A 3:2 aspect ratio means the width is exactly 1.5 times the height, a decimal of 1.5, and its most common pixel size is 3000 × 2000. Turn the same frame to portrait and it becomes 2:3, where the height is 1.5 times the width. The spec library entry below covers the pixel tables, the crop math against 16:9 and 4:3, and which AI models output 3:2 natively.
What the 3:2 aspect ratio is
3:2 is the shape of a 35 mm film frame, 36 mm wide by 24 mm tall, and every full-frame and APS-C camera inherits it. Divide 36 by 24 and you get 1.5, which is why 3:2 is also written 1.5:1. Any pair of numbers in the same proportion, such as 6:4, 9:6, 12:8, 15:10 or 36:24, describes the identical frame.
3:2 and 2:3 are the same frame in two orientations
Landscape 3:2 and portrait 2:3 differ only in rotation. A 6000 × 4000 landscape photo becomes a 4000 × 6000 portrait photo when you turn the camera, with the same 24 megapixels; the decimal changes from 1.5 to 0.667 because width is now the shorter side.
Where the ratio comes from
The 24 × 36 mm frame dates to Oskar Barnack's Ur-Leica prototype of 1914, which turned vertical 35 mm cine film into landscape format and doubled the 18 × 24 mm movie frame, as Leica's own 1914 timeline entry records. Full-frame digital sensors kept the exact dimensions, so 3:2 survived the switch to digital.
3:2 next to 16:9, 1:1 and 9:16 at the same height
All four boxes share one height. 16:9 is 18.5% wider than 3:2; 1:1 is 33.3% narrower.
3:2 aspect ratio in pixels: the resolution table
Any frame where width ÷ height equals 1.5 is 3:2 in pixels, so 1620 × 1080, 1920 × 1280, 3000 × 2000, 3840 × 2560 and 6000 × 4000 all qualify. The table runs from the smallest common size to the 60-megapixel output of current high-resolution sensors. Every row has been checked: width × 2 equals height × 3.
| Width × height | Megapixels | Where it turns up |
|---|---|---|
| 720 × 480 | 0.35 | Small web thumbnails, email images |
| 1080 × 720 | 0.78 | Blog inline images, social previews |
| 1200 × 800 | 0.96 | Common CMS featured-image size |
| 1440 × 960 | 1.38 | Retina-ready web hero at 720 wide |
| 1620 × 1080 | 1.75 | 3:2 at Full HD height |
| 1920 × 1280 | 2.46 | 3:2 at Full HD width, stock-photo comps |
| 2160 × 1440 | 3.11 | 3:2 laptop panels, 1440-tall counterpart |
| 2196 × 1464 | 3.21 | Surface Pro 12-inch display |
| 2736 × 1824 | 4.99 | Surface Pro 4 to 7 display |
| 2880 × 1920 | 5.53 | Surface Pro 13-inch (11th Edition) display |
| 3000 × 2000 | 6.0 | 6 MP camera export, print at 300 dpi 10 × 6.7 in |
| 3840 × 2560 | 9.83 | The 3:2 counterpart of 3840 × 2160 UHD |
| 4500 × 3000 | 13.5 | Mid-size camera JPEG |
| 5472 × 3648 | 19.96 | 20 MP full-frame and APS-C sensors |
| 6000 × 4000 | 24.0 | 24 MP sensors, the most common raw size |
| 6720 × 4480 | 30.1 | 30 MP full-frame sensors |
| 8256 × 5504 | 45.4 | 45 MP full-frame sensors |
| 9504 × 6336 | 60.2 | 60 MP full-frame sensors |
Is there a 4K in 3:2?
3840 × 2560 is the standard 4K-class frame that is exactly 3:2. It shares the 3840 width of UHD television, which ITU-R BT.2020 defines at 3840 × 2160 and 16:9, and adds 400 rows of height. DCI 4K is 4096 wide, and 4096 ÷ 1.5 is 2730.67, so no integer 3:2 frame exists at that width.
The 2.5K and 4K resolution sheet covers the 16:9 side: what separates UHD from DCI 4K, the 2.5K and 2.7K camera sizes, and which AI models output each.
Resolutions that look like 3:2 but are not
1600 × 900 is the most common impostor: it divides to 1.778 and reduces to 16:9, the HD+ laptop size between 1366 × 768 and the 1920 × 1080 Full HD frame. 2048 × 1365 and 4096 × 2730 are one pixel short, because 2048 ÷ 1.5 is 1365.33.
To test any size, divide width by height and look for exactly 1.5. 1280 × 1024 gives 1.25 and is 5:4, and 1024 × 768 and 1440 × 1080 both give 1.333 and are 4:3. The aspect ratio calculator ships a 3:2 preset that returns the matching height for any width.
