How to Post on Instagram with Different Sizes

Ever create the perfect photo or video, only to have Instagram awkwardly crop your head off or force it into a tiny square? You're not alone. Mastering Instagram's different post sizes is one of the most common frustrations for creators and marketers. This guide will walk you through exactly how to post your content in different sizes without sacrificing quality, so what you create is exactly what your followers see.

Why Instagram Image Sizes Are a Big Deal

You might be wondering if it’s really that important to get the sizes right. The short answer is yes. It's not just about aesthetics, it's about performance. All Instagram post types are not created equal, and using the optimal size for each has a huge impact on how your audience experiences your content.

The biggest reason is screen real estate. A tall, vertical post (also known as a portrait post) takes up significantly more of a person’s phone screen than a wide, horizontal post or even a classic square. More screen space means your post is more immersive and commands more attention as someone scrolls through their feed. This can lead directly to better engagement because your content is harder to just scroll past.

Beyond engagement, getting your sizes right makes your profile look professional and polished. When your images are crisp, correctly framed, and consistently formatted, it signals to visitors that you pay attention to detail and care about quality. Cropped-off text, pixelated videos, or awkwardly framed photos do the opposite, making an account feel amateurish.

Your Official Guide to Instagram Post Sizes & Aspect Ratios in 2024

Before you can post in different sizes, you need to know what sizes Instagram actually supports. The platform uses aspect ratios - the proportional relationship between an image's width and height. Think of it like this: a 1:1 ratio is a perfect square, while a 9:16 ratio is a tall, skinny rectangle like your phone screen.

For the best quality, Instagram recommends uploading images that are 1080 pixels wide. The height will then change based on the aspect ratio you choose.

Instagram Feed Posts

For the main feed, you have three options to choose from:

• Square (1:1 Aspect Ratio): This is the classic Instagram format. The ideal size is 1080px by 1080px. It's a safe and balanced option that always looks good in the grid view on your profile page.
• Portrait (4:5 Aspect Ratio): This is the most powerful option for single feed posts. The ideal size is 1080px by 1350px. This vertical format fills up the most screen space on the feed, making it highly engaging. Always aim for portrait when you can.
• Landscape (1.91:1 Aspect Ratio): The horizontal option. The ideal size is 1080px by 566px. This format takes up the least amount of screen space and is generally less effective for engagement. Only use it when the shot is so wide that it can't be cropped effectively (like a group photo or a sprawling landscape).

Instagram Stories & Reels

Stories and Reels share the same dimensions because they are both designed to be full-screen, immersive vertical experiences.

• Portrait (9:16 Aspect Ratio): The only format you should be using for Stories and Reels is full-screen vertical. The ideal size is 1080px by 1920px. Anything else will be awkwardly cropped or displayed with clunky borders and a background gradient.

Instagram Carousel Posts

Carousel posts let you share multiple photos or videos in a single post. The key here is consistency. While you can technically mix and match different sizes within a single carousel, it creates a jarring user experience where the frame size jumps around as people swipe.

For a clean, professional look, make sure all photos and videos in your carousel have the same aspect ratio. You can choose Square (1:1), Portrait (4:5), or even Landscape (1.91:1), but stick with one for the entire post. Most people find portrait (4:5) carousels to be the most effective for the same reasons as single feed posts.

How to Post Different Sizes on Instagram: A Step-by-Step Guide

Now that you know the official dimensions, let’s get into the practical side of posting your content without frustrating crops. There are three main ways to do this, ranging from a quick in-app fix to a more professional pre-production method.

Method 1: Using Instagram's Built-in Automatic Resizer (The Quick Fix)

If you have a horizontal or vertical photo and want to post it without the automatic square crop, Instagram has a simple tool built right into the app.

1. Open the Instagram app and tap the + icon at the bottom to create a new post.
2. Select the photo or video you want to upload from your gallery.
3. By default, Instagram will display it as a 1:1 square. In the bottom-left corner of the image preview, you’ll see an expand icon (two arrows pointing outwards). Tap it.
4. This will automatically adjust your content to fit its original aspect ratio - either portrait (4:5) or landscape (1.91:1).
5. From there, you can proceed with editing and writing your caption as usual.

