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Square is the default but the web runs on landscape. Pick your ratio before generating. It changes how the AI composes the entire image.
I used the AI image generator for a month before I tried the aspect ratio setting. Every image was square by default. My blog headers needed widescreen. My phone wallpapers needed portrait. I was cropping my way out of a problem that a single dropdown could solve.
Square (1:1) is the default because it works everywhere. Instagram posts. Profile pictures. Album art. But the web runs on landscape. Blog headers are 3:2. YouTube thumbnails are 16:9. If you generate square images and crop them, you lose 30 to 50 percent of the image. Counter-intuitive: pick the aspect ratio BEFORE generating. It changes how the AI composes the image. A landscape prompt generates a landscape composition. A square prompt cropped to landscape looks like a square image with the top and bottom cut off.
2:3 portrait was the surprise winner. I generated phone wallpapers and Pinterest pins with it. The composition was completely different from square — subjects were centered vertically and the AI used the extra height naturally. If you need a portrait image, generate it in portrait. Do not generate square and crop. The AI composes differently for each ratio.
The generator supports 1:1, 3:2, and 2:3. Pick before generating. It changes the output more than you would expect.