Review · 5 August 2026
How to review a 9:16 proof sheet
How to read a FramePad burn-in proof: what the dashed rectangle means, what to ignore, and how to mark a collision without sitting in the studio.
By the FramePad editorial desk · 11 min read · Updated 2026-08-28
What you are looking at
A FramePad proof sheet is a still of the 1080×1920 canvas with a reconstruction of the destination chrome drawn on top. It is not a screenshot of the live app. It is a map. The dashed rectangle is the recommended safe region for that platform. Dimmed bands are hold-outs. Icons on the right are engagement controls. Type along the bottom is a caption well or a CTA, depending on the overlay.
If the still has no overlay, it is not a proof. It is a frame grab. Ask for the burn-in. If the still is 16:9, it is the wrong canvas. Ask for 1080×1920.
Mark collisions, not taste
A collision is when a face, a logo, a price, or burned-in type intersects a control by more than about eight pixels at 1080×1920. Circle it. Write the control’s name. “Like button on the jaw” is a note a designer can act on. “Feels cramped” is not.
Ignore whether you like the reconstruction’s icon set. The icons are stand-ins. The positions are the measurement. Arguing that TikTok’s real heart is a different red wastes the review.
Check the first frame and the end card
Ask for two proofs if the piece is a video: time 0:00 and the end card. The middle can be sampled if there is a title card or a price. A proof of a pretty B-roll frame that is not in the first second does not tell you whether the hook is covered.
Stories need the first frame especially. Tap-right viewers never reach a beautiful shot at 0:07 if the 0:00 type sits under the progress bars.
Paid proofs need hold-outs, not hearts
For Meta ads, the useful overlay is the 14 / 20 dim, not a replica of a like button. If the price or the legal sits in the dim, the ad can fail text-overlap review. Mark it. Do not approve “we’ll fix in Ads Manager” — Ads Manager will not move pixels in your file.
For Snap, read the 34-character headline and the shutter. A fake button near the swipe-up pill is a second collision: it trains thumbs to tap dead pixels.
Approve the clean file, archive the proof
The file that goes to the app is the clean export. The proof is a conversation. Keep both. If chrome moves later, you can compare the old proof to a new screenshot without re-exporting the campaign.
If you are the designer and the reviewer is on a laptop, the proof is how they see a phone. If they zoom a 1080×1920 PNG to 200% on a 16:9 monitor they will panic about things that are fine. Tell them to view it at 50% or on a phone. Pixel peeping a reconstruction is how reviews invent problems.
Open the matching tool
Keep reading
TikTok vs Reels vs Shorts: where the overlays actually differ
A measured comparison of TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts UI overlays on a 1080×1920 canvas — caption wells, action rails, and where on-screen type survives.
How to crop 16:9 to 9:16 without cutting faces
A practical method for converting landscape video to 9:16 vertical: pan per shot, avoid centre-crop accidents, and know when blur padding is the better master.
Instagram Story vs Reel safe zones
Stories and Reels are both 1080×1920, but the progress bars, reply field, caption well, and tab bar do not match. Here is what to keep clear on each.
Meta ad placements and the 9:16 safe zone
Where Meta draws sponsored labels, profile rows, and CTA buttons on 9:16 placements — and how to proof a creative before you spend.