How to Turn a Landscape Video into Portrait (9:16) Without Cropping
Stories, Reels, Shorts and TikTok all want a tall 9:16 frame. Here's how to fit wide videos and photos into it on iPhone without cutting anything off, a whole batch at a time.
You filmed it sideways. Most of the good stuff is filmed sideways: a match from the stands, a product demo on a table, a drone shot over the coast, a wedding toast where the couple are at opposite ends of the frame. Then you go to post it as a Story, Instagram zooms into the middle, and half the people are gone.
Stories, Reels, YouTube Shorts, TikTok and WhatsApp Status are all built for a tall 9:16 screen. Your camera roll is full of wide 16:9 footage. This guide covers how to get one into the other on your iPhone without cutting anything off, and how our app ReadyPost does it for a whole batch at once.
The short answer: to turn a landscape video into portrait without cropping, place the whole video on a 1080×1920 (9:16) canvas and fill the space above and below it with a blurred copy of the video or a matching color. On iPhone, ReadyPost does this for Instagram, YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Facebook and WhatsApp Status, and splits long clips into parts that fit each one.
Download ReadyPost on the App Store
Why landscape videos get cropped on Stories, Reels and Shorts
A landscape video is 16:9, wider than it is tall. A phone held upright is 9:16, the same shape turned on its side. Something has to give, and there are only two ways it can go.
Fill the screen, and the app zooms in until the video is as tall as the phone. You keep about a third of the picture, and the left and right sides are cut away. Keep the whole picture, and it fills only about a third of the screen, with empty space above and below.
Cropping is fine when all the action is in the middle. When it isn’t, you want the second option, as long as the empty space looks deliberate. That’s the job of a blurred or colored background.
Video sizes for Stories, Reels, Shorts, TikTok and WhatsApp Status
All of these use the same vertical frame: 9:16, usually 1080×1920 pixels. That also answers one of the most searched questions about Shorts. The standard YouTube Shorts size is 1080 pixels wide by 1920 pixels tall.
Where they differ is how long a single video can be. ReadyPost has a preset for each destination and splits anything longer into parts:
| Destination | Frame | ReadyPost splits long videos into parts of up to |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram Story | 9:16, 1080×1920 | 60 seconds |
| Instagram Reel | 9:16, 1080×1920 | 3 minutes |
| YouTube Shorts | 9:16, 1080×1920 | 3 minutes |
| TikTok | 9:16, 1080×1920 | 10 minutes |
| Facebook Story or Reel | 9:16, 1080×1920 | 2 minutes |
| WhatsApp Status | 9:16, 1080×1920 | 90 seconds |
| General | 9:16, 1080×1920 | 10 minutes |
Platforms change these limits from time to time, and some roll new limits out to accounts gradually, so the limit on your account may differ.
How to convert a landscape video to portrait on iPhone
With ReadyPost, the whole job happens in one place:
Choose where you’re posting. Pick Instagram Story or Reel, YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Facebook Story or Reel, WhatsApp Status, or General.
Add your photos and videos. Pick up to 50 items, or share them into ReadyPost from Photos or another app.
Choose a background. A soft blur of the media itself, a color sampled from it, or a subtle gradient.
Arrange the batch. Reorder the tray, remove anything you don’t need, and decide whether each item becomes its own file or they’re combined into one video.
Preview and save. Check each result, then save it to Photos, send it through the share sheet, or open the destination app if it’s installed.
ReadyPost prepares the files. It doesn’t post anything for you, so you still add the caption, music and timing in Instagram, TikTok or wherever the video is going.
How to add a blurred background to a vertical video
The blurred background you see on a lot of Reels and Shorts is simple underneath. Behind the full-size video sits a zoomed-in, heavily blurred copy of the same footage. It moves with the video and picks up its colors, so the frame feels full instead of letterboxed.
ReadyPost gives you three backgrounds, and each suits different footage:
Blur works for most video, especially busy or colorful scenes, because it keeps the mood of the shot.
A color sampled from the media looks cleaner behind product shots, screen recordings and anything with text, where blur can look messy.
A gradient sits in between: smoother than a flat color, calmer than blur.
Splitting long videos for Instagram Stories and WhatsApp Status
Sometimes the shape is fine and the length is the problem. A Story or Status has a time limit, and anything longer is either refused or cut short.
ReadyPost works as a video splitter too. It checks each clip against the destination you chose and splits anything longer into parts, keeping the audio. A 4-minute video prepared for Instagram Stories comes out as four parts of up to 60 seconds each. The same video prepared for WhatsApp Status comes out as three parts, none longer than 90 seconds. Post the parts in order and they play back to back.
