How to Make an Instagram-Sized Video in Premiere Pro

Getting your video perfectly sized for Instagram can feel like a guessing game, but it’s one of the most important steps to making your content look professional and perform well. This guide will walk you through exactly how to create perfectly formatted Instagram videos - Reels, Stories, and in-feed posts - using Adobe Premiere Pro. We’ll cover everything from setting up your project correctly to an automated tool that reframes your footage for you.

Why Video Dimensions Matter on Instagram

Before jumping into Premiere Pro, it’s important to understand why this matters. Instagram is a vertical-first platform. Videos that fill the entire screen (like Reels and Stories) grab more attention and feel more native to the app. Posting a horizontal video with big black bars on the top and bottom signals to viewers that the content wasn't made for them, and they’re more likely to scroll right past it.

Here are the three main sizes you need to know:

• 9:16 (1080x1920 pixels): This is the full-screen vertical format used for Instagram Reels and Stories. This should be your default for most video content.
• 4:5 (1080x1350 pixels): This is a slightly shorter vertical format for in-feed video posts. It takes up significantly more screen space in the feed than a square or horizontal video, giving you a competitive edge.
• 1:1 (1080x1080 pixels): The classic square post. While it can still work, the 4:5 format is generally better for capturing attention in the feed.

For this tutorial, we will focus on the most popular and effective formats: 9:16 for Reels and Stories, and 4:5 for in-feed video.

Step 1: Set Up the Right Sequence in Premiere Pro

The first and most fundamental step is creating a sequence that matches Instagram’s dimensions. Don't just drag your horizontal camera footage onto the timeline and hope for the best. Building the correct "canvas" from the start saves a ton of headaches later.

How to Create a Custom Instagram Sequence

1. Open Premiere Pro and go to File > New > Sequence. An alternative shortcut is pressing Command + N (on Mac) or Control + N (on Windows).

2. In the "New Sequence" window, don't worry about the presets. Instead, click on the "Settings" tab at the top.

3. Change the "Editing Mode" dropdown to "Custom". This unlocks all the settings you need to change.

4. Now, adjust the "Frame Size." This is where you'll input the pixel dimensions for your Instagram video.

• For a 9:16 Reel or Story, set the frame size to: 1080 horizontal and 1920 vertical.
• For a 4:5 in-feed video, set the frame size to: 1080 horizontal and 1350 vertical.

5. Check that your "Pixel Aspect Ratio" is set to "Square Pixels (1.0)". This is the standard for almost all digital video today.

6. Finally, give your new sequence a name at the bottom (e.g., "IG Reel 9x16") and click "OK."

You now have a perfectly sized vertical timeline ready for your clips. When you drag your first piece of footage onto this timeline, Premiere Pro might show a "Clip Mismatch Warning" pop-up. This is perfectly normal if you filmed horizontally. Just click "Keep existing settings." You want to force the clip into your new vertical sequence, not change the sequence to match the clip.

Step 2: Reframe Your Footage for a Vertical Screen

Once you drag your horizontal footage (usually 1920x1080 or 4K) into your new vertical sequence, you’ll see that it doesn't fit - it has massive black bars or is cropped awkwardly. Your next job is to reframe the shot to focus on the most important part of the action.

There are two primary ways to do this: the manual method and the automatic method.

Method 1: Manual Reframing (The Classic Way)

This method gives you full control and is best for clips where the subject is relatively still.

1. Select a clip on your timeline.

2. Open the Effect Controls panel (usually in the top-left corner, or find it under Window > Effect Controls).

3. Under the "Video" tab, you'll see "Motion" properties, which include Position and Scale.

4. First, adjust the Scale. Increase the number until your video fills the vertical frame and the black bars disappear. You're essentially "zooming in" on your footage.

5. Next, adjust the Position. Click and drag the first number (the X-axis) left or right, and the second number (the Y-axis) up or down. Your goal is to center the main subject or the most important part of the action within the frame.

You can use keyframes to adjust the position during the clip if the subject moves. However, if you have a lot of movement, this can become tedious very quickly. That’s where the next method comes in.

