Instagram is a visual social media platform, so ensuring your content is as engaging as possible is a key part of your overall strategy. Having correctly sized content is a step in the right direction. Luckily, you don’t have to guess what ratios and photo dimensions look best on Instagram.
Bookmark this guide for future reference, and you’ll never post incorrectly sized Instagram content again.
Instagram post sizes
- Instagram post: 1080 x 1080 px
- Instagram portrait: 1080 x 1350 px
Instagram recommends using an aspect ratio between 1.91:1 and 4:5. Though Instagram automatically uploads your images at the highest quality possible, you want to make sure to get your ratios right for best results.
Keep in mind that if you’re taking images on your phone to upload, your phone’s camera quality, will be a factor in the quality of your image uploads, regardless of your image ratio.
Instagram Video post sizes
- Instagram Video: 1080 x 1350 px
- Instagram Carousel Video: 1080 x 1920 px
Instagram has been emphasizing video creation lately, so you want to ensure you’re getting your video ratios right. As you create your videos, make sure they’re in mp4 format for easy uploading. Videos that appear on Instagram’s feed can work in either a 4:5 or 9:16 aspect ratio.
While you can post horizontal videos, Instagram will accommodate them to fit a portrait layout. On Instagram, video footage in portrait format tends to work best. That said, don’t be afraid to play around with formats and see what works best for your brand.
Instagram Stories sizes
- Instagram Story: 1080 x 1920 px
Instagram Stories are a great way to engage with your followers on the go as you create video content within the app. However, if you’re uploading video content to your Stories, make sure it’s at least 1080 x 1920 px for best results.
Instagram Reels video sizes
- Reels video: 1080 x 1920 px
Generally speaking, the Reels video dimensions are 1080 x 1920 px. Reels also appear in your Instagram feed and are slightly cropped when displayed as a preview in the Reels tab of your profile. You want to keep this in mind when creating your content.
For example, if you’re including any text or stickers that are important to your video, keep them as close to the center of your video as possible. That way, your Reel will still be engaging and on brand when displayed in different areas of the Instagram app.
Instagram ad sizes
- Instagram ad: 1080 x 1080 px
Instagram ads—whether they appear in the Instagram feed or in Stories—are best when designed using a 1:1 ratio. Additionally, you’ll want to upload them at a resolution of 1080 x 1080 px for best results. Instagram ads can be uploaded as JPEG or PNG files and have a 30 MB size limit.
Instagram profile photo size
- Instagram profile photo display size: 110 x 110 px
- Instagram profile photo upload size for best resolution: 320 x 320 px
Your Instagram profile photo is one of the first things people see when they land on your account, which means its quality is critical for making a good first impression.
Instagram profile photos display at 110 x 110 px. But to ensure your photo upload displays at the highest quality possible, your photo dimensions need to be at least 320 x 320 px. Follow this guideline and you’ll avoid a grainy, low-quality image and every part of your photo will fit within the circular display.
Instagram content creation tips and tricks
There are many ways to go about creating Instagram content. However, depending on your workflow, there are a few tools can make the creative process easier. Here are a few pointers to add to your content creation routine:
Use templates: Using templates is a great way to save time. Instead of starting from scratch everytime you design content for Instagram, use free content editors like Canva to create and save templates you can use many times over.
Pay attention to video length: There are a number of ways to post videos on Instagram. However, all of them have different maxium time durations. Here’s a quick refresher on how long each Instagram video type can be:
- Reels: Up to 30 seconds long
- Instagram Stories: Up to 15 seconds long
- Live streams: Up to 60 minutes
- Instagram post videos: Up to 60 seconds long
- Instagram Videos: Anywhere from 15 seconds to 10 minutes long (60 minutes for select accounts)
Automate your posts: Sure, you can create content in the exact dimensions you need. But what if you need to do more with less? The last thing you want is to be glued to a screen posting around the clock when you could be taking care of higher ROI tasks that grow your audience. Consider using automation to increase engagement on the content you’ve worked so hard to create. ManyChat’s comment and DM Automation tools help you keep up with your audience without burning out.
Mix up your content types: While Instagram is a great platform to find and cultivate your target audience, you’re also competing with other brands for their attention. One way to keep your feed engaging is to mix up your content types. Don’t be afraid to use all of Instagram’s content channels, whether that means creating Reels, static posts, or Stories.
Repurpose content from other platforms: You spend a lot of time creating content—why limit sharing it to a single platform? As long as the dimensions and time caps align, you’re good to reuse as much content as you want.. For example, TikTok video dimensions are 1080 x 1920 px, making these videos ideal content to repost on Instagram.
Grow your brand on Instagram
Creating Instagram content isn’t terribly hard. However you do need to pay attention to the guidelines that’ll ensure it looks high-quality. As you grow your library of content, the time and effort that went into building will make you proud to share it with the world.
Instagram is a great platform for businesses to cultivate and nurture an audience. The secret is in creating quality content that engages your followers and keeps you top of mind. To do that, make sure your content is sized correctly for best results.
