4x3 resolution: 4:3 slide and screen sizes in pixels

4:3 in numbers

Any width and height that divide to 1.333 are 4:3. Multiply the height by 4 and divide by 3 to get the width: 768 high gives 1024 wide, 1080 high gives 1440 wide. Microsoft lists the standard PowerPoint slide at 10 by 7.5 inches, and Google Slides offers Standard 4:3 alongside its widescreen options. The same proportion shows up in Apple's iPad screenshot sizes, which are 3 to 4 in portrait, and in many camera sensors, which is why phone photos usually come out 4 by 3.

When a 4:3 slide still makes sense

Some schools, churches, conference rooms and older hotel venues still run 4:3 projectors. A 16:9 deck on them is shown letterboxed, smaller, with black bands above and below, so text that looked comfortable on a laptop becomes harder to read from the back. If the venue confirms a 4:3 projector, a standard slide uses the full image. Decks printed as handouts also suit 4:3, since the shape fills a portrait A4 or letter page better, two to a page.

Moving between 4:3 and 16:9

Changing a deck's slide size rescales every slide, and PowerPoint asks whether to maximise the content or ensure it fits. Maximising crops the edges; fitting leaves blank space. Either way, layouts built for one shape rarely look right in the other, especially title slides and charts. It is usually faster to build the deck at the right size from the start, or to keep the main content in the central 4:3 area of a 16:9 slide so both screens show it comfortably.

Common mistakes

The first is assuming a venue projector is 16:9 without checking, then presenting a widescreen deck at a reduced size. The second is stretching a 16:9 image to fill a 4:3 slide, which squashes faces and logos. The third is converting slide size at the last minute and not checking every slide afterwards. The fourth is using 1024 by 768 images on a 4:3 slide shown on a modern high resolution projector, where they look soft.

4:3 and the presentation generator

The presentation generator makes every deck at 16:9 on a 1920 by 1080 canvas; there is no 4:3 option. A 16:9 deck still works on a 4:3 projector, shown letterboxed, and keeping titles and key numbers away from the far left and right edges helps it read well there. Exports are 16:9 PDF or PowerPoint files. For images that must be 4:3, the aspect ratio calculator gives exact pixel sizes and the image cropper cuts them, and the blank PNG above is 1024 by 768 pixels, the classic XGA size.

Questions people ask