User Guide Cancel

Working with aspect ratios

  1. Adobe Premiere Pro User Guide
  2. Beta releases
    1. Beta Program Overview
    2. Premiere Pro Beta Home
    3. Beta features
      1. Generative extend overview 
      2. Generative extend FAQs
      3. Color management system
  3. Getting started
    1. Get started with Adobe Premiere Pro
    2. What's new in Premiere Pro
    3. Best practices for updating Premiere Pro
    4. Keyboard shortcuts in Premiere Pro
    5. Accessibility in Premiere Pro
    6. Frequently asked questions
    7. Release notes
  4. Hardware and operating system requirements
    1. Hardware recommendations
    2. System requirements
    3. GPU and GPU Driver requirements
    4. GPU Accelerated Rendering & Hardware Encoding/Decoding
  5. Creating projects
    1. Start a new project
    2. Open projects
    3. Move and delete projects
    4. Work with multiple open projects
    5. Work with Project Shortcuts
    6. Backward compatibility of Premiere Pro projects
    7. Open and edit Premiere Rush projects in Premiere Pro
    8. Best Practices: Create your own project templates
  6. Workspaces and workflows
    1. Workspaces
    2. Import and export FAQs
    3. Working with Panels
    4. Windows touch and gesture controls
    5. Use Premiere Pro in a dual-monitor setup
  7. Frame.io
    1. Install and activate Frame.io
    2. Use Frame.io with Premiere Pro and After Effects
    3. Integrate Adobe Workfront and Frame.io
    4. Share for review with Frame.io
    5. Invite collaborators to co-edit a project
    6. Frequently asked questions
  8. Import media
    1. Importing
      1. Transfer files
      2. Importing still images
      3. Importing digital audio
    2. Importing from Avid or Final Cut
      1. Importing AAF project files from Avid Media Composer
      2. Importing XML project files from Final Cut Pro 7 and Final Cut Pro X
    3. File formats
      1. Supported file formats
      2. Support for Blackmagic RAW
    4. Working with timecode
  9. Editing
    1. Edit video
    2. Sequences
      1. Create and change sequences
      2. Set In and Out points in the Source Monitor
      3. Add clips to sequences
      4. Rearrange and move clips
      5. Find, select, and group clips in a sequence
      6. Remove clips from a sequence
      7. Change sequence settings
      8. Edit from sequences loaded into the Source Monitor
      9. Simplify sequences
      10. Rendering and previewing sequences
      11. Working with markers
      12. Add markers to clips
      13. Create markers in Effect Controls panel
      14. Set default marker colors
      15. Find, move, and delete markers
      16. Show or hide markers by color
      17. View marker comments
      18. Copy and paste sequence markers
      19. Sharing markers with After Effects
      20. Source patching and track targeting
      21. Scene edit detection
    3. Cut and trim clips
      1. Split or cut clips
      2. Trim clips
      3. Edit in Trim mode
      4. Perform J cuts and L cuts
      5. Create and play clips
      6. Adjust Trimming and Playback preferences
    4. Video
      1. Synchronizing audio and video with Merge Clips
      2. Render and replace media
      3. Undo, history, and events
      4. Freeze and hold frames
      5. Working with aspect ratios
    5. Audio
      1. Overview of audio in Premiere Pro
      2. Edit audio clips in the Source Monitor
      3. Audio Track Mixer
      4. Adjusting volume levels
      5. Edit, repair, and improve audio using Essential Sound panel
      6. Enhance Speech
      7. Enhance Speech FAQs
      8. Audio Category Tagging
      9. Automatically duck audio
      10. Remix audio
      11. Monitor clip volume and pan using Audio Clip Mixer
      12. Audio balancing and panning
      13. Advanced Audio - Submixes, downmixing, and routing
      14. Audio effects and transitions
      15. Working with audio transitions
      16. Apply effects to audio
      17. Measure audio using the Loudness Radar effect
      18. Recording audio mixes
      19. Editing audio in the timeline
      20. Audio channel mapping in Premiere Pro
      21. Use Adobe Stock audio in Premiere Pro
    6. Text-Based Editing
      1. Text-Based Editing
      2. Text-Based Editing FAQs
    7. Advanced editing
      1. Multi-camera editing workflow
      2. Editing VR
    8. Best Practices
      1. Best Practices: Mix audio faster
      2. Best Practices: Editing efficiently
      3. Editing workflows for feature films
  10. Video Effects and Transitions
    1. Overview of video effects and transitions
    2. Effects
      1. Types of effects in Premiere Pro
      2. Apply and remove effects
      3. Use FX badges
      4. Effect presets
      5. Metadata effect in Premiere Pro
      6. Automatically reframe video for different social media channels
      7. Color correction effects
      8. Effects Manager
      9. Change duration and speed of clips
      10. Adjustment Layers
      11. Stabilize footage
    3. Transitions
      1. Applying transitions in Premiere Pro
      2. Modifying and customizing transitions
      3. Morph Cut
  11. Titles, Graphics, and Captions
    1. Properties panel
      1. About Properties panel