2:3 portrait sizes
2:3 portrait sizes are the 3:2 table with the numbers swapped, and 1000 × 1500 is the one platforms specify. Photographers see 4000 × 6000 straight out of a 24 MP camera held vertically. Web designers meet 800 × 1200 and 1200 × 1800 in product cards and poster thumbnails.
| Width × height | Megapixels | Where it turns up |
|---|---|---|
| 600 × 900 | 0.54 | Half-size 2:3 web thumbnail, book covers |
| 800 × 1200 | 0.96 | E-commerce product cards |
| 1000 × 1500 | 1.5 | Pinterest standard Pin and image ad |
| 1080 × 1620 | 1.75 | Portrait at feed width, before 4:5 crop |
| 1280 × 1920 | 2.46 | Poster and one-sheet previews |
| 1440 × 2160 | 3.11 | Portrait counterpart of 2160 × 1440 |
| 2000 × 3000 | 6.0 | Print-ready 6 MP portrait |
| 2400 × 3600 | 8.64 | 8 × 12 in print at 300 dpi |
| 4000 × 6000 | 24.0 | 24 MP camera held vertically |
| 5504 × 8256 | 45.4 | 45 MP camera held vertically |
Cameras, prints and screens that use 3:2
3:2 is the native ratio of every full-frame and APS-C camera, of the 4 × 6 inch print, and of a small group of laptop and tablet displays. Micro Four Thirds cameras, most phone cameras and nearly all televisions do not use it, which is why so much 3:2 content ends up cropped.
Sensors: nominal 3:2, actual 1.49 to 1.51
A 36 × 24 mm full-frame sensor is exactly 3:2. APS-C sensors are close but not exact: 23.5 × 15.6 mm divides to 1.506 and 22.3 × 14.9 mm to 1.497. Cameras round the pixel output to a clean 3:2 frame, so a 6000 × 4000 JPEG is a true 3:2 even when the silicon is a hair off.
Print sizes that are exactly 3:2
4 × 6, 6 × 9, 8 × 12, 10 × 15, 12 × 18, 16 × 24, 20 × 30 and 24 × 36 inches are all exactly 3:2, so a camera file prints at these sizes with no crop. 5 × 7 (1.4), 8 × 10 (1.25) and 11 × 14 (1.273) are not, and the popular 8 × 10 costs the most: it is a 5:4 frame that discards a sixth of the width.
Screens built at 3:2
Microsoft's Surface line is the best-known 3:2 display family. Microsoft's Surface Pro 11th Edition tech specs list the 13-inch panel at 2880 × 1920 (267 PPI), and the Surface Pro 12-inch tech specs give 2196 × 1464 (220 PPI); both reduce to 3:2. Earlier Surface Pro models used 2736 × 1824, and the Game Boy Advance ran 240 × 160.
Phones do not capture 3:2
The iPhone Camera app offers Square, 4:3 and 16:9, with no 3:2 option, and most Android camera apps default to 4:3 too. To get a 3:2 photo from a phone, shoot 4:3 and crop 11.1% of the height afterwards; the image resizer does the crop in the browser.
Where 3:2 and 2:3 work on social platforms
Pinterest is the one major platform whose recommended spec is 2:3 at 1000 × 1500 pixels. Instagram shows a 3:2 landscape photo unchanged because 1.5:1 sits inside its 1.91:1-to-4:5 feed range, but it crops a 2:3 portrait photo down to 4:5. Every 16:9 surface pillarboxes a 3:2 frame by 7.8% on each side.
| Placement | 3:2 landscape | 2:3 portrait | Recommended pixels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinterest Pin and image ad | Displayed, but short in the grid | Native spec | 1000 × 1500 |
| Pinterest carousel and collections | Not offered | Native (1:1 or 2:3) | 1000 × 1500 |
| Instagram feed | Uncropped | Cropped to 4:5 | 1080 × 720 or 1080 × 1350 |
| Facebook feed | Uncropped | Cropped to 4:5 preview | 1200 × 800 |
| LinkedIn post image | Uncropped | Cropped in feed preview | 1200 × 800 |
| X image post | Uncropped | Cropped to feed height | 1200 × 800 |
| YouTube video and thumbnails | Pillarboxed 7.8% per side | Pillarboxed 31.3% per side | Use 1920 × 1080 instead |
| TikTok, Reels, Shorts | Letterboxed heavily | Letterboxed 15.6% total (7.8% top and bottom) | Use 1080 × 1920 instead |
Pinterest: 2:3 is the spec
The Pinterest product specs give standard image ads a 2:3 ratio at 1000 × 1500 pixels, allow carousel and collections ads at 1:1 or 2:3, and accept standard-width video at 1:1, 2:3, 4:5 or 9:16. Pins taller than 2:3 get truncated in the grid, so 2:3 is the tallest safe portrait shape there.
Vertical surfaces
On a 9:16 canvas a 2:3 portrait frame fills the width and leaves 15.6% of the height as bars. The 9:16 resolution sheet lists the 1080 × 1920 safe zones if you render vertical instead.
