Today, no social media marketing strategy is complete without incorporating Instagram in the plan. It is one of the most popular platforms that brands need to grow their presence on. Instagram lets you share your amazing photos and videos with the world in different formats including feed posts, feed videos, reels, stories, and IGTV. With so many options available, it can be a bit difficult to know which Instagram post size to use and when.
Instagram is a platform that is centered around visually appealing content. Thus, knowing the right sizes is crucial if you want to give your posts the best chance of getting engagement and building an aesthetic feed.
In this blog by RecurPost, a social media scheduler, we’ll allow you to schedule Instagram posts with much more than the standard answer: “a width of at least 1080 pixels with an aspect ratio between 1.91:1 and 4:5” for Instagram post size.
Let’s begin.
Ready to rock your Instagram presence and go viral?
Set your accounts on autopilot to reach your target audience at the right time with RecurPost
Why do you have to worry about Instagram Post size?
1. For better visual storytelling
The size of the images has to be just right to be able to tell your story in the best way possible without losing any message. If you don’t use the right image size, your Instagram post might not appear properly on your profile, which might lead to people not completely getting your message.
2. To avoid cropping out images
This is the most important reason why you need to focus on the Instagram post size. While uploading an image, you might have noticed that it gets severely cropped, and sometimes, this can be highly detrimental to your story and the message you want to give.
3. To make sure your text appears fine
When you are adding text to your Instagram post, you would want all of it to be properly seen on your profile. And when you are not using the right image size to create your post, you might lose a few words when the image gets cropped. Or else, you might have to pinch the image and make it too small so that it fits without losing any letters or words.
4. To keep logos and other elements intact
Just like text, you might add your brand logo and other elements to your Instagram post. While creating the post, you would need to ensure that the size of the logo does not overtake the image. Thus, having an idea of the correct Instagram post size will help you create a proper image and place your logo and other branded elements properly.
Read More: How to download Instagram video?
The basics of Instagram post size
Before we talk about the ideal Instagram post size, you need to have a look at how your current photos and videos. Have you posted all high-quality images? Or are they blurry? Do any of them have missing parts? Is there a black or white background added to images to fit them into the feed? If yes, then this blog will help you a lot.
The most important things you need to consider are aspect ratio and size. The aspect ratio is the image’s width to height ratio. It’s represented in the form of a ratio – for example, 1:2. The first digit is the width, while the second is the height. While image size is the number of pixels that make up your image or video’s height and width.
When you upload a picture in an aspect ratio that Instagram doesn’t support, then it’s either cropped or enlarged to fit. Instagram supports images with a width between 320 pixels and 1080 pixels. If your image is smaller than 320 pixels, they enlarge it, and if it’s wider than 1080 pixels, it’s cropped.
Align with taking care of the best sizes, you also need to work on the best time to post on Instagram to get maximum engagement on your posts.
Now, let’s learn about the recommended Instagram post dimensions.
Instagram post size: Feed Posts
When Instagram first launched, users were only able to upload square images. But now, you can upload square, horizontal, or vertical images on Instagram. This provides you the flexibility to upload a wide range of photos.
The ideal Instagram post image size for each of these types of pictures are as follows:
1. Square photos
Even with the option of horizontal and vertical images, the square format is the most popular one. The optimized Instagram image size for square photos is 1080 px by 1080 px. As a result, the aspect ratio is 1:1. Thus, for best results, you should consider using this ratio. Otherwise, your image might get cropped.
2. Horizontal photos
The optimized Instagram image size for horizontal photos is 1080 px by 566 px. As a result, the aspect ratio is 1.9:1, but you can also use 16:9. As much as possible, try to upload images with a width of 1080 pixels. When you do this, even after compression, the quality of the image is not degraded.
3. Vertical photos
The optimized Instagram image size for vertical photos is 1080 px by 1350 px. As a result, the aspect ratio is 4:5. A study has found out that portrait photos receive more engagement as compared to square and horizontal photos. This is because portrait pictures take up more space on the feed.
Thus, by using portrait orientation, your brand can take up more space on the screens of users’ smartphones. Moreover, their size makes them more eye-catching, and people notice them, ultimately increasing their engagement rate.
Instagram post size: Videos
Videos receive a lot more interaction on Instagram as compared to still images. And just like photos, you can post them in three different orientations: square, vertical, and horizontal. Here are the best dimensions and aspect ratios of Instagram video post size for designing videos for your marketing strategy:
- Square videos: They should have an aspect ratio of 1:1 and dimensions of 1080 px by 1080 px.
