Add your video or image
Choose a video, a screenshot, or a cover from your phone or computer.
Refract Creators / Safe zone checker
Free editing tool
TikTok, Reels and Shorts safe zone checker
Add a video, a frame, or a cover and see where each app’s buttons, caption, and username will sit on top of it. It runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded.
How it works
Pick the app
Switch between TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts to see each app’s covered areas.
Move anything that’s covered
If text or a face sits under the buttons, move it toward the middle before you post.
How to keep your text out of the way
Vertical apps put buttons and text on top of your video. A few habits keep the important parts visible.
- Keep text near the middle.
The top shows tabs and search, the bottom shows your caption and username, and the right side has the like, comment, and share buttons.
- Leave a little extra room.
Each app changes its layout now and then, and it differs from phone to phone, so treat the covered areas as a minimum.
- Put captions just above the lower quarter.
Burned-in captions read best a little above the bottom quarter of the screen, clear of the app’s own caption.
- Check your cover as well.
Your profile grid crops Reels covers, so keep the title in the centre of the image.
- Check one frame per scene.
If your text moves around, check a frame from each part of the video.
Questions
What is a safe zone?
It’s the part of a vertical video that the app doesn’t cover with its buttons, caption, and username. Text and faces inside it stay visible.
Are these the official sizes?
No app publishes exact sizes for every phone. The areas here follow widely used creator guidance and are rounded up, so treat them as a minimum.
Is my video uploaded?
No. The checker opens your file in your browser and draws on top of it there. Nothing is sent to Refract or anyone else.
Which files work?
Any video or image your browser can open, such as MP4, MOV, WebM, JPG, PNG, or WebP.
Is it free?
Yes. No account, no watermark, and no limit.
Captions that land in the right place.
Refract’s free caption generator puts what you say on screen and lets you place captions at the top, middle, or bottom.