Vertical storyboard template, 9:16
Frames in 9:16 for phone-first video, TikTok, Reels, Shorts and vertical ads.
Opens with these settings already loaded. Change anything you like, then download as PDF, PNG or SVG.
Vertical is a different craft
A 9:16 frame is not a cropped 16:9. Wide establishing shots barely function; there is no room for lateral composition; and the subject occupies far more of the frame, so faces and hands dominate. Boarding in the actual ratio forces you to confront that at the planning stage, rather than discovering it in the edit.
Safe areas matter more here
Vertical platforms overlay the frame heavily, captions, usernames, buttons and progress bars sit over the bottom third and right edge. Anything important placed there is covered. Mark those zones on your boards; the note lines under each frame are a good place to record what has to stay clear.
Three frames across
Because the frames are tall and narrow, three fit across a Letter sheet comfortably where 16:9 fits two. That is convenient, since vertical content tends to cut fast and you need more frames per sequence than you would for the same duration in widescreen. The other thing worth marking on a vertical board is the safe area. Phone interfaces overlay the top and bottom of the frame with captions, usernames, buttons and progress bars, and anything important placed there will be covered on at least one platform. Sketch a light line across the top and bottom fifth of each frame and keep faces and text inside it, which is a habit that costs nothing and saves reshoots.
Printing it accurately
This only measures correctly if your printer doesn't rescale the page. In the print dialog set Scale: 100%, not "Fit to page" or "Shrink oversized pages". If you're not sure it worked, print the calibration page, measure the ruler on it with a real ruler, and it will tell you exactly what your printer is doing to the page.