- Horizontal videos should have an aspect ratio of 1.9:1 or 16:9 and dimensions of 1080 px by 607 px.
- Vertical videos should have an aspect ratio of 4:5 and dimensions of 1080 px by 1350 px.
According to a study done by Buffer, square videos tend to receive more engagement than horizontal and vertical videos. Square videos get around 30-35% higher video views while their engagement increases by 80-100%.
Ready to rock your Instagram presence and go viral?
Set your accounts on autopilot to reach your target audience at the right time with RecurPost
Instagram post size: Stories
For Instagram stories, you need to use vertical/portrait videos. If you create a picture or video in landscape orientation, your videos and photos will show up much like landscape IGTVs — with a lot of dead space around them.
You should share images and videos with a minimum aspect ratio of 1.91:1 and a maximum of 9:16. In case you wish to cover the entire screen, the best Instagram post size in pixels would be 1080 px by 1920 px. That’s a 9:16 ratio.
Instagram stories are mainly designed for people to view them while holding their phones vertically. Thus, using portrait or vertical videos will allow you to take advantage of the full screen without forcing people to rotate their phones or simply skip the stories because of the extra space in landscape photos.
Instagram post size: Reels
Just like stories, Instagram reels must be shot vertically in portrait orientation. In IGTVs, you get an option of playing the videos in full-screen mode. However, there is no such option for reels. Reels play directly in the repost on Instagram timeline; thus, you need to record them in portrait mode.
The best Instagram post size in pixels for reels would be 1080 px by 1920 px, i.e, a 9:16 ratio. You can make your reels appear in the profile grid too, but it will only appear in square size on the feed. While uploading the reel, you can set the thumbnail of your choice and crop the profile image so that your feed aesthetic is maintained.
Instagram post size: IGTV
In Instagram IGTV, you can upload both vertical and horizontal. However, it is recommended to upload portrait (vertical) videos. Your videos must be of at least a minute to be uploaded as an IGTV. Regardless of the orientation you choose, all previews in the feed and timeline will show a 4:5 center crop of your video.
- Horizontal videos: They should have an aspect ratio of 16:9 and dimensions of 1080 px by 566 px.
- Vertical videos: They should have an aspect ratio of 9:16 and dimensions of 1080 px by 1920 px.
- IGTV cover photo: They should have an aspect ratio of 1:1.55 and dimensions of 420 px by 654 px.
While uploading an IGTV, you will get a great option of editing the preview content. By default, Instagram will pick up the first 15 seconds of your video and show it as the preview. But, when you use portrait orientation, you can use the “edit preview” option to select the still image and the 15-second clip for the preview. This option will not be available when you choose the landscape orientation.
Instagram image size: Profile picture
Your profile picture is the first thing that people notice when they visit your profile. Thus, it is necessary to ace it. Profile pictures on Instagram are displayed in a 1:1 aspect ratio and the dimensions for this should be 110 px by 110 px. The maximum aspect ratio should be 180 px by 180 px.
Whether people search for your profile or discover you from ads, your logo/headshot should be well-positioned in the profile picture. You can choose a larger picture but make sure that the parts you want visible lie within the recommended ratio.
Along with your profile picture, make sure your bio is also up to the mark. To see some inspiration, here are 301 Instagram bio ideas you can refer to.
Instagram post size: Ads
Creating Instagram ads definitely requires much more effort than posting a normal image or video. You can create ads to reach a wider audience but need to make sure you use the optimum post size to get maximum engagement.
Below are the best Instagram story ideas & post ideas size ratio for ads:
- Image ads: Landscape image ads should have an aspect ratio of 1.9:1 and dimensions of 1200 px by 628 px. Square image ads should have an aspect ratio of 1:1 and dimensions of 1080 px by 1080 px. Vertical image ads should have an aspect ratio of 4:5 and dimensions of 1080 px by 1350 px.
- Video ads: Landscape video ads should have an aspect ratio of 1.9:1 and dimensions of 600 px by 315 px. Square image ads should have an aspect ratio of 1:1 and dimensions of 600 px by 600 px. Vertical image ads should have an aspect ratio of 4:5 and dimensions of 600 px by 750 px.
- Story ads: Story images and video ads should have an aspect ratio of 9:16 and dimensions of 1080 px by 1920 px.
