Hey there, savvy business owner! 👋
If you’re investing in professional photography for your products (high five for that! ✋), you’re already on the road to e-commerce success. But before you pop the champagne, there’s one tiny (but mighty important) detail you should know about: aspect ratios.

Don’t worry—this isn’t going to be a math class. Think of this as your friendly cheat sheet for getting the most out of your photos online.

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🌟 So, what is an aspect ratio, anyway?

In simple terms, the aspect ratio is the relationship between the width and height of your image. It’s written as two numbers separated by a colon (like 4:5), and it tells you how wide or tall your image is.

Why does it matter? Because different platforms LOVE different shapes. If your images aren’t sized properly, you might end up with awkward cropping, ugly borders, or worse—important parts of your product cut off. Yikes!

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📱 The most common aspect ratios you’ll need

➡️ 1:1 (Square)
• Where you’ll use it: Instagram feed posts, Facebook posts, some e-commerce platforms.
• Why it’s great: Symmetrical and versatile. Grabs attention in feeds.

➡️ 4:5 (Vertical Portrait)
• Where you’ll use it: Instagram feed (tall images get more screen space = more eyeballs!)
• Tip: Instagram caps portrait images at 4:5, so anything taller gets cropped.

➡️ 16:9 (Wide Landscape)
• Where you’ll use it: Websites banners, YouTube thumbnails, Facebook cover images.
• Why it’s awesome: Perfect for storytelling visuals and videos.

➡️ 3:4 (Standard Portrait)
• Where you’ll use it: Pinterest, blog posts, email newsletters.
• Extra points: Taller images often perform better on Pinterest.

➡️ Freeform crops for stories & reels
• Where you’ll use it: Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, TikTok videos (usually 9:16, a tall vertical).
• Why: These formats take over the whole screen for a truly immersive experience.

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🚀 Why should you care?

Because you want your products to look AMAZING everywhere they show up!
Imagine paying for gorgeous photos of your new handbag line, only to have them awkwardly cropped on Instagram. Or stretching them to fit your website banner and ending up with a blurry mess.

By understanding aspect ratios, you’ll know exactly what to request from your photographer. 

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✨ Pro tips

✅ Share your marketing plan upfront. Let them know you’ll be posting on Instagram, updating your website, and sending email campaigns, so they can shoot with the right aspect ratios in mind. 
✅ Request multiple crops. Ask for square, vertical, and horizontal versions if possible. 
✅ Get high-res originals. So you can adjust crops down the line without losing quality.
✅ Plan for negative space. This gives you room to overlay text or graphics without crowding your products.

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💡 Wrapping it up

Your photos are the face of your brand, and getting the aspect ratios right ensures they shine everywhere they go. A little planning now saves a lot of headaches later—and makes your investment in photography pay off big time.

Happy selling—and may your images always be perfectly proportioned! ✨

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🖼 Quick-reference cheat sheet: common aspect ratios

✅ 1:1 (Square)
• Instagram & Facebook posts
• Product listings on many marketplaces

✅ 4:5 (Vertical Portrait)
• Tall Instagram feed posts (recommended max)

✅ 9:16 (Full Portrait)
• Instagram stories, reels, Facebook stories, TikTok videos

✅ 16:9 (Wide Landscape)
• Website banners, YouTube, Facebook cover photos

✅ 3:4 (Portrait)
• Pinterest pins, email newsletters, blog graphics

🎯 Bonus tips for your shoot

✨ Ask your photographer to leave extra space around the product. It’s easier to crop down than to invent more background later.

✨ Tell them if you’ll be overlaying text (like sale announcements or product names) so they can compose with “negative space” (empty background areas).

✨ Keep a list of dimensions handy. For example:
• Instagram square: 1080 x 1080 px
• Instagram portrait: 1080 x 1350 px
• Stories: 1080 x 1920 px
• Website banners: e.g. 1920 x 1080 px (varies by site theme)

The below images can help to visualize how a crop can affect an image.