      2. Edit text
      3. Edit shapes
      4. Edit audio
      5. Edit video
      6. Mask with shape
      7. Create, apply, and redefine text styles
    2. Essential Graphics panel (24.x and earlier) 
      1. Overview of the Essential Graphics panel
      2. Create a title
      3. Linked and Track Styles
      4. Working with style browser
      5. Create a shape
      6. Draw with the Pen tool
      7. Align and distribute objects
      8. Change the appearance of text and shapes
      9. Apply gradients
      10. Add Responsive Design features to your graphics
      11. Speech to Text
      12. Download language packs for transcription
      13. Working with captions
      14. Check spelling and Find and Replace
      15. Export text
      16. Speech to Text FAQs
    3. Motion Graphics panel (24.x and earlier)
      1. Install and use Motion Graphics templates
      2. Replace images or videos in Motion Graphics templates
      3. Use data-driven Motion Graphics templates
    4. Best Practices: Faster graphics workflows
    5. Retiring the Legacy Titler FAQs
    6. Upgrade Legacy titles to Source Graphics
  12. Fonts and emojis
    1. Color fonts
    2. Emojis
  13. Animation and Keyframing
    1. Adding, navigating, and setting keyframes
    2. Animating effects
    3. Use Motion effect to edit and animate clips
    4. Optimize keyframe automation
    5. Moving and copying keyframes
    6. Viewing and adjusting effects and keyframes
  14. Compositing
    1. Compositing, alpha channels, and adjusting clip opacity
    2. Masking and tracking
    3. Blending modes
  15. Color Correction and Grading
    1. Overview: Color workflows in Premiere Pro
    2. Color Settings
    3. Auto Color
    4. Get creative with color using Lumetri looks
    5. Adjust color using RGB and Hue Saturation Curves
    6. Correct and match colors between shots
    7. Using HSL Secondary controls in the Lumetri Color panel
    8. Create vignettes
    9. Looks and LUTs
    10. Lumetri scopes
    11. Display Color Management
    12. Timeline tone mapping
    13. HDR for broadcasters
    14. Enable DirectX HDR support
  16. Exporting media
    1. Export video
    2. Export Preset Manager
    3. Workflow and overview for exporting
    4. Quick export
    5. Exporting for the Web and mobile devices
    6. Export a still image
    7. Exporting projects for other applications
    8. Exporting OMF files for Pro Tools
    9. Export to Panasonic P2 format
    10. Export settings
      1. Export settings reference
      2. Basic Video Settings
      3. Encoding Settings
    11. Best Practices: Export faster
  17. Collaborative editing
    1. Collaboration in Premiere Pro
    2. Get started with collaborative video editing
    3. Create Team Projects
    4. Add and manage media in Team Projects
    5. Invite and manage collaborators
    6. Share and manage changes with collaborators
    7. View auto saves and versions of Team Projects
    8. Manage Team Projects
    9. Linked Team Projects
    10. Frequently asked questions
  18. Long form and Episodic workflows
    1. Long Form and Episodic Workflow Guide
    2. Using Productions
    3. How clips work across projects in a Production
    4. Best Practices: Working with Productions
  19. Working with other Adobe applications
    1. After Effects and Photoshop
    2. Dynamic Link
    3. Audition
    4. Prelude
  20. Organizing and Managing Assets
    1. Working in the Project panel
    2. Organize assets in the Project panel
    3. Playing assets
    4. Search assets
    5. Creative Cloud Libraries
    6. Sync Settings in Premiere Pro
    7. Consolidate, transcode, and archive projects
    8. Managing metadata
    9. Best Practices
      1. Best Practices: Learning from broadcast production
      2. Best Practices: Working with native formats
  21. Improving Performance and Troubleshooting
    1. Set preferences
    2. Reset and restore preferences
    3. Recovery Mode
    4. Working with Proxies
      1. Proxy overview
      2. Ingest and Proxy Workflow
    5. Check if your system is compatible with Premiere Pro
    6. Premiere Pro for Apple silicon
    7. Eliminate flicker
    8. Interlacing and field order
    9. Smart rendering
    10. Control surface support
    11. Best Practices: Working with native formats
    12. Knowledge Base
      1. Known issues
      2. Fixed issues
      3. Fix Premiere Pro crash issues
      4. Unable to migrate settings after updating Premiere Pro
      5. Green and pink video in Premiere Pro or Premiere Rush
      6. How do I manage the Media Cache in Premiere Pro?
      7. Fix errors when rendering or exporting
      8. Troubleshoot issues related to playback and performance in Premiere Pro
  22. Extensions and plugins
    1. Installing plugins and extensions in Premiere Pro
    2. Latest plugins from third-party developers
  23. Video and audio streaming
    1. Secure Reliable Transport (SRT)
  24. Monitoring Assets and Offline Media
    1. Monitoring assets
      1. Using the Source Monitor and Program Monitor
      2. Using the Reference Monitor
    2. Offline media
      1. Working with offline clips
      2. Creating clips for offline editing
      3. Relinking offline media

