Lyric video sizes: build once, frame for every platform.
Aspect ratio changes more than the crop. It changes line length, safe areas, text scale and how quickly a viewer can scan the words. The strongest workflow keeps one timed song and adapts layout decisions per frame.
Use 1920×1080 for 16:9 YouTube, 1080×1920 for 9:16 TikTok, Reels and Shorts, 1080×1350 for 4:5 feed posts, and 1080×1080 for square delivery. Reframe the typography for each aspect instead of stretching or blindly cropping a finished master.
YouTube
16:9
1920×1080 standard landscape master.
TikTok · Reels · Shorts
9:16
1080×1920 phone-first frame.
Instagram feed
4:5
1080×1350 uses more vertical feed space.
Square delivery
1:1
1080×1080 remains useful for artwork-led posts.
Ultrawide
21:9
Use for deliberate cinematic delivery, not compatibility.
Start with the destination that matters most.
A YouTube release and a TikTok hook ask for different reading behavior. Landscape can support longer lines and lateral movement. Vertical needs larger type, shorter phrases and space for platform controls near the edges and bottom.
Choose a primary format for art direction, but keep position and text-box width adjustable by aspect ratio from the beginning.
Do not scale one finished composition into every shape.
Shrinking a 16:9 layout into a vertical canvas makes the lyrics too small. Cropping it removes visual context and can cut off type. Preserve timing and styling, then override position, width and media framing for each aspect.
- Check the longest line in every aspect.
- Keep essential text away from interface overlays.
- Reframe background media separately from lyric placement.
Size typography relative to the canvas.
Relative sizing keeps the same visual proportion in a preview and a final render. It also makes 1080p and 4K versions look like the same design rather than changing the apparent size of every line.
Review on an actual phone before shipping vertical exports. A desktop preview can make marginal contrast and small text look safer than they are.
Export a family from one source of truth.
Lyric timing should remain identical across outputs. Only the presentation changes. Keeping one project prevents text corrections, section trims and animation choices from drifting between independently rebuilt files.
Lyrdeo stores per-aspect layout overrides and can render several aspect ratios from the same timed project.