Design Term

What is Aspect Ratio?

The proportional relationship between width and height (16:9 for YouTube).

Quick definitionUpdated dailyPart of the ThumbnailCreator glossary

Quick definition

The proportional relationship between width and height (16:9 for YouTube).

Definition

Aspect ratio describes the proportional relationship between an image's width and height. YouTube thumbnails use a 16:9 aspect ratio, which is the widescreen format used for videos. This means for every 16 units of width, there are 9 units of height. The recommended resolution is 1280x720 pixels, though 1920x1080 also works well.

Examples

11280x720 pixels (standard HD)
21920x1080 pixels (full HD)
32560x1440 pixels (2K)

Related Terms

Thumbnail

A small preview image that represents a video on YouTube.

Resolution

The number of pixels in an image, measured as width x height.

Custom Thumbnail

A manually created thumbnail image instead of an auto-generated frame.

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