An aspect ratio specifies the ratio of width to height. Video and still picture frames have a frame aspect ratio. The pixels that make up the frame have a pixel aspect ratio (sometimes referred to as PAR). Different video recording standards use different aspect ratios. For example, you record video for television in either a 4:3 or 16:9 frame aspect ratio. For more information, see Frame aspect ratio.

When a project is created in Premiere Pro, you set the frame and pixel aspect. Once these ratios are set, you cannot change them for that project. However, you can change the aspect ratio of a sequence. You can also use assets created with different aspect ratios in the project. 

Premiere Pro automatically tries to compensate for the pixel aspect ratio of source files. If an asset still appears distorted, you can manually specify its pixel aspect ratio. Reconcile pixel aspect ratios before reconciling frame aspect ratios, because an incorrect frame aspect ratio can result from a misinterpreted pixel aspect ratio.

Types of aspect ratios

Commonly used aspect ratios are:

Widescreen (16:9)

It is the standard aspect ratio commonly shared by online videos, documentaries, and films. It captures a large amount of data with details.

Widescreen (16:9)
Widescreen (16:9)

Vertical (9:16)

It is the video recorded on your phone.

Vertical (9:16)
Vertical (9:16)

Fullscreen (4:3)

It is the aspect ratio that was used on television before widescreen was used. It focused on a particular element at a time.

Fullscreen (4:3)
Fullscreen (4:3)

Square (1:1)

It is a perfect square ratio that is commonly used on Instagram.

Square (1:1)
Square (1:1)

Anamorphic (2.40:1)

It is a wide widescreen often used in movies. It is similar to 16:9 but the top and bottom are cropped. This effect gives it a cinematic feel.

Anamorphic (2.40:1)
Anamorphic (2.40:1)

Set the aspect ratio

To set the aspect ratio of a sequence:

  1. Create a new sequence. Select File > New > Sequence.

    For more information, see Create and change sequences.

  2. Go to the Settings tab of the New Sequence dialog box.

  3. Go to the Settings tab.

  4. Under Video, enter the Frame Size(height) and horizontal(width). Premiere Pro automatically generates the aspect ratio.

