Check your image against each app’s safe area
This social image safe area checker draws the buttons, captions and badges that Instagram Reels and Stories, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, YouTube thumbnails and banners, Pinterest and link previews put on top of your picture. Drop in an image or a video (it checks one frame), pick the format, and every text-like area or face that falls under the interface is listed with its pixel position.
It also shows what happens when your file isn’t the right shape: a 4:5 post used as a 9:16 Reel loses its sides, and the tool marks the text that gets cut off. Everything runs on your device; nothing is uploaded.
How to use the Social Image Safe Area Checker
- Drop an image or video onto the upload area, or paste a screenshot with Ctrl+V. Until you do, an example frame is shown.
- Choose the Platform and format, for example TikTok video or YouTube channel banner.
- If your file has a different shape, choose Fill (centre crop) or Fit (add bars) and look at the crop preview.
- Read the warnings: each one names the area, its pixel coordinates and the interface element covering it.
- For a video, change Video frame at (seconds) to check another moment, then press Download annotated PNG to share the marked-up frame.
Social Image Safe Area Checker features
Ten formats
Reels, Stories, TikTok, Shorts, 9:16 Pins, YouTube thumbnails and banners, Facebook and LinkedIn link previews and X post images.
Drawn interface, no logos
Simple shapes stand in for buttons, captions, the Follow or Subscribe button and the video-length badge.
Automatic warnings
Text and fine detail are found from sharp, repeated light–dark changes; faces too where the browser offers face detection.
Crop and letterbox preview
See exactly how many pixels a centre crop removes, or how big the bars are when the image is fitted.
Video frames
A video is opened in your browser and one frame, the first by default, is checked like a picture.
Annotated export
Download the frame at the platform’s full size with zones, safe area and detections drawn on it.
The safe zones used, and where they come from
Platforms move their buttons with app updates, caption length and ad formats, so treat every zone as a guide with a margin. Each row says how it was checked.
| Format | Frame | Keep text out of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram Reels and Stories | 1080 × 1920 | Top 14%, bottom 35%, 6% each side | Meta ads guide, checked 14 Oct 2026 |
| TikTok | 1080 × 1920 | Top 130 px, bottom 484 px, left 44 px, right 140 px | Commonly quoted; TikTok’s help pages unreachable on 14 Oct 2026 |
| YouTube Shorts | 1080 × 1920 | Top 288 px, bottom 672 px, left 48 px, right 192 px | Google “Universal Video Ad Safe Zones”, checked 14 Oct 2026 |
| Pinterest 9:16 Pin | 1080 × 1920 | Top 270 px, bottom 790 px, left 65 px, right 195 px | Pinterest product specs, checked Oct 2026 |
| YouTube channel banner | 2560 × 1440 | Everything outside the centred 1546 × 423 | YouTube Help, checked Oct 2026 |
| YouTube thumbnail | 1280 × 720 | Bottom-right corner (length badge) | Standard interface; zone size commonly quoted |
| Facebook / LinkedIn link | 1200 × 630 / 627 | Nothing inside; other shapes are cropped to 1.91:1 | Meta for Developers, checked 14 Oct 2026; LinkedIn commonly quoted |
Worked example
Take a 1080 × 1920 Reel frame with a headline at y 42–180 px, a tip in the middle and a small label hugging the right edge. The Reels safe area is x 65–1015, y 269–1248 px, so the checker reports the headline as covered by the top 14% (header and camera button) and the right-edge label as under the right 6% edge, while the middle tip passes. Switch to YouTube Shorts and the same frame gets the same two warnings, but the safe area becomes x 48–888, y 288–1248 px because Shorts reserves 192 px on the right for its buttons.
Now use a 4:5 post (1080 × 1350) as a Reel. Fill crops it to 9:16 by removing about 160 px from each side, and any text in those strips is reported as cut off. Fit keeps the whole picture but adds 285 px bars above and below.
Tips for designing inside the safe area
- Put the hook text in the upper-middle third of vertical videos: below the top band, above captions.
- Keep faces and logos away from the right edge of TikTok, Shorts and Pins, where the like and share buttons sit.
- For thumbnails, don’t put words or a face in the bottom-right corner; the video-length badge covers it. Check legibility with the thumbnail color analyzer.
- Design covers with the TikTok cover maker or YouTube thumbnail maker, which show these zones while you edit, and look up sizes in social media image sizes.
Social Image Safe Area Checker FAQ
What is a safe zone on Reels, TikTok or Shorts?
It is the part of a vertical video that no buttons, captions or profile details cover. Text and faces placed inside it stay visible; anything outside can be hidden by the app’s interface.
How do I check my Reels safe zone?
Drop your image or video into this safe area checker, choose Instagram Reels, and read the warnings. Meta asks you to keep the top 14%, the bottom 35% and 6% on each side free of text.
Does this tool detect text exactly?
No. It looks for small areas with sharp, repeated light–dark changes, which letters make, and some textures do too. Use the overlay with your own eyes as the final check.
Why is there no face warning?
Face detection uses the browser’s experimental FaceDetector feature, which most browsers don’t enable yet. Text and detail are still checked, and the summary says when faces were not.
Is my video uploaded?
No. The video is opened by your browser, one frame is drawn onto a canvas and checked there. Nothing leaves your device.
Does YouTube crop thumbnails to a square in search?
We found no official documentation of a square crop, so the tool doesn’t model one. It marks the video-length badge and the hover icons, which are visible on every thumbnail.