How to Post Wide and Tall Photos on Instagram

Tired of Instagram awkwardly cropping your perfectly composed shots? That beautiful wide landscape gets its sides shaved off, and your full-length vertical photo loses its head or feet. You can stop fighting the app and start posting your photos exactly as you intended. This guide will walk you through the simple techniques and specific dimensions you need to post wide and tall photos on Instagram without any frustrating, unwanted cropping.

First, Why Does Instagram Crop Photos?

The entire Instagram experience is built around a vertically scrolling feed. To keep this feed looking clean and consistent, the app sets specific limits on the shape of the content it displays. This shape is called the aspect ratio, which is simply the relationship between an image's width and its height.

If you upload a photo that doesn't fit within Instagram's allowed aspect ratios, the app automatically zooms in and crops it to make it fit. The key to avoiding this is to resize your photo to an approved shape before you upload it. Fortunately, it’s much easier than it sounds.

Here are the core aspect ratios you need to know for the main feed:

• Square (1:1): The classic Instagram format. Best quality at 1080 x 1080 pixels.
• Portrait (4:5): The tallest allowed format. This is your best friend for vertical photos. Best quality at 1080 x 1350 pixels.
• Landscape (1.91:1): The widest allowed format. Usable, but not ideal as it takes up the least screen space. Best quality at 1080 x 566 pixels.

For Stories and Reels, the ideal aspect ratio is 9:16 (1080 x 1920 pixels), which fills the entire mobile screen.

The Two-Second Fix: Using Instagram's Built-In Tool

Instagram has a quick-fix button that sometimes solves the cropping problem right away. It's the simplest option and always worth trying first.

Here’s how to use it:

1. Open Instagram and tap the + icon to create a new post.
2. Select the photo you want to upload from your gallery. By default, Instagram will automatically zoom into a 1:1 square.
3. Look for the format icon in the bottom left corner of the photo preview. It looks like two corners, like this: <, >,.
4. Tap this icon. It will zoom the photo out to show the full image, fitting it to either the tallest or widest possible dimension it can handle.

This method is fantastic for photos that are already close to the standard 4:5 (portrait) or 1.91:1 (landscape) ratios. However, if your photo is extra tall or extra wide - like a dramatic skyscraper shot or a sweeping panorama - this button will still crop your image. For those, you’ll need a bit more control.

How to Post Tall Photos (The 4:5 Portrait Method)

Posting a vertical photo is the best way to command attention in the feed. A tall 4:5 image takes up more screen real estate than a square or landscape photo, making people more likely to stop scrolling. This is perfect for portraits, full-body outfit photos, and any composition where height is essential.

The goal is to resize your image to a 4:5 aspect ratio before you post it.

Step by Step: Using Your Phone's Photo Editor

Most modern phones have powerful built-in editing tools capable of handling this task. Here's a general guide that works for both iPhone and Android:

1. Open the Photo: Go to your phone’s gallery and open the picture you want to post.
2. Enter Edit Mode: Tap the "Edit" button.
3. Find the Crop Tool: Look for the crop icon (it usually looks like a square with rotating arrows).
4. Select the Aspect Ratio: Inside the crop tool, you’ll find a button for aspect ratios. It might look like a series of interlocking rectangles. Tap it and look for the 4:5 or 8:10 option (they are the same ratio).
5. Adjust and Save: Frame your photo within the 4:5 box. You can move the box around to find the perfect composition. Once you’re happy, tap "Done" or "Save."

Now, when you upload this edited photo to Instagram, the app will see it's already in a perfect 4:5 format and won't crop a single pixel. The same process works in free apps like Snapseed or the Adobe Lightroom mobile app if you prefer more advanced tools.

How to Post Wide Photos (Without Losing the Sides)

Wide, landscape-oriented photos can be stunning, but they're the most challenging to post on Instagram. The built-in resizer will often try to fit it into a 1.91:1 ratio, which can still cut off the edges of a typical 16:9 photo (the standard for most cameras and videos).

The solution is not to crop your image, but to add borders above and below it. This essentially places your wide photo inside a taller frame (like a 4:5 or 1:1 canvas), tricking Instagram into thinking it’s a standard vertical or square post.

Step-by-Step: Adding Borders with a Free App (e.g., Canva)

Apps like Canva, Snapseed, or dedicated "no crop" apps make this incredibly easy.

1. Start a New Design in Canva: Open the Canva app and tap the "+" button. Choose "Instagram Post (Square)" which creates a perfect 1080 x 1080 pixel canvas. To create a taller post, choose "Instagram Post (Portrait)" to create a 1080 x 1350 pixel canvas.
2. Add Your Photo: Tap "Uploads" to select the wide photo from your camera roll. Once uploaded, add it to your canvas.
3. Resize the Photo: The photo will likely fill the whole canvas. Pinch to resize it so its full width is visible within the square or portrait frame. This will automatically create blank space (borders) at the top and bottom.
4. Customize the Borders: By default, the border will be white. You can tap on the background and change its color to match your brand, your photo's aesthetic, or just keep it a clean black or white.
5. Download and Post: When you're done, download the final image. You now have a square (1:1) or portrait (4:5) image file containing your perfectly preserved wide photo, ready to be uploaded to Instagram with no cropping.

This "padding" method works for any photo shape. If you have an awkwardly sized image, placing it on a white 4:5 or 1:1 background is almost always the best solution.

The Creative Solution for Panoramas: The Carousel Slice

What about those epic, super-wide panoramic shots that a simple border can’t do justice? For these, a multi-post carousel is your best bet. This technique involves splitting one panoramic photo into two, three, or more consecutive square images that users can swipe through.

This creates an immersive, seamless effect in the feed, encouraging users to interact with your post by swiping to see the rest of the image.

While you could do this manually in a program like Photoshop, the easiest way is with a dedicated app.

How to Create a Seamless Panorama Carousel

1. Download a Splitting App: Search your app store for "panorama for Instagram" or "photo split." Apps like "Unsquared" or "PanoramaCrop" are popular choices.
2. Upload Your Panorama: Open the app and import your wide photograph.
3. Choose Your Split: The app will show you a preview of how the image will be divided. You can typically choose how many slides you want to create (e.g., split into 2, 3, or more squares). A 2 or 3-panel split is usually most effective.
4. Export the Images: The app will save the "slices" as separate images to your photo library, numbered in the correct order.
5. Create a Carousel on Instagram: In Instagram, create a new post and use the "Select Multiple" option. Select your sliced images in the correct order (1, 2, 3...). Instagram will stitch them together into a seamless, swipeable carousel.

This method turns a cropping problem into an engaging, interactive piece of content and is perfect for showcasing cityscapes, landscapes, and group photos.

Final Thoughts

Posting your photos on Instagram without unwanted cropping comes down to understanding the platform's rules and taking a minute to prepare your images. Whether you're using Instagram's built-in tool for a quick fix, pre-cropping to a 4:5 ratio, adding borders to preserve a wide shot, or slicing a panorama for a carousel, you have full control over how your hard work is displayed.

Once you’ve perfected your images, creating a strategic, visually stunning feed is the next step. At Postbase, we built our platform to make that process effortless. Our visual calendar lets you drag and drop your perfectly sized photos to plan your grid ahead of time, ensuring everything looks exactly how you want it to. And with reliable, modern scheduling designed for all a brand's needs in 2024, you can be confident your content will go live as planned, every time.