# Aspect ratio and cover > How to turn a Slicer reel from 9:16 into 4:5, 1:1 or 16:9, pick the cover frame, add a title to it and show it as the first frame for social networks. Source: https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/format-cover/ Slicer builds a vertical 9:16 reel — the Reels, Shorts and TikTok format. The **Aspect ratio** tool remakes the same reel for other platforms: the Instagram feed, a square or horizontal YouTube. And **Cover** sets the frame viewers see before they play the reel, and a title on it. **Demo (Web):** 1. With nothing selected, press “Aspect ratio” — a panel with four formats 2. Pick “1:1 Square” — the preview is square, captions are in place 3. Pick 9:16 again and click ✓ “Done” 4. Put the playhead on a good frame and click the “Cover” tile to the left of the strip 5. Click “Use this frame as the cover” — the message “The cover updates on export” ## Aspect ratio ### 1. Open “Aspect ratio” Clear the selection (“‹” or `Esc`) and press **Aspect ratio** in the main set. ### 2. Pick a format | Format | For | | --- | --- | | **9:16** | **Reels, Shorts, TikTok** — the default | | **4:5** | **Instagram feed** | | **1:1** | **Square** | | **16:9** | **YouTube, screens** | The preview takes the new proportions right away. ### 3. Check the frames Shots are reframed for the format, and captions and elements move into place. Scroll through the reel and, if needed, adjust individual clips with the **Frame** tool ([Frame, mask and background](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/frame/)). Click ✓ **Done**. Good to know: - The finished file is 1080 pixels on its short side: 1080×1920 for 9:16, 1080×1350 for 4:5, 1080×1080 for 1:1, 1920×1080 for 16:9. You can raise the resolution in the export window. - Changing the aspect ratio rebuilds the reel's base on export, so that export takes longer than usual. It's free. - Emoji, cards and plaques you moved by hand keep their place proportionally in the new frame. - A horizontal video fills a 16:9 frame entirely, while a vertical one is cropped — part of it, usually around the face, stays in frame. The **Fit** button of the **Frame** tool is available only for sources wider than the reel's format. > **Tip.** Need the reel in two formats? Export the vertical version, then change the aspect ratio and export again: the previous files stay in the [project history](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/projects/history/) — it keeps the last 10 versions. ## Cover The cover is a frame of the reel shown in the project list and when publishing to social networks. By default it's a frame near the start. While the **Cover** sheet is open, the preview shows the cover: the frame without the reel's captions and elements, plus the title if there is one. ### 1. Find the frame Put the playhead on the frame you want as the cover — for example, an expressive face or the result. ### 2. Open “Cover” Click the **Cover** tile to the left of the video track's start or **Cover** in the main set. The sheet shows the current frame: “Current cover: frame at 00:05” or “a frame near the start”. ### 3. Make it the cover Click **Use this frame as the cover**. The message **The cover updates on export** appears and the tile on the strip shows the new frame. The sheet stays open, so you can add a title right away. **Reset to default** brings back the frame near the start. The cover is a frame of the reel itself, with all its edits: color, framing, effects. You can't upload a separate image. The cover file updates on the next **Export**. > **Tip.** A good cover is an emotional close-up or a frame with a striking result. As long as the cover has no title of its own (and “Cover as the first frame” is off), it is a frame of the finished reel with all its graphics: if the reel opens with a hook, a frame with it works as a cover too. ## Cover title A title makes the cover clear before anyone plays the reel: “My best cappuccino”, “Edited in 3 minutes”. It's styled like the reel's hook or plaques and shows only on the cover — it doesn't get into the reel itself (except for [the cover as the first frame](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/format-cover/#cover-intro)). **Demo (Web):** 1. Put the playhead on a good frame and click the “Cover” tile — the preview shows the frame without captions and elements 2. Click “Use this frame as the cover” — the message “The cover updates on export”, the sheet stays open 3. Type the title “My best cappuccino” in the field — the preview shows the title in the hook style 4. Pick “As a plaque” — the title is now a plaque 5. Check “Cover as the first frame” — a checkmark and the hint about 0.1 s ### 1. Open the “Cover” sheet As above — with the **Cover** tile to the left of the strip or the button in the main set. ### 2. Type a title Use the field below the buttons — up to 60 characters. The title appears on the preview right away. ### 3. Pick a look Once there is a title, two looks appear below the field: **Like the hook** (the default) — large text in the style of the reel's hook, and **As a plaque** — the title on a plaque. The cover title is still, with no entrance animation. To remove the title, clear the field. With a title, the cover is the frame **without** the reel's captions, hook, plaques and emoji, with only your title on top, so the texts don't compete. ## Cover as the first frame The **Cover as the first frame** checkbox puts the cover at the very start of the reel for 0.1 seconds. The reel gets 0.1 s longer, with silence under the cover. Viewers will barely notice it, but social networks that take the reel's first frame as the cover will show exactly this one — with the title. Without a title, the first frame is the clean cover frame, without captions and elements. ## The cover on social networks | Where | What it gets | | --- | --- | | Project list | The cover — with the title, if there is one | | YouTube | The cover with a title — as the video's own thumbnail. YouTube allows custom thumbnails only for some channels: if the channel doesn't have that right, the video is still published and YouTube picks the thumbnail | | Instagram and TikTok | The reel's frame at the cover moment. With **Cover as the first frame** — the first frame, i.e. the cover with the title | How to connect social networks and publish — see [Publishing to YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, VK](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/publish/platforms/). ## What's next - [Export: presets and file settings](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/publish/export/) - [Publishing to YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, VK](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/publish/platforms/) - [Frame, mask and background](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/frame/)