diff --git a/web/canvas.ts b/web/canvas.ts
index 6ab8f1d..f5ec30d 100644
--- a/web/canvas.ts
+++ b/web/canvas.ts
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ export type CanvasComponent = {
     would then need a cast, and the point of naming them is that the compiler knows `free-text` holds
     `html` and `gallery` holds `galleryId`.
   */
-  content?: { html?: string; galleryId?: number | null; url?: string };
+  content?: { html?: string; galleryId?: number | null; url?: string; ratio?: number; crop?: string };
   padding?: Record<string, { x?: number; y?: number }>;
 };
 export type CanvasSection = {
diff --git a/web/sections/PageBuilderPanel.tsx b/web/sections/PageBuilderPanel.tsx
index 595e848..5db8a44 100644
--- a/web/sections/PageBuilderPanel.tsx
+++ b/web/sections/PageBuilderPanel.tsx
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ export const PageBuilderPanel = () => {
     remove: (id: number) => void;
     addComponent: (section: CanvasSection, column: number) => void;
     editComponent: (component: CanvasComponent) => void;
+    setContent: (component: CanvasComponent, content: Record<string, unknown>) => Promise<void>;
     removeComponent: (component: CanvasComponent) => void;
     spaceSection: (section: CanvasSection) => void;
     spaceComponent: (component: CanvasComponent) => void;
@@ -102,6 +103,7 @@ export const PageBuilderPanel = () => {
     remove: () => {},
     addComponent: () => {},
     editComponent: () => {},
+    setContent: async () => {},
     removeComponent: () => {},
     spaceSection: () => {},
     spaceComponent: () => {},
@@ -471,6 +473,28 @@ export const PageBuilderPanel = () => {
   /* Held so the effect that reads the URL can call it without depending on its identity. */
   const editComponentRef = useRef<(component: CanvasComponent) => void>(() => {});
 
+  /**
+   * Write a block's whole `content`.
+   *
+   * Whole, because the API replaces it rather than merging — so every caller sends what is already
+   * there alongside what it is changing. That is the contract for a jsonb column somebody can put
+   * anything in: a merge would need the server to know which keys are meaningful, and it does not.
+   */
+  const setContent = async (component: CanvasComponent, content: Record<string, unknown>) => {
+    const owner = sections.find((section) => section.components.some((one) => one.id === component.id));
+    if (!page || !owner) return;
+    setError(null);
+    try {
+      await clientRef.current.patch(
+        `/fofos-admin/pages/${page.id}/sections/${owner.id}/components/${component.id}`,
+        { content },
+      );
+      setRendered((n) => n + 1);
+    } catch (failure) {
+      setError(readableError(failure));
+    }
+  };
+
   const editComponent = (component: CanvasComponent) => {
     const owner = sections.find((section) => section.components.some((one) => one.id === component.id));
     if (!owner) return;
@@ -728,6 +752,44 @@ export const PageBuilderPanel = () => {
                 </span>
               </div>
 
+              {/*
+                The shape of the slot, for a PHOTOGRAPH.
+
+                It is how you make a band shorter than the picture in it: the ratio becomes a slot
+                shape, and the site asks av-club for a rendition cut to that — so the bytes served
+                match the space rather than being scaled down by the browser.
+
+                Not offered for a video. There is nothing to crop and a ratio would letterbox it.
+
+                `content` is replaced wholesale by the API, so this sends what is already there
+                alongside the new value — a PATCH with `{ ratio }` alone would drop the url.
+              */}
+              {block.content?.url && !/\.(mp4|mov|webm|m4v)$/i.test(block.content.url) && (
+                <div className="flex flex-col gap-1">
+                  <label className="text-xs">Shape</label>
+                  <select
+                    value={block.content.ratio ? String(block.content.ratio) : ''}
+                    onChange={(event) => {
+                      const value = event.currentTarget.value;
+                      void handlersRef.current.setContent(block, {
+                        ...block.content,
+                        ratio: value ? Number(value) : undefined,
+                      });
+                    }}
+                    className="h-8 rounded-md border border-input bg-transparent px-2 text-xs"
+                  >
+                    <option value="">The picture's own shape</option>
+                    <option value={String(21 / 9)}>21:9 — a letterbox band</option>
+                    <option value={String(16 / 9)}>16:9</option>
+                    <option value={String(3 / 2)}>3:2</option>
+                    <option value={String(4 / 3)}>4:3</option>
+                    <option value="1">1:1 — square</option>
+                    <option value={String(3 / 4)}>3:4 — upright</option>
+                    <option value={String(2 / 3)}>2:3 — upright</option>
+                  </select>
+                </div>
+              )}
+
               {/*
                 What is actually in the block, at the width of the column.
 
@@ -805,6 +867,7 @@ export const PageBuilderPanel = () => {
     remove: (sectionId: number) => void deleteSection(sectionId),
     addComponent,
     editComponent,
+    setContent,
     removeComponent: (component) => void deleteComponent(component),
     spaceSection,
     spaceComponent,