Content Safe Zones

Content Safe Zones — Instagram Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts

Reference guide for placing text, captions, CTAs, and overlays on 9:16 vertical video (1080x1920).

Platform-Specific Safe Zones

Instagram Reels (1080x1920)

┌─────────────────────────┐ 0px
│  ❌ Status bar / time    │
├─────────────────────────┤ ~100px
│  ⚠️ Username / follow    │
├─────────────────────────┤ ~200px
│                         │
│                         │
│  ✅ SAFE ZONE            │ 200–1250px
│  Best for captions,     │
│  titles, key visuals    │
│                         │
│  🎯 SWEET SPOT:          │ 670–1250px
│  (center-lower frame)   │
│                         │
├─────────────────────────┤ ~1250px
│  ⚠️ Caption preview area │ 1250–1520px
├─────────────────────────┤ ~1520px
│  ❌ Like/Comment/Share   │ 1520–1700px
│  ❌ Music + description  │ 1700–1920px
└─────────────────────────┘ 1920px

Right edge (980–1080px): ❌ Action buttons (heart, comment, share, remix)
Left 0-100px: ⚠️ May overlap with username on some devices

TikTok (1080x1920)

┌─────────────────────────┐ 0px
│  ❌ Status bar            │
├─────────────────────────┤ ~120px
│  ⚠️ "Following/For You"  │
├─────────────────────────┤ ~200px
│                         │
│  ✅ SAFE ZONE            │ 200–1200px
│                         │
│  🎯 SWEET SPOT:          │ 640–1200px
│                         │
├─────────────────────────┤ ~1200px
│  ⚠️ Username + caption   │ 1200–1500px
├─────────────────────────┤ ~1500px
│  ❌ Like/Comment/Share   │ 1500–1700px
│  ❌ Music ticker          │ 1700–1920px
└─────────────────────────┘ 1920px

Right edge (960–1080px): ❌ Action buttons (slightly wider than IG)

YouTube Shorts (1080x1920)

┌─────────────────────────┐ 0px
│  ❌ Status bar            │
├─────────────────────────┤ ~100px
│  ⚠️ Channel name         │
├─────────────────────────┤ ~180px
│                         │
│  ✅ SAFE ZONE            │ 180–1300px
│                         │
│  🎯 SWEET SPOT:          │ 650–1300px
│                         │
├─────────────────────────┤ ~1300px
│  ⚠️ Title / description  │ 1300–1550px
├─────────────────────────┤ ~1550px
│  ❌ Like/Dislike/Comment │ 1550–1750px
│  ❌ Subscribe button      │ 1750–1920px
└─────────────────────────┘ 1920px

Right edge (970–1080px): ❌ Action buttons

Universal Safe Zone (works on ALL platforms)

For maximum cross-platform compatibility, use:

Horizontal margins: Keep text within x=100–980px (leave 100px on each side)

Caption Best Practices

• Font size: 42–56px for body captions, 60–72px for headlines
• Max width: ~880px (100px margin each side)
• Line height: 1.3–1.5x font size
• Max lines visible: 2–3 lines at a time
• Background: Semi-transparent dark box OR text shadow/outline
• Shadow recommended: shadowcolor=black@0.7:shadowx=3:shadowy=3 (ffmpeg)
• Animation: Word-by-word or sentence pop preferred over static

FFmpeg Reference

# Caption in sweet spot (y=62% = 1190px)
drawtext=fontfile=FONT:text='Your text':fontcolor=white:fontsize=48:\
x=(w-text_w)/2:y=h*0.62:shadowcolor=black@0.7:shadowx=3:shadowy=3

# With background box
drawtext=fontfile=FONT:text='Your text':fontcolor=white:fontsize=48:\
x=(w-text_w)/2:y=h*0.62:box=1:boxcolor=black@0.5:boxborderw=12

Platform Comparison Summary