See the safe zones while you film

TikTok, Reels and Shorts cover the bottom and right of a vertical video with their own buttons, names and captions. ClippCut shows those areas on the camera preview and places its captions clear of them.

What’s covered

• Bottom fifth: your name, the caption and the music line.
• Right edge: like, comment, share and profile buttons.
• Top: the status bar and the app’s tabs.

The guide is approximate (each app moves things now and then), and it’s never recorded. Turn it on or off with Safe zones under the shape buttons.

Captions placed for you

In 9:16, ClippCut’s captions sit above the bottom zone and a little to the left, so the like and share buttons never cover your words.

Framing yourself

• Keep your eyes in the upper third of the frame. That is where viewers look first, and it stays clear of every app’s buttons.
• Leave some space above your head; the top of the screen carries the app’s tabs and the phone’s status bar.
• Hold up a product or a sign in the middle of the frame, not near the bottom, where the caption and your name will cover it.
• Text you add in the posting app has to fit too: keep it in the middle band, between the top and bottom zones.

Other shapes

Square, 4:5 and 16:9 videos show in the feed with the app’s buttons below the video, not on top of it, so the guide only appears in 9:16.

Text and graphics in the safe area

The same rule applies to anything you add later in an editor: titles, product shots and stickers. Keep them in the middle of the frame, above the bottom fifth and away from the right edge. ClippCut's own captions and stickers are placed this way automatically.

Thumbnails and covers

Each app crops the cover differently in its profile grid: Instagram, for example, shows a shorter crop of a vertical Reel. Keep your face centred if you want a clean grid. A short text title in the middle third survives every crop.

Last updated October 18, 2026.