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O Instagram is one of the most used social networks for years, and one of the concerns of s is to be able to fit the perfect image into their feed, Stories or even the video perfect in Reels. You may have already noticed that there are several different sizes in the published images, and today we are going to show you a little more about the sizes that the network s. Understand better about Instagram image sizes!
Importance of Instagram image sizes
At the beginning of the social network, the default size of an image on Instagram it was the square ( square), and in 2015 it started to allow images vertical (portrait/selfportrait) to horizontal (landscape), providing greater flexibility in creating all images. The size and aspect ratio vary slightly, depending on where you post them — in the timeline (feed), Stories or Reels — and also on the type of content posted — photo or video.
Efficiency of each orientation
According to a study done by Dash Hudson, format square is still the most popular among posted image sizes, followed by horizontal orientation. The portrait format is least frequent among the three. When it's about engagement and effectiveness, photos on Instagram with the format square continues to lead among the three image sizes. Square photos receive the highest engagement and effectiveness rates compared to other formats. the orientation horizontal has the lowest engagement and effectiveness rates despite being the second most common format for posts.
Quality of images
When you share a photo on Instagram, regardless of whether you are using the app to iOS (iPhone) ou Android, the platform will load the file with the best possible resolution quality, up to 1080 pixels wide. If the photo you share has a width between 320 and 1080 pixels, it will be maintained with the original resolution and will be displayed enlarged (with loss of definition), provided that its aspect ratio is between 1,91:1 and 4:5 (height between 566 and 1350 pixels and width of 1080 pixels).
If the aspect ratio of the photo is incompatible with this range, the app crops the image to fit it to a compatible ratio. If you share a photo with a resolution lower than 320 pixels, the platform automatically increases the resolution to a width of 320 pixels. On the other hand, if you share a photo with a resolution greater than 1080 pixels, an adjustment will be made to a width of 1080 pixels, maintaining the original aspect ratio.
For these reasons, it is important to use the application's own camera or, then, create the images in an editor, thinking about these restrictions regarding the dimensions of the images. See below for the ideal measurements for each type of publication.
post with pictures
The intention for which Instagram was conceived, the post images, remains its strong point despite the inclusion of videos and Stories. Below we will check the types of images that the platform s and some more details about each one of them. Information is about published images individually, however, when there carousel publications — more than one image in the same publication, such as an album — all images will follow the format of the first image in the sequence. Stay tuned for this tip, huh!
square photos
The image square is displayed at most 1080 x 1080 pixels, with 1: 1 aspect ratio, however, on smartphones, it is common for the maximum visible size to be 600 x 600 pixels. This limitation can be attributed to the screen and resolution restrictions of some devices.
vertical photos
Already the ideal size for images vertical (those images that look better narrow on the sides and more “stretched” up and down) is 1080 pixels by 1350 pixels with 4: 5 aspect ratio. This aspect ratio will allow your photos to look great when viewed vertically.
horizontal photos
For horizontal images (here are the larger images on the sides and smaller ones on the top and bottom), the recommended size is 1080 pixels by 608 pixels with 1.91: 1 aspect ratio. This dimension will also ensure that your photos fit well in the Instagram feed.
These measurements ensure that photos shared on Instagram are displayed with the best quality that the app can manage and are compatible with the platform's aspect ratio standards. Despite this, sometimes an image can be too stretched to fit this pattern, that is, it ends up losing its quality. That's why it's so important to know the sizes of the posts and images you're working on.
post with video
No feed from Instagram, the videos will have an aspect ratio of 4:5. In the profile grid, videos will appear with an aspect ratio of 1:1. To the layers of the videos, which appear statically, will have a vertical format with dimensions of 420 pixels x 654 pixels. It is recommended to choose an image with these measurements and an aspect ratio of 1:1,55 for the perfect display.
It is important to make sure that all the necessary information is centered on cover photo. That way, even when cropped to fit different feeds, relevant information will still be visible and well presented. that your videos cannot be larger than 4 GB and that they have until 60 seconds long.
Reels
Os reels videos on Instagram are shared in the feed and can also be found in the profile grid, indicated by the second icon just above the first images in the feed. Instagram encourages the use of videos displayed in full screen, so it is recommended to use videos with a size of 1080 pixels by 1920 pixels for a ratio of 9:16 — same ratio for Stories and the only possible Lives.
While this aspect ratio is ideal for vertical videos, videos in landscape can also be loaded with the same dimensions. In this case, they will appear in landscape mode normally, but when viewing them, when hold smartphone sideways and press the expand button, they will go full screen for better viewing experience.
Stories
Although images can be manually cropped and scaled to fit a Stories, the recommended size is full screen with content scaled to 1080 pixels by 1920 pixels, following a 9:16 aspect ratio. This ratio also applies to photos and videos.
Images will be displayed by 5 seconds, while the videos will be displayed in 15 second increments, that is, if you have a one-minute video, you can split it into four parts of 15 seconds each. However, after a minute, you will need to start recording again.
Using a lower resolution, but with the same aspect ratio, can make Stories more loaded faster, as it will be stored more efficiently. However, if you do not follow this proportion, Stories can be displayed with strange cuts, unwanted zoom or with large “empty” areas.
Profile image
To ensure the best possible display of your Instagram profile picture, follow these guidelines:
- image dimensions: Use an image with dimensions of 320 x 320 pixels. Although the display is in 110 x 100 pixels, Instagram stores the image in higher resolution, allowing for greater quality and flexibility in display;
- Center the important elements: Since the photo is displayed as a circle, make sure that the elements you want to highlight in the photo are centered. That way, they won't be cut and will be visible even in the circular format;
- Edit image in square format: Before ing the photo to Instagram, crop it into a square shape. This will ensure that there are no unwanted cuts when displaying the image circularly;
- Avoid very detailed images: Due to the small display size of 110 x 100 pixels, avoid photos with many small elements as they may become unreadable or unclear in the profile thumbnail.
And you, what did you think of our guide? Now you can improve the quality of your posts, right? tell us us Comment!
See also:
See everything that comes with iOS 17 (and how to install the Beta).
Pig iron: Instagram, Adobe, Hootsuite e dash hudson
reviewed by Glaucon Vital in 21 / 7 / 23.
