Cover & Fit

Control how each step’s image or video fills the frame, from full-bleed to perfectly scaled.

Cover and Fit

Arcade steps display images and videos using your Arcade’s aspect ratio. When a step’s media doesn’t match those dimensions, Cover and Fit controls how it’s resized — whether it's zoomed in, zoomed out, cropped, or letterboxed.

This tool ensures your steps look clean, consistent, and visually appealing across devices.

What does Cover and Fit do?

Cover and Fit adjusts how each step’s image or video is displayed, depending on whether it matches the Arcade’s set aspect ratio. If a step’s media doesn’t match, you can choose whether to crop it, fit it inside the frame, or update the entire Arcade’s dimensions.

It’s especially useful when you're combining images or videos that have different sizes — like landscape and portrait steps — into a single Arcade.

Where can I find the Cover and Fit settings?

Cover and Fit controls are available on the right-hand toolbar in the Arcade editor when you're editing an individual step. You’ll see the following options:

• Cover

• Fit

• Update Aspect Ratio

• Background (shown when using Fit)

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Cover vs. Fit

What does Cover do?

Cover makes the image or video fill the entire frame of the Arcade. This usually means the content is slightly zoomed in or cropped around the edges to cover the full width and height.

Use Cover when you want your step to look immersive and edge-to-edge — especially useful for consistent visual polish.

Note: This may crop out parts of the image or video, especially for portrait-oriented media.

What does Fit do?

Fit ensures the entire image or video is shown without cropping. It scales the content to fit inside the Arcade’s frame, which may leave blank space (letterboxing) on the top/bottom or sides.

When using Fit, you can choose a custom background color to fill in the space around the content.

Use Fit when it's important that the viewer sees the whole image or video without anything being cut off.

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Aspect Ratio

What is aspect ratio in Arcade?

The aspect ratio determines the overall width and height of your Arcade's steps. It affects how every image or video is displayed.

Arcade steps default to the aspect ratio of the first step you capture, but this can be changed later.

How can I update the aspect ratio of my Arcade?

In the Cover and Fit panel, you’ll see an option called Update Aspect Ratio. If your current step has different dimensions than the Arcade's current setting, you’ll be prompted to match the entire Arcade to this step’s size.

Use this when you want to change your Arcade’s layout to better suit portrait steps, widescreen videos, or other specific media types.

Pro tip: It’s easier to crop portrait content into a landscape layout than to fit landscape content into a portrait layout. When in doubt, base your aspect ratio on a landscape step for the cleanest results.

Can I resize my Arcade to a dimension that none of my steps are?

What you'll need to do is add in a step with your desired dimentions (anything from Google should suffice). Then, using the Cover and Fit tool on that step, you'll set the Arcade's aspect ratio to be responsive to this image's dimensions. Once your Arcade has been resized, you can remove the "extra" step.

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Troubleshooting and Best Practices

Why is part of my image or video cut off?

This usually happens when:

• Cover is selected and the media is being cropped to fill the frame

• Your Arcade’s aspect ratio doesn’t match the step’s media size

• You’re mixing portrait and landscape content without adjusting layout

Here’s how to fix it:

• Check whether Cover or Fit is selected on the step

• Try using Fit to preserve the full image

• Consider changing the Arcade’s aspect ratio using Update Aspect Ratio

• Review your steps for consistency in media dimensions

What happens when I merge Arcades or upload steps with different sizes?

When merging Arcades or uploading images with different dimensions, you may notice that some steps appear zoomed in or cropped. This is expected when media doesn’t match the current aspect ratio.

To minimize cropping:

• Choose a step with the best representative size

• Use Update Aspect Ratio to match your Arcade to that step

• Use Fit with a consistent background color for varied step sizes

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