  5. Fill out the respective fields, name the sequence, and click OK.

The aspect ratio for the sequence has been set.

Frame aspect ratio

Frame aspect ratio describes the ratio of width to height in the dimensions of an image. Video and still picture frames have a frame aspect ratio.

For example, DV NTSC has a frame aspect ratio of 4:3 (or 4.0 width by 3.0 height). A typical widescreen frame has a frame aspect ratio of 16:9. Many cameras that have a widescreen mode can record using the 16:9 aspect ratio. Many films have been shot using even wider aspect ratios.

Frame aspect ratio
A 4:3 frame aspect ratio (left), and wider 16:9 frame aspect ratio (right)

In Premiere Pro, you can implement the letterboxing or the pan and scan technique by using Motion effect properties such as Position and Scale.

Letterboxing

When you import clips shot in one frame aspect ratio into a project that uses another frame aspect ratio, you decide how to reconcile the different values. This placement leaves black bands above and below the movie frame, called letterboxing.

For example, two common techniques are used for showing a 16:9 movie on a 4:3 standard television. You can fit the entire width of the 16:9 movie frame within the 4:3 television frame.

Pan and scan

Pan and scan is an alternative method to use a project with another frame aspect ratio. Only a part of the frame is retained, while the rest is lost.

For example, another technique to show a 16:9 movie on a 4:3 standard television is to fill the 4:3 frame vertically with the entire height of the 16:9 frame. Then, you pan the horizontal position of the 16:9 frame within the narrower 4:3 frame so that important action always remains inside the 4:3 frame. 

Letterboxing and pan and scan
Letterboxing and pan and scan

Pixel aspect ratio

Pixel aspect ratio describes the ratio of width to height of a single pixel in a frame. The pixels that make up a frame have a pixel aspect ratio (sometimes referred to as PAR). Pixel aspect ratios vary because different video systems make various assumptions about the number of pixels that are required to fill a frame.

For example, many computer video standards define a 4:3 aspect ratio frame as 640x480 pixels high, which results in square pixels. The computer video pixels have a pixel aspect ratio of 1:1 (square). Video standards such as DV NTSC define a 4:3 aspect ratio frame as 720x480 pixels, which result in narrower, rectangular pixels. The DV NTSC pixels have a pixel aspect ratio of 0.91 (nonsquare). DV pixels, which are always rectangular, are vertically oriented in systems producing NTSC video and horizontally oriented in systems producing PAL video. Premiere Pro displays clip pixel aspect ratio next to the clip image thumbnail in the Project panel.

Pixel and frame aspect ratios
Pixel and frame aspect ratios

A. 4:3 square-pixel image displayed on 4:3 square-pixel (computer) monitor B. 4:3 square-pixel image interpreted correctly for display on 4:3 non-square pixel (TV) monitor C. 4:3 square-pixel image interpreted incorrectly for display on 4:3 non-square pixel (TV) monitor 

Note:

The clean aperture is the portion of the image that is free from artifacts and distortions that appear at the edges of an image. The production aperture is the entire image.

Distorted images

If you display rectangular pixels on a square-pixel monitor without alteration, images appear distorted. For example, circles distort into ovals. However, when displayed on a broadcast monitor, the images appear correctly proportioned because broadcast monitors use rectangular pixels. Premiere Pro can display and output clips of various pixel aspect ratios without distortion. Premiere Pro attempts to automatically reconcile them with the pixel aspect ratio of your project.

You could occasionally encounter a distorted clip if Premiere Pro interprets pixel aspect ratio incorrectly. You can correct the distortion of an individual clip by manually specifying the source clip pixel aspect ratio in the Interpret Footage dialog box. 

Distorted image
Distorted image

Use assets with various aspect ratios

When an asset is imported, Premiere Pro attempts to preserve the frame aspect ratio, pixel aspect ratio, and frame dimensions so the asset does not appear cropped or distorted.

