Instagram Post Sizes

Instagram is widely used by tourism businesses to feature visual content (both images and short-form video) as a key social media marketing platform. It's also an effective channel for paid ad strategies to target your specified audiences. 

Given the focus on visual media for this platform it is important to know the best image & video sizes and orientations for your posts to stand out, particularly on mobile format, and avoid images displaying cropped in either your feed or profile page.

Bookmark this page to refer back to or click on the image below to save it on your desktop. Keep reading for full details on all the different image options and sizes in more detail! 

Instagram Profile

All profile pictures on Instagram are automatically cropped to display at 110 x 110 pixels, however they store it as 320 x 320 pixels. It is therefore best to upload a picture at least 320 x 320 pixels but we recommend 1080 x 1080 pixels. 

Story Highlights Cover

Instagram highlights are a collection of stories that you can group into categories. Although stories can be visible for only 24 hours, by adding a story to a highlight category, users will be able to see it at all times whenever they visit your profile. 

Instagram highlight covers appear on each highlight category as a circle-cropped image. 

• Pixel size: 161 x 161 pixels
• Recommended upload width: 1080 pixels

Instagram Feed

Instagram Feed Image Posts

For the best looking images on Instagram, you should upload images with a 1080 pixels width. If you upload pictures with a width bigger than 1080, Instagram will automatically crop it down to 1080 pixels. If the image is below the required minimum width of 320 pixels, Instagram will scale it to 320. 

Likewise for the aspect ratio of images, if your image ratio differs, Instagram will crop it to a supported aspect ratio. 

• Recommended pixel size for square format: 1080 x 1080 pixels
• Recommended pixel size for landscape format: 1080 x 566 pixels
• Recommended pixel size for portrait format: 1080 x 1350 pixels
• Aspect ratio: 1.91:1 to 4:5

Instagram Stories

You can create quick and memorable content as images or video using Stories. Stories disappear after 24 hours unless you add them to your profile as a highlight. Stories are a popular way to digest content for your audience, and are typically only up to 15 seconds long.

• Pixel size: at least 1080 x 1080 pixels (the recommended one is 1920 x 1080 pixels) 
• Aspect ratio: 9:16
• Accepted file types: JPG and PNG for images; MP4, MOV, and GIF for videos

Instagram Reels

Instagram Reels must always be in video format with a vertical orientation and can be up to 90 seconds long. These can be longer duration than a story and will appear both in your profile feed and the Reels tab. Note that you should also upload a correctly sized cover photo for each reel so it doesn't appear cropped in your profile feed.

• Pixel size: 1080 x 1920 pixels
• Aspect ratio: 1.91:1 and 9:16
• Minimum frame rate: 30 FPS
• Cover photo size: 420 x 654p pixels (or 1:1.55 ratio)

Instagram Ads

Running paid ad campaigns through the Meta Business Suite for Instagram is strategy that will mean your ad posts will reach targeted audiences outside of your own followers and network. It's a powerful tool that allows any business to participate based on your own goals and budget. Ads can be an image, a video reel, or a carousel format.

Instagram Image ads

• Recommended pixel size - square format: 1080 x 1080 pixels
• Recommended pixel - landscape format: 1080 x 566 pixels
• Minimum width is 320 pixels, maximum width is 1080 pixels 
• Aspect ratio: 1.91:1 to 4:5

Instagram Reels Ads

• Pixel size: at least 500 x 888 pixels 
• Aspect ratio: 9:16
• Accepted file types: MP4, MOV
• Video captions: they’re optional, but recommended to expand your audience and reach in sound off environments or for hearing impaired viewers
• Length: 0 seconds to 15 minutes
• Maximum file size: 4GB

Instagram Carousel Ads

Instagram carousel best practices by format and aspect ratios: 

• Recommended pixel size for feed: 1080 x 1080 pixels
• Recommended pixel size for Stories: at least 1080 x 1920 pixels
• Aspect ratio: 1:1
• File type: JPG or PNG for images; MP4, MOV or GIF for videos

Need assistance with your social media strategy for organic posts and/or ad campaigns? View our social media packages to help get you started or get in touch to chat more.

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