How to change photo shape to square

[Neel194]

I use a lot of social media such as Instagram to post photos and videos.

is there anything I can adjust in camera settings so it fits the screen better and is not shot with a wide view?

 

[scro]

The only options I'm aware of are 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios. Anything else has to be done afterwards. I use snapseed for quick image editing on my phone.

 

[Neel194]

The only options I'm aware of are 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios. Anything else has to be done afterwards. I use snapseed for quick image editing on my phone.

do you know if the Mavic air 2 has more choice? Or is it the same?

 

[RogerDH]

I use a lot of social media such as Instagram to post photos and videos.

is there anything I can adjust in camera settings so it fits the screen better and is not shot with a wide view?

Doesn't Instagram crop videos automatically, whether you want them to or not? Anyway, if that's a useful function for using Instagram, I'd bet that there are probably apps specifically designed for cropping a standard 16:9 video to the right size, since squares are definitely not a common camera format.

 

[Thomas B]

Doesn't Instagram crop videos automatically, whether you want them to or not? Anyway, if that's a useful function for using Instagram, I'd bet that there are probably apps specifically designed for cropping a standard 16:9 video to the right size, since squares are definitely not a common camera format.

iPhoto does it to any shape or proportion you select.

 

[RogerDH]

iPhoto does it to any shape or proportion you select.

Ah, for video too? I had never looked at the settings for my Samsung phone, but I see that it does have 1:1 as an option for photos, but not video.

 

[Neel194]

There are loads of cropping apps however it doesn’t blow the original image to the size I want?

it’s annoying because the aspect ratios available are normally for screens.

 

[RogerDH]

There are loads of cropping apps however it doesn’t blow the original image to the size I want?

it’s annoying because the aspect ratios available are normally for screens.

I'm not sure what you mean. The camera sensor has a fixed rectangular aspect ratio, so anything else is going to be a cropping of some sort, whether you do it or the camera does it. You can crop a full-height square in the center of the 16:9 image, and that's the largest size you can get for that aspect ratio.

 

[Neel194]

I'm not sure what you mean. The camera sensor has a fixed rectangular aspect ratio, so anything else is going to be a cropping of some sort, whether you do it or the camera does it. You can crop a full-height square in the center of the 16:9 image, and that's the largest size you can get for that aspect ratio.

essentially, I have to cut out vital parts of the photo to get the shape I want.

for example close up shots are hard to crop and shape, without cropping key parts of the image. Is there no way an image could be stretched in its original form to the size I want?

 

[RogerDH]

essentially, I have to cut out vital parts of the photo to get the shape I want.

for example close up shots are hard to crop and shape, without cropping key parts of the image. Is there no way an image could be stretched in its original form to the size I want?

So, it sounds like you want the same horizontal field of view as the 16:9 format but extend the vertical field of view until you have a square? Given the physical limitations of the sensor, the only way to do that would be to use a wider angle lens so that you start with a wider and taller image.

 

[Hegemone]

essentially, I have to cut out vital parts of the photo to get the shape I want.

for example close up shots are hard to crop and shape, without cropping key parts of the image. Is there no way an image could be stretched in its original form to the size I want?

In camera settings turn on the grid and then using it to help frame your pictures with square crop in mind. Crop after.

 

[ff22]

In camera settings turn on the grid and then using it to help frame your pictures with square crop in mind. Crop after.

That is really the only way to achieve the results that are sought. Otherwise the image has to be distorted in some dimension.

A while back it was pointed out to me that a 16:9 is actually a segment of the 4:3 image anyway as the sensor can only capture so much and it is generally the 4:3. It was suggested to shoot the 4x3 and then crop out the 16x9 you want if you want wide/full screen. The issue is visualizing the finished image. I was directed to FastStone editor which has a built-in crop function to crop accordingly.

 

[scro]

There's basically 2 options to achieve a square image: crop or stretch. Cropping doesn't distort whereas stretching does. See the 2 examples below. Stretching can sometimes make landscapes look more dramatic, but usually makes things look a bit weird.

 

[scro]

Most video and stills taken with drones are of landscapes and hence generally look better with a landscape format framing. Being restricted to a square format framing is a bit limiting artistically. I doubt the MA2 has a built in square option as theres nothing mentioned of that in the specs.

 

[Dave Maine]

What you want is the transform command, which many image editors provide. The problem is that this induces distortion that pretty quickly become bothersome. The only real solution is to frame the image in such away that your desired crop aspect ratio is there so the crop will work.

 

[RogerDH]

That is really the only way to achieve the results that are sought. Otherwise the image has to be distorted in some dimension.

A while back it was pointed out to me that a 16:9 is actually a segment of the 4:3 image anyway as the sensor can only capture so much and it is generally the 4:3. It was suggested to shoot the 4x3 and then crop out the 16x9 you want if you want wide/full screen. The issue is visualizing the finished image. I was directed to FastStone editor which has a built-in crop function to crop accordingly.

Yes, image sensors are typically 4:3, and the Mini's is 4000x3000 pixels, so 16:9 video must be a cropping. (And actually, it's a re-sized cropping -- the sensor is large enough for 4K video but it's resized to 2.7K 2720×1530 or 1080p 1920×1080. This is why the Mini video compares favorably with 4K camera drones when both are viewed at 1080p: it is a 4K camera even though it doesn't support recording that size.) For stills, however, you can set the aspect ratio to 4:3 and get full-size 4000x3000 images, so taking a 3000x3000 crop from those will be the largest square images Neel194 can get.

 

[Mossiback]

I use a lot of social media such as Instagram to post photos and videos.

is there anything I can adjust in camera settings so it fits the screen better and is not shot with a wide view?

It looks like VLC Media Player can do it. I have not tried it but found a few videos showing it done.

 

[Peek_my_pics]

Can somebody explain to me why photos on insta can be landscape or square for MavicAir2 but if i looks DJI official insta account most photo are vertical at 4:3 aspect ratio? How can I get the long vertical instagam looking from my MA2?

 

[RogerDH]

Can somebody explain to me why photos on insta can be landscape or square for MavicAir2 but if i looks DJI official insta account most photo are vertical at 4:3 aspect ratio? How can I get the long vertical instagam looking from my MA2?

Everything I've read says that Instagram always crops to square -- apparently a bad solution to the problem that so many people don't seem to know that you can take photos and videos with your phone held in landscape position -- and that you should, if you intend to upload them anywhere. Otherwise, not only will the image typically be displayed using only 1/3rd of the available area, it will have the rather annoying characteristic of looking like you're viewing through a partially open door and can't see what's happening on either side. Instagram "solves" that problem by simply discarding whatever won't fit in a square, trading one problem for another.

If I'm understanding what you want to do, perhaps the solution you're looking for is, instead of cropping, to add enough white space to the top and bottom of the image to make it square.