone screen ratios aren't standardized, you can use about 10px more width on either side. However, for the top area, make sure to adhere to the lines due to notches or longer smartphones like the iPhone! (To prevent the main title from being cut off...)

Feeling Overwhelmed? There's an Easier Way!

Even if you don't know anything about coordinates, wouldn't it be great to see how your Shorts video looks as you create it? That's where VideoStew comes in. VideoStew is the perfect solution for making YouTube Shorts videos.

In the VideoStew Editing Window, you'll find a [Hint] button. As you edit, you can instantly see how your video will look on YouTube Shorts.

Additionally, with the safety line (red dotted line), you can ensure your video looks great on various smartphones! By keeping text and important elements within this line, you can avoid having them cut off on any device.

Time to Take on YouTube Shorts

The path to monetization on YouTube Shorts has finally opened up. The YouTube Partner Program now includes eligibility requirements for YouTube Shorts!

If you have 1,000 subscribers and 10 million views within 3 months, you can join the YouTube Partner Program and start earning ad revenue.

With VideoStew, there's no need to fear starting with YouTube Shorts. If you want to learn more about how to create YouTube Shorts just by entering a script, check out our detailed blog post!

And finally... To all our readers out there, may your success skyrocket! 🚀