Profile names, captions and buttons sit on top of your creative. This shows you where, so your hook and your faces do not get covered. Upload an image, pick a placement, see the safe zone. Nothing leaves your browser.
Every platform draws its own interface on top of your creative. Profile name, caption, music ticker, the follow button, the shop button, the progress bar. None of it appears in the file you uploaded, and all of it appears on the phone.
The consequence is specific and expensive. Your hook is the first line of text in the ad, and the first two seconds decide whether anyone watches the rest. Put that hook where the caption sits and a meaningful share of your audience never reads it. You are still paying for the impression.
This checker overlays the unsafe areas for each placement so you can see the problem before the ad goes live rather than after a week of poor hook rates.
The overlays in this tool are approximations, because platforms shift their interfaces regularly and a caption two lines long covers more than a caption of four words. Treat them as a margin of safety, not a pixel-perfect guarantee.
| Placement | The risky areas |
|---|---|
| Instagram Reels and Stories (9:16) | Top strip and a deep bottom band for the caption, profile and audio, plus the action buttons down the right |
| TikTok (9:16) | The deepest bottom band of the four, plus a wider right-hand column of interface |
| Instagram Feed (4:5) | A modest border on all four sides. The most forgiving placement |
| Facebook Feed (4:5) | Similar to Instagram Feed, with the caption below the creative rather than over it |
The practical version: keep anything that matters in the middle 60% of a vertical frame. Faces, product, and above all the hook.
A creative reviewed on a large monitor looks balanced and generous. On a phone with the interface layered over it, the same design loses its bottom quarter. Always check the placement, not the file.
The visual middle feels right and is the most contested space on the screen. Hooks belong in the upper third of a vertical ad, below the top strip and well clear of the caption band.
A 9:16 Reel cropped into a 4:5 feed slot loses its edges, and a feed asset stretched to 9:16 floats in the middle with dead space top and bottom. Export per placement, or at minimum check each one here before launch.
Sometimes the concept was fine and the words were simply covered up. Before you scrap an angle that tested well elsewhere, check whether anyone could actually read it.
Last reviewed 4 September 2026. Platform interfaces change, so re-check placements periodically.
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