Aspect ratio
Example: A neighborhood cafe shoots each pastry at 3:2, knowing the web hero will crop to 16:9 and the Instagram grid to 1:1, so one photo of a croissant yields eight clean platform-ready images instead of seven awkward crops.
the proportion between width and height, locked by the destination
The ratio of an image's width to its height, expressed as w:h. Eight surfaces own canonical ratios: web hero 16:9, OG card 1.91:1, Yelp featured 3:2, Google Business cover 16:9, Instagram grid 1:1, Instagram story 9:16, menu inline 4:3, Apple Maps 4:3.
Why it matters
An image at the wrong aspect ratio is either letterboxed or auto-cropped by the platform — neither is what the photographer composed for. Composing the source frame at 3:2 with awareness of how each destination will crop turns one shoot into eight usable images per dish, instead of one usable image and seven near-misses.
Frequently asked
What is aspect ratio?
Aspect ratio is the ratio of an image's width to its height, expressed as w:h. Eight surfaces own canonical ratios: web hero 16:9, OG card 1.91:1, Yelp featured 3:2, Google Business cover 16:9, Instagram grid 1:1, Instagram story 9:16, menu inline 4:3, Apple Maps 4:3.
Why does aspect ratio matter for a restaurant?
An image at the wrong aspect ratio is either letterboxed or auto-cropped by the platform — neither is what the photographer composed for. Composing the source frame at 3:2 with awareness of how each destination will crop turns one shoot into eight usable images per dish, instead of one usable image and seven near-misses.
Browse all
149 terms.
Plain-English definitions for every term in your audit, organized by category.