How to Make an Instagram Post Landscape

Trying to upload a beautiful, wide landscape photo to Instagram, only to have the app aggressively crop out the best parts? You aren't alone. While Instagram started as a platform for simple square photos, it has since evolved, but its preference for vertical content can still make posting horizontal images feel like a fight. This guide will walk you through exactly how to make an Instagram post landscape, so your full photo is displayed perfectly, every time. We'll cover the simple in-app method, more advanced techniques using editing tools, and creative ways to make your landscape shots shine on the feed.

Why Posting Landscape on Instagram Can Be Tricky

The core of the issue boils down to one thing: aspect ratio. In simple terms, this is just the proportional relationship between an image's width and its height. Instagram's feed is optimized for vertical scrolling on a phone, which is why it favors taller photos. If you upload an image that doesn't fit its preferred dimensions, the app will automatically try to make it fit - usually by cropping it.

To avoid unwelcome surprises, it helps to know the formats Instagram actually works with:

• Square Post: 1:1 aspect ratio. The classic Instagram format.
• Portrait Post (Vertical): 4:5 aspect ratio. This is the tallest format allowed, and it takes up the most screen space in the feed.
• Landscape Post (Horizontal): 1.91:1 aspect ratio. This is the widest you can go without forcing a crop or getting automatic borders. An image with a 16:9 ratio, common from phone videos or DSLRs, is slightly wider than this and will be cropped.

The goal isn't to force a super-wide panoramic photo into the feed without any changes. Instead, it's about working with Instagram's rules to present your landscape photo in the best possible way. Let's start with the quickest method.

The Easiest Way: Posting Landscape Directly in the Instagram App

For most standard horizontal photos, you don't need any third-party apps. Instagram has a built-in feature to adjust the format, but it's so subtle that many people miss it.

Here’s how to do it step-by-step:

1. Open the Instagram app and tap the plus icon (+) at the bottom to create a new post.
2. From your camera roll, select the landscape photo you want to post.
3. In the post preview, your photo will likely appear zoomed in and cropped into a square by default. Look in the bottom-left corner of the photo preview for a small icon with two outward-pointing arrows (<, >,).
4. Tap this "Expand" or "Fit to Screen" icon. The preview will immediately zoom out, showing your entire horizontal image. Instagram automatically adds white padding on the top and bottom to make it fit within the feed's frame and adjusts it to the widest acceptable ratio (1.91:1).
5. From here, you can tap "Next," add your filters and edits, write a caption, and post as you normally would. Your entire photo will now appear in the feed without being unpleasantly cropped.

When a Landscape Photo Gets Cropped Anyway

Sometimes, even after you hit the "Fit to Screen" button, the sides of your photo might still be slightly clipped. Why? Because your original photo is wider than Instagram's maximum 1.91:1 landscape aspect ratio. This is common with panoramic shots or photos taken with a wide-angle lens. When this happens, Instagram does its best but still has to make a small crop. To gain complete control, you'll need to prep your photo in an editing app before uploading it.

Mastering the Perfect Landscape Post: Editing for the Feed

When you want full creative control over how your landscape photo appears, turning to a photo editing app is the best move. This lets you decide exactly how the final image is framed, whether you're adding borders or resizing it precisely. Here are two approaches you can use.

Method 1: The "No-Crop" Method with White (or Colored) Borders

This is a popular aesthetic for photographers and brands who want to maintain the original aspect ratio of their photos, no matter how wide. The idea is to place your horizontal image onto a canvas that fits Instagram's dimensions (like a 1:1 square or 4:5 portrait), creating what's often called a "letterbox" effect.

You can do this with tons of free apps, including Snapseed, Adobe Lightroom Mobile, or Canva. The general steps are similar across all of them.

Let's use Snapseed as an example:

1. Download and open Snapseed, then tap anywhere to open your landscape photo.
2. Tap on "Tools" and then select the "Expand" tool.
3. By default, the tool will try to use a "Smart" fill to expand the borders, which you don't want. At the bottom, tap to switch it from "SMART" to either "WHITE" or "BLACK".
4. Drag the edges of your photo outward. You'll see white borders being added to the top and bottom. Keep dragging until the image looks like a square or a slight vertical rectangle.
5. Tap the checkmark to apply the changes, then tap "Export" to save this new, bordered image to your phone.