When to use this: This is perfect for quick, on-the-go posts where you have a photo that already fits well within the 4:5 or 1.91:1 aspect ratios and you just need to prevent the default square crop.

Method 2: Using a Third-Party App to Add Borders (The Workaround)

What if your image doesn’t quite fit Instagram's allowed ratios? Maybe you have a very wide panoramic shot or an extra-tall photo you want to upload without cropping any part of it. The solution is to use an app to place your image onto a background canvas that does fit Instagram's specifications.

Apps like Canva, Instasize, or Adobe Express have easy "no crop" features.

1. Download and open a photo editing app that has a canvas or background feature.
2. Start a new project and look for an Instagram Post template (they are usually 1080x1080 or 1080x1350).
3. Import the photo you want to post. The app will place it on top of the plain white (or any color you choose) background.
4. You can resize and position your image on this background canvas until everything fits. The empty space on the canvas will create clean, simple borders around your image.
5. Export the new, resized image to your phone's gallery and upload it to Instagram. Because the final saved image has a 1:1 or 4:5 aspect ratio, Instagram won't try to crop it.

When to use this: This method is ideal for posting content with unusual dimensions that absolutely cannot be cropped, giving you an easy way to fit any photo into Instagram's frame.

Method 3: Creating Your Content with the Right Aspect Ratio (The Professional Way)

The best way to guarantee a perfect fit is to plan ahead. By creating your content with the final size in mind from the very beginning, you avoid all cropping issues entirely. This is how social media professionals do it.

1. Use a graphic design tool like Canva, Figma, Adobe Express, or Photoshop.
2. When you start a new project, manually set the dimensions of your canvas. For example, if you want to create a portrait Instagram post, set the canvas dimensions to 1080px wide by 1350px tall. For a Reel, set it to 1080px by 1920px.
3. Design your post directly on this pre-sized canvas. Add your photos, text, and graphics. You'll have complete control over the final composition because what you see on the canvas is exactly how it will appear on Instagram.
4. Once you’re done, export the final graphic or video. When you upload it to Instagram, it will perfectly match the required dimensions, and no cropping will occur.

When to use this: This is the absolute best method for any planned content, especially graphics, promotional visuals, carousels, and anything where composition and text placement are important. It guarantees the highest quality and perfect framing every time.

Tips for Better Multi-format Content

Creating content that looks great in any format doesn't have to be a headache. Keep these simple tips in mind during your creation process.

• Think and shoot vertically: Since vertical content (4:5 and 9:16) gets the most visibility on Instagram, prioritize shooting your photos and videos vertically whenever possible. It’s much easier to crop a vertical image into a square than it is to turn a horizontal image into a compelling vertical one.
• Keep your subject centered: When filming or composing a photo, try to keep the most important part of the visual near the center of the frame. This gives you maximum flexibility to crop it later for different formats (like a 1:1 profile grid or a wide email header) without cutting off the good stuff.
• Design versatile templates: If you use design tools, create templates for Stories (9:16) and Feed Posts (4:5 or 1:1) from the get-go. This streamlines your workflow and ensures everything you create is already optimized for a specific placement, saving you time and effort later on.

Final Thoughts

Understanding and using Instagram's different post sizes is a small adjustment that makes a huge impact. It elevates the quality of your content, boosts engagement by capturing more screen space, and helps your brand look more polished and professional. By either using the in-app resizer, a third-party app, or designing with the final dimensions in mind, you can take full control over how your content appears.

Keeping track of ideal dimensions for Instagram, then again for TikTok, and then again for an entirely different set for YouTube Shorts can feel like a real chore. We constantly ran into this headache when managing social media for our own brands and clients, which fundamentally shaped our approach when we created Postbase. Our platform was built specifically for the video-first reality of today, where short-form vertical Reels and Stories are what really drive growth. It simplifies the process, letting you schedule all your content from a single visual calendar with captions customized for each platform, so you can stop manually resizing and wrestling with formats and focus on creating things people love.