Export settings advisor

Start with a working preset, then verify the destination

Choose a platform, content type, source editor, and the frame rate of your footage. The advisor returns an editorial starting preset and identifies the platform requirements that remain unconfirmed. It does not inspect a file, transcode video, or promise that every listed setting is accepted by the selected publishing surface. The important distinction is between a sensible working choice and an official upload limit.

The platform selector changes the official help source you need to check. The content-type selector changes the proposed canvas and media settings. The source-editor selector changes the instruction wording, not the underlying file. No export happens inside this tool. You apply the settings in your own editor after confirming the destination requirements and reviewing the source material.

Understand the proposed canvas

Short video uses a 1080 × 1920 working canvas, which is 9:16. Landscape video uses 1920 × 1080, or 16:9. Static image uses 1080 × 1350, or 4:5. These are the tool's selected planning presets, not a statement that every surface on the chosen platform uses those dimensions. A feed image, a cover, a profile tile, and a video player should not be treated as the same destination simply because they belong to one platform.

Before editing, identify the actual placement and confirm its current requirements. Instagram dimensions, YouTube upload specifications, and Pinterest media guidance each need their own source review. [VERIFY: Instagram Help Center — media resolution and format guidance — https://help.instagram.com/; YouTube Help — recommended upload encoding settings — https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171; Pinterest Help — creative specifications — https://help.pinterest.com/]

If your source has a different ratio, decide whether to crop, add an intentional background, or redesign. The advisor does not make that composition choice. Use the universal post preview to see how a crop would affect a still image before treating a resolution field as the whole design problem.

Codec, bitrate, frame rate, and audio

For video, the starting preset is an MP4 container with H.264 video, a suggested 8–12 Mbps bitrate, and the source frame rate you select. Audio suggestions are AAC stereo at 48 kHz and 192 kbps. These numbers are transparent editorial assumptions. Verify codec support and current recommendations in the destination documentation rather than mistaking the preset for an official ceiling.

For images, the suggestion is JPEG in sRGB at ninety-percent quality. The tool does not claim that this is the optimal quality for every source or that all editors interpret a quality slider identically. Export a sample, inspect the result, and keep the original. Your source editor may expose different control names or options depending on its version. [VERIFY: Adobe Premiere Pro — export settings — https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/using/exporting.html; Blackmagic Design — DaVinci Resolve Reference Manual — https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/; CapCut Help Center — export settings — https://www.capcut.com/help]

Three worked examples

Example 1: A thirty-second portrait video

Suppose the source was edited at 30 frames per second and you want a thirty-second tall video. Select Short video and 30 fps. The proposed canvas is 1080 × 1920. At an illustrative constant video bitrate of 10 megabits per second, thirty seconds contains 300 megabits of video data, or about 37.5 decimal megabytes before audio and container overhead. That estimate helps you reason about settings; it is not the destination's file-size allowance or a prediction of variable-bitrate output.

Example 2: A two-minute landscape tutorial

Choose Landscape video for a 1920 × 1080 working canvas. If your source is 25 fps, select 25 rather than choosing 60 merely because it is a larger number. At the same illustrative 10 Mbps for 120 seconds, video data alone is roughly 150 decimal megabytes. Actual export size depends on the encoder settings and output. Confirm the publishing surface's requirements, then inspect a representative section for readability, motion, and audio before exporting a whole series.

Example 3: A wide image destined for a portrait post

Imagine a 3000 × 2000 source and the tool's 1080 × 1350 image preset. The target ratio is 4:5, while the source is 3:2. A fill crop retains a 1600 × 2000 source rectangle, excluding about 46.67 percent of the source area. Changing the export dimensions alone does not decide which part survives. Choose the composition in the preview tool or your editor, then use the advisor to document the intended output settings.

File-size ceilings are intentionally unresolved

The output says the ceiling is not confirmed. This is better than supplying an unsupported universal maximum. File constraints can differ by destination, content type, and publishing route. [VERIFY: YouTube Help — upload size and duration limits — https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/71673; LinkedIn Help — video specifications — https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin; TikTok Support — posting video guidance — https://support.tiktok.com/]

Open the relevant help source and identify the exact surface. Record the checked value, date, and source in your production notes. If the documentation does not state a limit clearly, keep that uncertainty visible and test a sample through the official publishing interface. Do not extrapolate a ceiling from one successful upload.

The most common mistake: increasing every setting

A larger canvas, higher bitrate, and higher selected frame rate are not substitutes for a suitable source and a clear composition. This tool cannot manufacture detail that is absent from the original. Start from the actual source properties and the destination requirement, then choose settings deliberately. Review a small sample before committing to a batch, especially when text and fine edges matter.

What this advisor deliberately does not do

It does not upload, compress, inspect metadata, retrieve platform account limits, or provide a verified specification database. Your selections remain local. There is no hidden media-processing service. For the broader distinction between aspect ratios and publishing requirements, read the 2026 image and video sizing reference. Use the content calendar generator to plan the work only after the production process is realistic enough to repeat.

Keep the original source and a copy of the chosen settings with the exported file. That small record makes later revisions easier to reproduce without guessing which preset was used.