- Carousel ads: Carousel image ads should have an aspect ratio of 1.9:1 and dimensions of 1080 px by 1080 px. Video carousel ads should have an aspect ratio of 1:1 and dimensions of 1080 px by 1080 px or 600 px by 600 px.
How to Upload the Right-Sized Images on Instagram
After having a look at all the above dimensions for Instagram post size, you might be a little overwhelmed. However, you don’t need to worry much about creating the right-sized posts for your profile.
We know that you might be thinking that nobody has the time to resize images for different formats. And that’s where photo editing tools can help. You can use tools like Square Pic, Square InPic, or No crop & square for Instagram.
You can also let Instagram auto-crop your images and videos if you don’t care much about your feed aesthetic. The best way is to shoot/create your images and videos in the recommended ratios to avoid using tools for editing.
Ready to rock your Instagram presence and go viral?
Set your accounts on autopilot to reach your target audience at the right time with RecurPost
Frequently Asked Questions
The optimized Instagram image size for photos is 1080px by 1080px. As a result, the aspect ratio is 1:1. For horizontal photos, it is 1080 px by 566 px. As a result, the aspect ratio is 1.9:1, but you can also use 16:9. For vertical photos, the recommended size is 1080 px by 1350 px while the aspect ratio is 4:5.
On Instagram, if you want to post images of different sizes in the same post, you would have to select the size and resize the image individually for your feed. In order to do that, you can use a photo editing tool to change the sizes of your images as per the recommended dimensions.
The optimized Instagram image size for photos is 1080 px by 1080 px. For horizontal Instagram images, the size is 1080 px by 566 px. The Instagram image size for vertical photos is 1080 px by 1350 px.
Landscape image ads should have an aspect ratio of 1.9:1 and dimensions of 1200 px by 628 px. Square image ads should have an aspect ratio of 1:1 and dimensions of 1080 px by 1080 px. Vertical image ads should have an aspect ratio of 4:5 and dimensions of 1080 px by 1350 px.
The best way to fit in a full picture on Instagram would be to first click on the plus sign that allows you to upload a picture or a video. Then you can select the picture that you want to upload from your gallery. Next, you will see a format button using which you can crop, toggle and zoom in or out for the full picture to fill the frame of your Instagram post.
The size of an Instagram post is not measured in inches but in ratios and pixels. However, here is the dimensions converted into inches.
– Square Instagram post dimensions (1080 X 1080 pixels ) = approx. 6 inches x 6 inches
– Horizontal Instagram post dimensions (1080 x 566 pixels ) = approx. 6 inches x 3.14 inches
– Vertical Instagram Post dimensions (1080 x 1350 pixels ) = approx. 6 inches x 7.5 inches
– Instagram Stories dimensions (1080 x 1920 pixels ) = approx. 6 inches x 10.67 inches
The size of an Instagram post is not measured in centimeters but in ratios and pixels. However, here is the dimensions converted into centimeters.
– Square Instagram post dimensions (1080 X 1080 pixels ) = 7.43 cm x 27.43 cm
– Horizontal Instagram post dimensions (1080 x 566 pixels ) = 27.43 cm x 14.37 cm
– Vertical Instagram Post dimensions (1080 x 1350 pixels ) = 27.43 cm x 33.86 cm
– Instagram Stories dimensions (1080 x 1920 pixels ) = 27.43 cm x 48.77 cm
The recommended aspect ratio for Instagram Reels is 9:16. This means that for every 9 units in width, there are 16 units in height.
The optimal size for Instagram posts can depend on the type of content you’re posting. However, a commonly used size for images in square format (1:1 aspect ratio) , 1080 pixels wide x 1080 pixels tall.
– Square Instagram post dimensions 1:1 aspect ratio
– Horizontal Instagram post dimensions 4:5 aspect ratio
– Vertical Instagram Post dimensions 1.91:1 aspect ratio
– Instagram Stories dimensions 9:16 aspect ratio
– Instagram Reels dimensions 9:16 aspect ratio
An Instagram portrait post typically has a 4:5 aspect ratio. The recommended dimensions for a portrait post are 1080 pixels wide x 1350 pixels tall.
Amaiya Rathi is a Senior Content Writer at RecurPost. She helps RecurPost communicate with their readers in their own language. Whether it is the web copy, social media posts or blogs, Amaiya has worked on all aspects of copywriting. You can reach out to her at [email protected].