Fit settings
Several settings in Wallboard decide how something is sized to the space it is given, and most of them are called a kind of fit. They are not interchangeable: they fall into two families with different options.
If the dropdown offers Cover, it is a media fit. If it offers Responsive, it is a content fit.
Media fit — how one file sits in its area
Applies to a single image, video or PDF inside the area a widget, cell or playlist gives it.
- Fill — the file is stretched to the exact width and height of the area. The whole area is covered and the original aspect ratio is not kept.
- Contain — the whole file stays visible and keeps its aspect ratio. When the shapes differ, empty space is left on two sides.
- Cover — the file keeps its aspect ratio and covers the whole area, so the parts that do not fit are cropped.
Where you find it
| Where | What it is called |
|---|---|
| Image widget, Gallery widget | Image fit |
| Video widget | Video fit. It is hidden while the Hardware Accelerated Player is used, because the player does the sizing itself. |
| Media widget | Media fit |
| PDF widget | Page fit mode |
| Channel widget | Image fit, for media and media folder types |
| Playlist, on a single item | Image fit, Video fit |
| Playlist settings | Default image fit and Default video fit for the whole playlist, plus Blur for Contain image fit |
| Any widget with a background image | Bg size, alongside Bg repeat. Bg repeat is hidden when Bg size is Fill. |
The Videos, Stream and YouTube widgets have no fit setting of their own.
A page background has no fit setting either. The Page tab offers Background type, the background image itself, Bg color and Background audio type — the sizing options belong to widgets, not to the page behind them.
Contain leaves empty space when the shapes differ. A Playlist can fill it with a blurred copy of the image instead of leaving it plain — the Blur for Contain image fit switch in Playlist settings, which does nothing for items set to Fill or Cover. Learn more: Blur for Contain image fit.
The Video and Videos widgets have a Keep ratio switch. It keeps the widget matched to the aspect ratio of the video source, adjusting the widget's own height on the canvas. A fit setting does the opposite: it decides what happens to the file inside a widget whose size you already chose.
When a Playlist plays inside a Content or Contents widget, each media item is sized by the Playlist's own Image fit or Video fit — the item's setting first, then the widget's own fit as a fallback. If images come out stretched, the fit in play is Fill: set the item, or the Playlist's Default image fit, to Contain to keep the ratio, or Cover to keep the ratio and crop instead.
The widget's Screen fit does not help here. It sizes whole content pages, not the media files inside a Playlist.
Content fit — how a whole page is sized
Applies to a designed Content or Slide, with all its widgets, rather than to a single file.
- Fill — the default. The content is resized to the exact width and height of the screen, so its aspect ratio is not kept.
- Responsive — the page is laid out for the available width and height, and the position and size of every widget is recalculated. Each axis follows the available area on its own.
- Contain — the whole page is scaled while keeping its aspect ratio and centered, which can leave empty bars on two sides.
Where you find it
| Where | What it is called |
|---|---|
| Content or Slide properties | Screen fit. Learn more: Screen fit |
| Playlist settings, Advanced tab | Screen fit, for the playlist as a whole. Learn more: Playlist settings |
| Contents widget with Performance Mode on | Screen fit, overriding the above for everything the widget plays. Learn more: Screen fit for embedded content |
In the Slide Designer the Contents widget is called the Playlist widget, and the setting behaves the same way.
The widget override adds an option the content-level setting does not have: Inherit, which keeps each item's own Screen fit. Playlists use the same idea for media — an element set to Inherit follows the playlist's Default image fit or Default video fit. It also adds Horizontal alignment and Vertical alignment, which decide where the item sits when Contain leaves empty space. Both default to Center and are shown only while Screen fit is Contain.
A content saved with the retired Letterbox or Overflow option keeps rendering exactly as it did. The option stays listed for that content but is disabled, so it cannot be selected again.