Creative content. Original content. And good content. Those are the three golden rules for creators. The first two are your domain. For the third, we can help. A simple way to make your content better is to use the right Instagram post size. It makes your content look more polished and professional. With that in mind, here’s a guide to the correct dimensions for Instagram posts.
Instagram post size and dimensions you should use
There are two things you need to know. Each Instagram post has a size and aspect ratio.
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The width and height of your post is its aspect ratio
4:5, 9:16, and 1:1 are all aspect ratios. The first number is the width, and the second the height. When you post a picture or video on Instagram in the wrong ratio, it crops your post; making it look amateurish.
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The number of pixels in a post is its size
50px by 50x, 1080px by 1080 px or 480px by 600 px are all post sizes. The first digit is width, and the second number is height. The bigger the numbers, the higher the resolution and the larger the size of the picture or video. When you publish a post in the optimal size, the quality is unaffected even if Instagram compresses it.
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Normal Instagram post size
Best size: 1080px by 1080px
Originally, Instagram posted only in a 1:1 ratio. Now you can publish a square, horizontal or vertical post. But keep in mind that your profile grid still shows posts in 1:1. Therefore, any ratio you may upload will be cropped in the grid view. Update: with Instagram testing different ways to show feed, like ultra tall photos, this ratio may change soon.
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Horizontal Instagram post size
Best size: Keep the height 1080px. The width can differ.
The quality of the posts remains the best at this height. The aspect ratio for horizontal posts on Instagram is 1:91:1. But 16:9 works just as well.
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Vertical Instagram posts size
Best size: 1080px by 1350px
Instagram will compress the post to 490px by 600px, but the quality will continue to be excellent. The aspect ratio of vertical posts should be 4:5. If the height is longer, it gets cropped.
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Instagram video post size
Best size: varies
Frame rate: 30 frames/sec
File size: max 4GB
For square video, the best resolution is 1080px by 1080px. For a vertical video post, it is 1080px by 608px. And for horizontal video posts, a good resolution is 1080 x 1350. The aspect ratio for in-feed videos can be anything between 4:5 to 16:9.
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Instagram Story size
Best size: 1080px by 1920px
When it comes to the aspect ratio, everything works for Stories. But stay somewhere between 1.91:1 and 9:16. We prefer the 9:16 ratio because it covers the entire screen without any borders.
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Instagram Reels size
Best size: 1080px by 1920px
Reels are meant for the phone screen. They have to be vertical and cover the entire screen. So, the best aspect ratio for Insta Reels is 9:16. Shoot them using your phone, and the content will come out looking professional.
Also, keep the bottom part of your Reel free of visual elements because this is where the caption is shown, and it will hide any text.
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Instagram carousel post size
You can add videos, photos or a mixture of both in a carousel post. The format can be vertical, horizontal or square. The only condition is that it remains the same for all videos/images you add.
If the first image is horizontal, all other pictures or videos will automatically be cropped to 1:1 aspect size.
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Instagram Live size
One last feature of Instagram a creator can use for the content is Live Rooms. You can’t pick the aspect ratio or size of a live stream. The only rule you need to follow here is to make sure the camera is vertical.