3:2 vs 16:9, 4:3, 5:4 and 4:5: the crop math
Compared with 3:2 (1.5), 16:9 (1.778) is 18.5% wider, 4:3 (1.333) is 11.1% narrower, 5:4 (1.25) is 16.7% narrower and 1:1 is 33.3% narrower, so every one of those conversions is a crop rather than a resize. The percentages below are the share of the source frame that disappears.
3:2 vs 16:9
Cropping a 3:2 photo to 16:9 at the same width removes 15.6% of the height, split between top and bottom. Going the other way, a 16:9 video still cropped to 3:2 loses 15.6% of its width. A 1920 × 1280 photo becomes 1920 × 1080 after the crop, which is the cleanest route from a camera file to a Full HD frame.
3:2 vs 4:3 and the 4:3 aspect ratio in pixels
3:2 is 12.5% wider than 4:3, so cropping to 4:3 at the same height removes 11.1% of the width. In pixels, a 6000 × 4000 frame becomes 5333 × 4000, and 3000 × 2000 becomes 2667 × 2000, both rounded. The common 4:3 resolutions are 1024 × 768, 1440 × 1080, 1600 × 1200, 2048 × 1536 and 4032 × 3024, the phone-camera default.
The full list of 4:3 sizes, from 640 × 480 up to 4032 × 3024, is on the 4:3 aspect ratio resolutions sheet, along with the iPad and legacy TV contexts where the ratio still ships.
3:2 vs 5:4: the 8 × 10 print problem
5:4 is 1.25, and the 5:4 aspect ratio is what an 8 × 10 inch print and a 1280 × 1024 SXGA monitor share. Cropping a 3:2 photo to 5:4 removes 16.7% of the width, more than the 11.1% lost going to 4:3. 5:4 and 4:3 are not equivalent ratios: the difference between 1.25 and 1.333 is a visible 6.7% of width.
3:2 to 1:1 and 4:5 for Instagram
Cropping 3:2 to square removes 33.3% of the width, and cropping to 4:5 removes 46.7%. A 6000 × 4000 frame becomes 4000 × 4000 or 3200 × 4000. Compose with the subject inside the central 53% of the frame when a landscape shot must also run as a 4:5 portrait post; the safe zone checker overlays those crop boundaries on any upload.
Generating 3:2 and 2:3 images and video with AI
On Playcut, 3:2 and 2:3 are selectable output ratios on Nano Banana Pro, Nano Banana 2 and Grok Imagine for images, and on both Grok Imagine Video models for video. Veo 3.1 renders 16:9 and 9:16 only, and Seedance 2.0 covers 21:9, 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 3:4 and 9:16, so neither produces a 3:2 frame directly.
Image models and their exact pixels
Nano Banana Pro and Nano Banana 2 accept 3:2 and 2:3 alongside 1:1, 3:4, 4:3, 4:5, 5:4, 9:16, 16:9 and 21:9 at 1K, 2K and 4K. Playcut's own validation table records 1264 × 848, 2528 × 1696 and 5056 × 3392 for 3:2, and the swapped values for 2:3; Google publishes no per-ratio pixel table, so treat those as Playcut's validation values rather than a Google-published spec.
Note that 1264 ÷ 848 is 1.491, not 1.5, so the frame is 0.6% short of true 3:2; the 2K and 4K sizes divide the same way. Grok Imagine offers 3:2 and 2:3 among 13 ratios plus an auto option at 1K and 2K, with no published pixel dimensions. For an exact 3000 × 2000 file, generate in the AI image generator and trim the last few pixels afterwards.
Midjourney users reach the same frame with --ar 3:2 or --ar 2:3; the
Midjourney aspect ratio guide covers the parameter, its version
limits and the pixels it returns.
Video models
Both Grok Imagine Video models, classic and 1.5, list 3:2 and 2:3 at 480p and 720p; the ratio list is mirrored from xAI's documentation rather than probed, so check the first render's dimensions. For Seedance 2.0 and Wan 2.7 in Playcut's video generator, generate at 4:3 and crop 11.1% of the height. Veo 3.1 has no 4:3, so generate at 16:9 and crop 15.6% of the width.
3:2 in CSS, ffmpeg and design tools
In CSS the property is aspect-ratio: 3 / 2 for landscape and aspect-ratio: 2 / 3 for
portrait, and in ffmpeg a centred crop from a wider source to 3:2 is crop=ih*3/2:ih. Both keep
the frame exact, which a percentage-padding hack never quite manages.
CSS
MDN's aspect-ratio reference
documents the property as Baseline since September 2021, so it needs no fallback. Set the width, declare
aspect-ratio: 3 / 2, and the height follows; the diagram on this page is drawn that way.
ffmpeg
For a 16:9 or 4:3 source, ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vf "crop=ih*3/2:ih" out.mp4 keeps the full height and
trims equal slices from each side. For a portrait 9:16 source, crop=iw:iw*3/2 produces 2:3. Add
scale=3000:2000 after the crop for a fixed pixel size.