How to turn a horizontal video into a Reel, TikTok or Short

Most cameras and screen recordings are wide (16:9). Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts are tall (9:16). If you upload a wide video as it is, it shows up as a thin strip in the middle of the screen with large black bars. Here is how to make it fit properly.

The three ways to fit a wide video into a tall frame

1. Blur fill: the whole video sits in the middle, and a blurred, zoomed copy of the same video fills the space above and below. Nothing is cut off and there are no black bars. This is the most popular choice.
2. Crop to fill: the video is zoomed until it fills the whole tall frame. The left and right sides are cut off, so it works best when the action is in the center.
3. Black bars: the video is shown in full with plain bars above and below. Simple, but it uses less of the screen.

Sizes to use

Step by step with Postora

1. Open the Video tool and choose your video (MP4, MOV or WebM).
2. Pick the platform, for example Instagram Reel or TikTok.
3. Choose Blur fill, Crop to fill or Black bars. The preview shows the result straight away.
4. Optional: add your logo, or add text on screen. You can even create captions automatically from the speech in your video.
5. Press Resize video, wait while it is processed, then download it.

Why does it take as long as the video?

Postora processes the video on your own device instead of uploading it to a server. Your browser plays the video through once while it records the new version, so a 30-second clip takes about 30 seconds. The upside is privacy: your video never leaves your device.

Tips for better vertical videos

• Keep important things in the center of the frame. Apps place buttons and captions near the edges.
• Add on-screen text. Many people watch with the sound off.
• Shorter is better. Short clips are processed faster and usually perform better on these platforms.