List what the viewer needs to see
A face may be important, but so may a hand, a product label or the object under discussion. Inspect the whole chosen passage before fixing a crop. A frame that works at the beginning can fail when the speaker moves. Mark these changes and decide whether separate framing segments are necessary.
Understand cover and contain
Submagic’s layout guide distinguishes filling the frame with possible edge cropping from fitting the complete image with possible bars. Neither choice is inherently better. Cover can remove critical details; contain can make small text unreadable. Use the actual subject and destination to choose, then inspect the export at the size a viewer will encounter.
Use a truthful explanatory crop
For a demonstration, retain the action that supports the spoken claim. Do not replace an inconvenient view with stock imagery that suggests evidence you do not possess. If the source cannot show the point clearly in portrait, keep a wider composition or choose a different excerpt. Vertical formatting is not a requirement to hide useful information.
Check captions after reframing
A new crop changes the space available for words. Review the longest caption and the busiest visual moment, not only the opening. Move or simplify overlays where appropriate. Save the aspect-specific version with a clear filename so a later reviewer does not mistake the landscape master for the portrait delivery.
A useful fallback is not a failure
When a portrait crop cannot preserve a wide demonstration, consider containing the image with clear supporting text or delivering an additional landscape version. The right choice depends on the brief and destination. Do not upscale a tiny critical detail and present it as newly captured evidence. Explain the compromise to the recipient and preserve the source so another format can be produced later if needed.
Sources used for this page
These records support the facts and comparisons above. Merchant-controlled records are labelled so you can separate product claims from independent evidence.
- Cover, contain and two-face layout — Merchant documentation · care.submagic.co · Merchant-controlled · checked 2026-09-25