Now, when you upload this new image to Instagram, there's nothing for the app to crop. It sees a perfect square image, and your original landscape photo is displayed beautifully in the center.

Method 2: Cropping to the Perfect 1.91:1 Ratio

What if you don't like the bordered look and just want your photo to fill the maximum horizontal space allowed? The solution is to crop the photo yourself to the precise 1.91:1 aspect ratio before you upload it to Instagram. This gives you control over the composition, ensuring your subject is framed perfectly, unlike when Instagram makes an automatic decision.

You can do this in your phone's native Photos app or in a dedicated editor like Lightroom.

Here’s how to do it in the iPhone Photos app (Android is very similar):

1. Open your photo and tap "Edit" in the top-right corner.
2. Select the "Crop" tool from the bottom menu.
3. In the top-right, tap the aspect ratio icon (it looks like stacked rectangles).
4. From the options at the bottom, swipe and select "16:9". While this isn't exactly 1.91:1, it's a standard widescreen preset that is extremely close and will upload to Instagram perfectly as a landscape image.
5. Use your finger to slide the crop box left or right to frame the most important part of your image. Make sure the subject is well-composed within the new frame.
6. Tap "Done" to save the crop. Now you have a photo that's perfectly pre-formatted for Instagram's landscape mode.

Creative Strategies for Landscape Photos on Instagram

Once you’ve figured out the technical side, you can start having fun with how you present your horizontal images. These aren't just one-off posts, they can be part of a larger, more dynamic content strategy.

Using a Carousel for Panning Landscapes

Have an ultra-wide panoramic shot that’s just too good to be downsized? Turn it into a swipeable carousel post. By splitting the panorama into two, three, or more consecutive square images, you create an immersive "panning" effect as users swipe through the slides.

While you can do this manually in Photoshop, several apps are designed to make it effortless. Search for an app like "Panorama Crop" or "Swipeable Panorama" on your app store. These tools let you import your wide image and automatically slice it into perfectly aligned squares that you can upload as a single carousel post.

Planning Your Feed with Landscape Posts

A feed composed entirely of landscape posts can sometimes feel a bit empty because of all the white space above and below each photo. That's why variation is so powerful. By mixing landscape shots with more dominant 4:5 portrait photos and classic squares, you create a more visually engaging and balanced grid.

Think of it like a puzzle. A well-placed landscape post can serve as a "breather" between two taller, more detailed shots. Using a feed planner tool before you post helps you visualize how a horizontal photo will impact the overall aesthetic of your profile grid.

Thinking About Your Profile Grid Thumbnail

This is a crucial detail that many creators overlook. No matter what aspect ratio you post in - square, portrait, or landscape - every single post is automatically cropped to a 1:1 square on your main profile grid. For portrait and square photos, this isn't usually a problem. But for a wide landscape photo, it means only the center portion will be visible in your grid thumbnail.

Keep this in mind when you're shooting or cropping. A keen eye for composition is important, make sure the most important element of your photo is centered. If your main subject is way off to the left or right side of a landscape shot, it might get completely cut out of the grid thumbnail, making your profile look messy or confusing.

Final Thoughts

Making an Instagram post landscape is completely manageable once you understand the platform's rules on aspect ratios. Whether you use the quick in-app tool to fit your image to the screen or take a more hands-on approach by preparing your photo in an editor, you now have the tools to show off your wide shots without awkward cropping.

Ultimately, a great content strategy involves planning how these different formats work together to create a cohesive and beautiful feed. We actually built our visual calendar in Postbase to make this exact process simple. You can drag and drop your square, portrait, and landscape posts to see how your grid will look before publishing. Plus, you can reliably schedule all your content - especially videos and Reels - in one place without the headaches that often come with older, clunkier tools.