Aspect Ratios and UI Occlusion Masks for TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts
Pixel-level reference coordinates for 1080x1920 vertical timelines so burned-in subtitles, lower thirds, and product callouts never sit behind platform UI buttons.
Short-form vertical video platforms render their entire navigation and engagement chrome on top of the 9:16 video player rather than outside it. Because creators routinely cross-post a single exported 1080x1920 MP4 across TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, designing graphics to a single platform screenshot often leaves text unreadable on the other two platforms.
Anatomy of the 1080x1920 Occlusion Map
When measured across standard 19.5:9 displays, three regions of a 1080x1920 frame are unsafe for burned-in text:
- Top Header Band (Y: 0 to 250 px): Occupied by the TikTok Following/For You tabs and search icon, Instagram Reels header and camera icon, and YouTube Shorts top bar.
- Right Action Column (X: 900 to 1080 px, Y: 780 to 1650 px): Occupied by the vertical stack of profile avatar, Like, Comment, Bookmark/Remix, Share, and spinning audio disc icons.
- Bottom Caption & Audio Drawer (Y: 1440 to 1920 px): Occupied by the channel handle, Follow button, expandable description lines, sponsored/shop tags, and scrolling music attribution ticker.
The Universal Sweet Spot for Burned-In Subtitles
For single-line or two-line dynamic captions, anchor your text box horizontally centered at X = 480 px (the optical center of the unobstructed left area, or X = 540 px if kept narrow within X = 120..880 px) and vertically between Y = 1320 px and Y = 1410 px. This band sits below the subject chin/chest line in a medium close-up while clearing the top of the caption drawer on all three platforms.