Method 2: Auto Reframe (The Game-Changer)

Premiere Pro has a powerful feature called Auto Reframe that uses Adobe's AI (Sensei) to analyze your footage and automatically track the action, keeping it perfectly centered in a vertical frame. It’s an incredible time-saver.

Applying Auto Reframe to a Single Clip:

1. Right-click on a clip in your timeline.

2. Select Auto Reframe Clip... from the dropdown menu.

3. A new window will pop up. For "Target Aspect Ratio," choose "Vertical 9:16" or "Vertical 4:5" from the dropdown.

4. You can leave the "Motion Tracking" set to "Default," or you can give it a hint by choosing "Slower Motion" or "Faster Motion" if applicable.

5. Click "Create." Premiere will analyze the clip and apply the effect. It creates a new sequence with the reframed clip inside, which you can then copy and paste back into your master edit.

Applying Auto Reframe to a Finished Horizontal Sequence:

If you've already finished editing a horizontal video and now want a vertical version, this is the best way.

1. In your Project panel, find the original, finished horizontal sequence.

2. Right-click on the sequence and select Auto Reframe Sequence....

3. In the pop-up, choose your Target Aspect Ratio (e.g., Vertical 9:16) and give the new sequence a name.

4. Click "Create" Premiere will create an entirely new reframed sequence, duplicating all your edits, transitions, and graphics. It will analyze every clip and automatically adjust the position to keep the action centered. It's not always 100% perfect, but it does about 95% of the work for you, and you can go in and fine-tune any clips manually afterward.

Step 3: Keep On-Screen Text and Graphics in the "Safe Zone"

When creating Reels or Stories, remember that the Instagram app overlays UI elements on top of your video. The bottom of the screen is covered by your username, the caption, and the like/comment/share buttons. The top has other icons as well.

To avoid having your important text captions or graphics covered, you need to keep them within the "safe zone" - generally, the central part of the screen. A good rule of thumb is to avoid placing critical elements in the bottom 25% and top 10% of the screen. Center your titles and captions vertically to be safe.

Step 4: Export with the Right Settings for Instagram

You’ve done all the hard work, now it’s time to export. Using the wrong settings can result in a compressed, low-quality video that looks terrible once Instagram applies its own compression. Here are the settings to get a high-quality upload.

1. Make sure your sequence is selected, then go to File > Export > Media (Shortcut: Command/Control + M).

2. In the Export window, apply these settings:

• Format: H.264. This is the universal standard for web video.
• Preset: You can start with the "Match Source - High Bitrate" preset, but we'll customize it for better results.
• Click the "Video" tab below and check that the width and height match your sequence (e.g., 1080x1920). If they don’t, uncheck the box next to them and set them manually.
• Scroll down to "Bitrate Settings."
  • Bitrate Encoding: Choose "VBR, 2 Pass." This takes longer to export but gives you much better quality for a smaller file size than 1 pass.
  • Target Bitrate [Mbps]: For a 1080p Instagram video, a good target is 10-15 Mbps. Lower is okay for videos with little movement, while you might go higher for high-action footage. Don't go crazy high, as Instagram will compress it heavily anyway.
  • Maximum Bitrate [Mbps]: Set this to about 1.5x to 2x your target. If your target is 10, set the max to 15 or 20.
• Scroll to the bottom and check the boxes for "Render at Maximum Depth" and "Use Maximum Render Quality." This improves the fidelity of your render.

3. Finally, choose your "Output Name" to set where the file will save, and click "Export." Once it's finished, get the file to your phone (via AirDrop, Google Drive, or Dropbox) and you're ready to post!

Final Thoughts

Creating professional, properly sized Instagram videos is all about starting with the correct sequence settings, thoughtfully reframing your footage for a vertical screen, and finishing with optimized export settings. By following these steps and leveraging powerful tools like Auto Reframe, you can transform standard horizontal video into visually engaging content that feels perfectly at home on Instagram.

Once you’ve exported your new video, a whole new challenge begins: scheduling and publishing it across different platforms. At Postbase, we designed our platform specifically for the modern content creator who is focused on video. Because our tool was built for short-form video from day one, uploading your newly exported Reels, a TikTok version, and a YouTube Short at the same time is unbelievably simple and reliable - no compression headaches or weird formatting issues. We make sure your hard work looks just as good online as it does coming out of Premiere.