Two ways a page can publish a shape
A shape can be published as a name, like sixteen by nine, or as a pair of pixel counts. The first can be compared across a whole register and says nothing about size. The second settles size and shape at once and cannot be compared without arithmetic. As of 2026-09-12.
| Question | A ratio name | A pixel pair |
|---|---|---|
| What shape is the output | Directly | By arithmetic |
| How many pixels arrive | Not at all | Directly |
| Does it clear a pixel minimum | Needs the resolution cell too | On its own |
| Comparable across a register | Yes | Only by converting |
Inclusion rule. The two forms a published output shape takes. A shape shown in a sample image rather than stated in text is not a published shape. Order. The more common form first.
1A name hides the thing a placement checks
Where a surface publishes a minimum pixel size, a ratio name cannot answer it. The check has to go through the resolution cell and an assumption about what a tier name contains, and tier names are not standard between vendors.
A pair answers in one step. That is a real advantage on the narrow question of whether a file will be accepted, and it is why a page that publishes pairs is easier to trust on delivery even when its figures are lower.
2A pair cannot be put in a column with names
Converting a pair into a ratio is trivial and produces a figure nobody published. In a table it would look identical to a name read off a page, with the same check date, and the distinction between what was read and what was calculated would be gone.
So a register that carries both forms has one column that cannot be sorted or scored. That is a cost worth paying, because the alternative is a column where some cells are evidence and others are arithmetic.
3Pairs tend to appear where nothing is priced
Tier names exist to be charged for. Where a page has no rate card behind it, the underlying pixel counts surface instead, and the constraints that go with them: divisibility rules, maximum long sides, transposed portrait twins.
That is worth knowing before comparing two pages. A page publishing pairs is usually written for someone assembling a request rather than buying an outcome, and it will be more precise and less complete than the alternative.
A craft note, not a spec. Nothing here is taken from a platform or a vendor, and nothing here should be quoted as a requirement. The sourced material is on published limits. Related: Frames and seconds, Why a ladder exists.
4A generator's ad pipeline
For ad work around “Pairs and ratio names”, SceneMixer's pages explain how its ad projects are produced:
The final cut ends on an end card: your main image plus four lines — Brand, Product name, Tagline, Call to action. The first two are read from your photo and your brief; the tagline and call to action are written with the script.
SceneMixer, The End Card (read 2026-10-13)
On the end card, yes, along with the product name, the tagline and the call to action, in the language of the ad.
SceneMixer, AI Ad Video Generator — “Will my brand name appear in the video?” (read 2026-10-13)