Prepare a whole batch: up to 50 photos and videos
Most people don’t have one landscape clip to fix. They have a wedding album, a week of product photos or a holiday’s worth of footage. ReadyPost takes up to 50 photos and videos in one batch, and you choose what comes out:
- one file for each item
- all your photos turned into a single video
- several clips combined into one
- photos and videos mixed into one video
The last two also solve an old editing headache: combining portrait and landscape videos in one piece. Because everything is placed on the same 9:16 canvas with the same kind of background, the switch from a tall clip to a wide one doesn’t look jarring. And if you just want to make a video from photos on iPhone for a Story or Reel, add the photos and choose a single video.
Can’t Instagram or my iPhone already do this?
Partly, and the built-in options are worth knowing:
- Instagram’s Story editor lets you pinch a landscape photo or video smaller so it fits, and fills the rest with a color. It works one item at a time, inside Instagram only.
- The Photos app can crop a video to 9:16. That gets the shape right by cutting off the sides, which is exactly what you were trying to avoid.
- Full video editors such as CapCut or Premiere Pro can put a blurred background behind a clip. You set it up in a project, usually one clip at a time, and splitting a long video for Stories is a separate job.
If you post the occasional landscape photo to your Story, Instagram’s pinch-to-fit is all you need. ReadyPost earns its place when you have a batch to prepare, more than one platform to post to, or clips longer than a Story allows.
Your media stays on your iPhone
ReadyPost prepares everything on the device. Fitting, combining and splitting all run on your iPhone, and your photos and videos are never uploaded to be processed. Your originals stay exactly as they were, and the prepared copies stay in the app until you save or share them.
It’s the same approach we take with Markora, our watermarking app, and we explain how it varies across our apps in What “privacy-first” means across the BoMoSi portfolio.
Free and Premium
ReadyPost is free to download. The free version prepares for one destination at a time and shows ads and featured app suggestions. ReadyPost Premium adds:
- several destinations in one run, so one batch can come out ready for Stories, Shorts and TikTok together
- smart framing
- faster batch preparation
- no ads and no featured app suggestions
On the US App Store, Premium costs $2.99 a month, $9.99 for six months or $14.99 a year, which works out to about $1.25 a month. Prices for your country show in the app, and you can cancel anytime in your App Store account settings.
ReadyPost at a glance
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| What it is | An iPhone app that fits landscape photos and videos into a 9:16 vertical frame without cropping |
| Made by | BoMoSi |
| Works on | iPhone with iOS 18 or later, and iPad with iPadOS 18 or later |
| Output | 1080×1920 (9:16) |
| Destinations | Instagram Story and Reel, YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Facebook Story and Reel, WhatsApp Status, General |
| Backgrounds | Blur, a color sampled from the media, or a gradient |
| Batch size | Up to 50 photos and videos |
| Long videos | Split automatically at each destination’s limit, with audio kept |
| Processing | On device; media is not uploaded |
| Price | Free with ads; Premium from $2.99 a month (US) |
| Language | English |
| Android | Not available; iOS only for now |
FAQ
What’s the best app to fit a landscape video into an Instagram Story without cropping?
On iPhone, ReadyPost is built for exactly this. It places the whole video on a 9:16 canvas with a blurred, color or gradient background, splits long clips into Story-length parts, and handles up to 50 photos and videos at once. For a single photo now and then, Instagram’s own pinch-to-fit is enough.
How do I post a landscape video to my Instagram Story without it getting cut off?
Put the full video on a 9:16 frame before you upload it, with a blurred or colored background filling the space above and below. In ReadyPost, choose Instagram Story, add the video, pick a background and save the result to Photos. Then add that file to your Story.
What size is a YouTube Short?
The standard size is 1080×1920 pixels, a 9:16 vertical frame. Shorts can be up to 3 minutes long.
How do I post a long video on WhatsApp Status?
Split it into parts that fit the Status limit and post them in order. ReadyPost’s WhatsApp Status preset does the splitting for you, cutting long clips into parts of up to 90 seconds with the audio kept.
Does ReadyPost upload my photos or videos?
No. Everything is prepared on your iPhone. Your originals aren’t changed, and prepared copies stay in the app until you save or share them.
Does ReadyPost post to Instagram or TikTok for me?
No. ReadyPost prepares the files. You save them to Photos or share them into the app you’re posting to, then post as usual.
Is ReadyPost free?
Yes, it’s free to download. The free version prepares for one destination at a time and includes ads. ReadyPost Premium adds multi-destination runs, smart framing, faster batch preparation and no ads, as a monthly, six-month or yearly subscription.
Is ReadyPost available on Android?
Not yet. ReadyPost is available for iPhone and iPad only.
Try ReadyPost
ReadyPost is new, and we want its presets to keep up with the platforms. If a preset looks out of date, or there’s a destination you’d like added, email us at bomosiuser@gmail.com.