2:3 aspect ratio
2:3 is the 35mm frame turned upright, with a decimal value of 0.6667. It is the recommended pin shape and the natural output of a portrait photograph.
At a glance
- Ratio
- 2:3
- Decimal value
- 0.6667 (width divided by height)
- CSS aspect-ratio
- aspect-ratio: 2 / 3;
- Common pixel dimensions
- 1000 x 1500, 1200 x 1800, 2000 x 3000, 4000 x 6000
- Suits
- Portrait photography, pins in a masonry feed, posters and book covers
- Struggles with
- Video, wide hero banners and profile grid thumbnails
In detail
This is 3:2 rotated, so a portrait photograph from almost any camera arrives at exactly this shape with no crop needed. That alone makes it the cheapest portrait ratio to work with: no decision, no lost edges, no template. Everything downstream of that convenience, the pin, the poster and the book cover, inherits a shape photography was already producing for nothing.
In a masonry feed it is close to the sweet spot. Taller than 4:5 and shorter than 9:16, it commands more column height than a squarish post without running so long that the platform truncates it. That balance is why it is the recommended pin shape rather than something taller.
It is also the traditional shape of a great deal of printed matter. Many poster sizes and a good proportion of book covers are at or near 2:3, so artwork designed for one usually adapts to the other with only a margin adjustment rather than a recomposition.
The three portrait ratios in common use are genuinely different and a template for one does not serve the others. At 1000 pixels wide, 4:5 is 1250 tall, 2:3 is 1500 and 9:16 is 1778, which is a spread of more than five hundred pixels of height on the same width.
Examples
1000 wide at 4:5 -> 1250 tall
1000 wide at 2:3 -> 1500 tall
1000 wide at 9:16 -> 1778 tall4000 x 6000 -> 2:3, 24 MP, portrait
1000 x 1500 -> 2:3, 1.5 MP, the standard pin
// a downscale, never a cropThings that catch people out
- The profile grid on square first platforms crops a 2:3 image hard. Keep the important content in the middle square.
- 2:3 and 4:5 are both portrait and crop differently. Building one template for both leaves letterboxing in whichever it was not designed for.
- A pin much taller than 2:3 can be truncated in the feed, so the extra height is wasted.
Try it: Aspect Ratio Calculator
Enter a width and a height, or a ratio and one dimension, and it solves the missing one, simplifies the ratio, counts the megapixels and gives you a copyable CSS value.
Aspect Ratio Calculator
LOCAL · Browser-OnlyCalculate and convert aspect ratios for images, videos, and screens
1920 x 1080px · 16:9 · 1.7778:1
Common Aspect Ratios Reference
| Ratio | Decimal | Common Use |
|---|---|---|
| 16:9 | 1.778 | Widescreen TV, YouTube, monitors |
| 4:3 | 1.333 | Classic TV, iPad, presentations |
| 1:1 | 1.000 | Instagram square, profile pictures |
| 21:9 | 2.333 | Ultrawide monitors, cinema |
| 9:16 | 0.563 | Phone vertical, TikTok, Reels |
| 3:2 | 1.500 | 35mm photography, MacBook |
| 2:3 | 0.667 | Portrait photography, posters |
| 5:4 | 1.250 | Large format photography, older monitors |
| 32:9 | 3.556 | Super ultrawide monitors |
| 2.39:1 | 2.390 | Anamorphic cinema, widescreen films |
Related Image and canvas sizes
All image and canvas sizes →3:2 aspect ratio
The 1.5 ratio inherited from the 35mm film frame, the sensors and laptop screens that still use it, and how it sits between 4:3 and 16:9.
Pinterest pin size: 1000 by 1500
The 2:3 pin at 1000 by 1500, why a portrait ratio wins in a masonry feed, and what happens to a pin that is taller than the recommended shape.
Instagram portrait size: 1080 by 1350
The 4:5 portrait feed frame at 1080 by 1350, why it takes the most screen height of any feed post, and what the profile grid crops away from it.
5:4 aspect ratio
The 1.25 ratio behind 1280 by 1024 monitors and 8 by 10 inch prints, why it caused distorted desktops for years, and where it still applies.
32:9 aspect ratio
The super ultrawide ratio at 3.5556, exactly double 16:9, the panels that use it, and why a layout at this width needs columns rather than wider text.
2.39:1 aspect ratio
The widescreen cinema ratio at 2.39, why it used to be 2.35, how anamorphic lenses produced it, and what it means for a video framed this way.
Tools for this
- Aspect Ratio Calculator Free online aspect ratio calculator - calculate and convert aspect ratios for images, videos, and screens
- Image Cropper Free online image cropper - crop images with preset aspect ratios and free-form selection