For assets that contain metadata, these calculations are automatic and precise. For example:

  • When you capture or import NTSC footage with the ATSC frame size of 704x480, the D1 frame size of 720x486, or the DV frame size of 720x480, the pixel aspect ratio is set to D1/DV NTSC (0.91).
  • When you capture or import footage with the HD frame size of 1440x1080, the pixel aspect ratio is set to HD 1080 Anamorphic (1.33).
  • When you capture or import PAL footage with the D1 or DV resolution of 720x576, the pixel aspect ratio is set to D1/DV PAL (1.094).

For other frame sizes, Premiere Pro assumes that the asset was designed with square pixels and changes the pixel aspect ratio and frame dimensions to preserve the image aspect ratio. If the imported asset is distorted, you can change the pixel aspect ratio manually.

Assets in a sequence

When you drag an asset into a sequence, the asset is placed at the center of the program frame by default. Depending on its frame size, the resulting image could be too small or over cropped for the needs of the project. Premiere Pro can change its scale automatically when you drag an asset into a sequence, or you can change it manually.

It is always important to interpreted files correctly. You can read asset frame dimensions and pixel aspect ratio near the preview thumbnail and in the Video Info column of the Project panel. You can also find this data in the asset Properties dialog box, the Interpret Footage dialog box, and the Info panel.

Aspect ratio distortion in sequences

The sequence settings preset you choose when you create a sequence sets the frame and pixel aspect ratios for the sequence. You can’t change aspect ratios after you create the sequence, but you can change the pixel aspect ratio that Premiere Pro assumes for individual assets.

For example, if a square-pixel asset generated by a graphic looks distorted in Premiere Pro, you can correct its pixel aspect ratio to make it look right. By ensuring that all files are interpreted correctly, you can combine footage with different ratios in the same project. Then you can generate output that doesn’t distort the resulting images.

Correct aspect ratio misinterpretations

Correct individual aspect ratio misinterpretations

To correct individual aspect ratio interpretation, do the following:

  1. Right-click the still image in the Project panel.

  2. Select Clip > Modify > Interpret Footage.

    Note:

    If you select a clip on the Timeline panel or Program monitor, the option is unavailable.

  3. Select one of the following in the Pixel Aspect Ratio section:

    Use Pixel Aspect Ratio From File

    Uses the original aspect ratio saved with the still image.

    Conform To

    Lets you choose from a list of standard aspect ratios.

    Modify clip
    Modify clip

    Note:

    When using Photoshop to generate images for use in video projects, it’s best to use the Photoshop preset named for the video format you’ll use. Using the preset ensures that your images are generated with the correct aspect ratio.

  4. Click OK.

Common pixel aspect ratios

Pixel aspect ratio

When to use

Square pixels

1.0

Footage has a 640x480 or 648x486 frame size, is 1920x1080 HD (not HDV or DVCPRO HD), is 1280x720 HD or HDV, or was exported from an application that doesn’t support nonsquare pixels. This setting can also be appropriate for footage that was transferred from film or for customized projects.

D1/DV NTSC

0.91

Footage has a 720x486 or 720x480 frame size, and the desired result is a 4:3 frame aspect ratio. This setting can also be appropriate for footage that was exported from an application that works with nonsquare pixels, such as a 3D animation application.

D1/DV NTSC Widescreen

1.21

Footage has a 720x486 or 720x480 frame size, and the desired result is a 16:9 frame aspect ratio.

D1/DV PAL

1.09

Footage has a 720x576 frame size, and the desired result is a 4:3 frame aspect ratio.

D1/DV PAL Widescreen

1.46

Footage has a 720x576 frame size, and the desired result is a 16:9 frame aspect ratio.

Anamorphic 2:1

2.0

Footage was shot using an anamorphic film lens, or it was anamorphically transferred from a film frame with a 2:1 aspect ratio.

HDV 1080/DVCPRO HD 720, HD Anamorphic 1080

1.33

Footage has a 1440x1080 or 960x720 frame size, and the desired result is a 16:9 frame aspect ratio.

DVCPRO HD 1080

1.5

Footage has a 1280x1080 frame size, and the desired result is a 16:9 frame aspect ratio.

 Adobe

Get help faster and easier

New user?