The resolution is the dimension of a render measured in pixels. The aspect ratio is how wide a render is compared to how tall it is. Both the resolution and aspect ratio are easily changed in Blender.
There will need to be a camera in the scene for the resolution settings to work. Here’s an detailed guide for all of Blender’s camera settings.
How to Change the Resolution in Blender
To change the render resolution in Blender, go to the Output Properties Panel. At the top are settings for the X (horizontal) resolution and Y (vertical) resolution. Enter the desired width and height (in pixels) for the render.
The Resolution % setting is an option to keep the same aspect ratio (width to height ratio) but increase the total number of pixels proportionally.
This can be used to set the final render resolution and then to test render at a lower resolution. For example, the test render may be 50% or 25% resolution.

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How to Change the Aspect Ratio in Blender
The aspect ratio in Blender can be changed manually by changing the X Resolution, the Y Resolution or both to a desired resolution (ie: 4096 x 2160) in the Output Properties Panel.
We can also adjust the horizontal and vertical ratio using the pixel ratio adjustment settings below the resolution settings. This should rarely be done.
The default pixel ratio will be 1:1 square pixels. Changing this value will actually change the aspect ratio of each pixel causing non-square (anamorphic) pixels.


Resolution Presets
Blender has common resolutions (and aspect ratios) stored as presets. The presets can easily be selected and populate the horizontal and vertical resolution values and other render settings.
To use a resolution preset, click the preset icon to the right of the “Format” tab in the Output Properties Panel. Choose the desired preset from the list.
At the bottom of the list, we can enter a name and press the plus icon to save the current resolution as a preset for future use.
We can remove any resolution preset by clicking the minus icon next to the preset.

Common Resolution Presets in Blender
Here is a list of common resolution dimensions which come saved as presets in Blender. Presets include settings for the Resolution (X & Y), the pixel aspect ratio and the frames per second for animations.
Preset Name | Horizontal Resolution | Vertical Resolution | Aspect X | Aspect Y | Frames Per Second |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4K DCI 2160p | 4096 | 2160 | 1 | 1 | 24 |
4K UHDTV 2160p | 3840 | 2160 | 1 | 1 | 24 |
4K UW 1600p | 3840 | 1600 | 1 | 1 | 24 |
DVCPRO HD 720p | 960 | 720 | 4 | 3 | 24 |
DVCPRO HD 1080p | 1280 | 1080 | 3 | 2 | 24 |
HDTV 720p | 1280 | 720 | 1 | 1 | 24 |
HDTV 1080p (default) | 1920 | 1080 | 1 | 1 | 24 |
HDV 1080p | 1440 | 1080 | 4 | 3 | 23.98 |
HDV NTSC 1080p | 1440 | 1080 | 4 | 3 | 29.97 |
HDV PAL 1080p | 1440 | 1080 | 4 | 3 | 25 |
TV NTSC 4:3 | 720 | 486 | 10 | 11 | 29.97 |
TV NTSC 16:9 | 720 | 480 | 40 | 33 | 29.97 |
TV PAL 4:3 | 720 | 576 | 12 | 11 | 25 |
TV PAL 16:9 | 720 | 576 | 16 | 11 | 25 |
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