What is an aspect ratio?
The aspect ratio of an image, video, or document, is the ratio of its width to its height. It is expressed as two numbers separated by a colon, width:height.
💡 For example, an image with the aspect ratio 1:2 will be twice as high as it is wide.
The aspect ratio of any media affects how it is presented on screens, and especially so on smaller screens such as mobile devices and tablets.
What aspect ratio works best for me?
There is no perfect aspect ratio that ensures a guaranteed viewing experience across all devices. However, we have found that an aspect ratio of 1:1.5 works well across the majority of mobile devices.
General best practices for designing your Flipbook (click to expand)
General best practices for designing your Flipbook (click to expand)
Pages should be cropped to size, with no visible cutting lines
A4 size (210×297 mm) pages or 210×280 mm will yield good results across devices.
To optimize for mobile, you can create your pages in a ratio of 1:1.5.
Creating your InDesign document with Facing Pages and Portrait orientation will give you the optimal view and best results when working on your Flipbook.
Factors that can affect an optimal aspect ratio
There are several factors that can affect what aspect ratio works best for your Flipbook:
Your Flipbook visitors will likely visit your digital catalog from different mobiles devices with different screen aspect ratios.
Having different modules or integrations active on your Flipbook. For example, having a News ticker or a visible top bar will affect how much screen 'real estate' is available on which to show your Flipbook.
iPaper guide to aspect ratios
We've created a guide that details how four of the most used aspect ratios work when applied together with News ticker, or Top bar navigation.
You can use this guide to see how much screen real estate is available to you when using these iPaper features, and it can help inform you which aspect ratio works best for your Flipbook: