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How to upload different size photos on instagram


How to Post Multiple Images With Different Sizes to Instagram

Instagram

Julia Enthoven

3 min

On Instagram, it’s impossible to post an album — multiple photos or videos in one post that you swipe through — with multiple different aspect ratios. In this article, I'll show you how to do it for free and online.

When posting an album, Instagram requires that the images have the same aspect ratio. In this post, I’ll describe how you can post multiple photos or videos with different sizes by first resizing them to square.

On Instagram, it’s impossible to post an album — multiple photos or videos in one post that you swipe through — with multiple different aspect ratios. For example, if you want to post a landscape image and a portrait image at the same time, you need to crop one or the other (or you could crop both to square). Instagram requires that your photos have the same aspect ratio.

When posting multiple photos or videos, all are cropped to square

To post multiple different photos or videos with different sizes on Instagram, you need to use a tool to resize them first. To avoid cropping out content, add a white background to make each photo or video in to a square. Then, you can post the album without cropping out or changing the size of your image.

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial:

1. Upload your photos/videos to Kapwing

Open the Kapwing Studio and start with a square 1:1 canvas (or 4:5 or 5:4, which are both accepted by Instagram).

One at a time, upload the photos or videos you want to post. Kapwing is free to use and online, so you don’t need to download an app. It supports images, GIFs and videos.

2. Add a white background behind each post

If needed, tap the photo or video and resize the canvas to the right aspect ratio. On mobile, use the "Edit Background" button to find the Resize Canvas button.

1:1 for an Instagram Post appears under the "Size" dropdown (Kapwing also supports 9:16 sizing for Stories and other formats). Turn off "Canvas Blur" and select white for your background color. You can use Kapwing’s zoom and positioning tools to zoom in, crop, or add a border. Double tap to crop the image or video, and use the Play button to watch a preview of what your post will look like. Click Export once the preview matches what you want your post to look like.

3. Export, download, and post

After resizing your posts, you can download them and share them on Instagram as an album. Since each photo/video now has a 1:1 aspect ratio, you can publish them without cropping.

On an iPhone, use the "Downloads" gallery to find the file you just made and save it to your camera roll.

If you're not signed into a Kapwing account, sign in or sign up using your Google or Facebook account. Once you're signed in, each of your exports will be saved in your workspace so that you can download them later.

Repeat these steps for each of the photos and videos that you want to share in your Instagram carousel. After you've downloaded each of the square posts, open the Instagram app and upload them as an album.

For more ideas, tutorials, and features, check back in at the Kapwing Resources page or our YouTube channel! And remember to tag us @KapwingApp whenever you share your content on social media– we love to see what our creators are passionate about!

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Your Complete Guide to Instagram Image Sizes for 2023

Instagram is a platform that provides many content options from posts to Stories to IGTV video and Live videos. For each type of content, there are different image guidelines that you need to adhere to. 

In this post, you will find out everything that you need to know about Instagram image size guidelines. We will discuss the resolutions and aspect ratios required for different types of Instagram content and how you can resize your images without any hassles.

Your Complete Guide to Instagram Image Sizes:
  • Image Posts
  • Stories
  • IGTV Cover Picture
  • How to Upload the Right-Sized Images on Instagram Without Hassle
  • Does Your Choice of Image Size Impact Your Feed?

Size Guide for Different Types of Instagram Images

Instagram accepts images between 320px and 1080px, but there are specific guidelines for images added to Stories, posts, and IGTV. If your image is lower than 320px, then Instagram will enlarge it. And if it is higher than the upper limit, it will get resized to 1080px or lower. So, you don’t need to worry too much about image size as Instagram automatically takes care of it.

However, you should be aware of image size guidelines for different types of Instagram content. Here are the specific guidelines.

Image Posts

Traditionally, Instagram has been known for its square image posts with a 1:1 aspect ratio. And, it was quite a problem for users as they had to crop their pictures to fit the prescribed image size and ratio.

However, Instagram has long evolved from that initial model and now allows you to upload your portrait as well as landscape images. For Instagram posts, you can choose from three different aspect ratios—1:1 (square), 1.91:1 (landscape), and 4:5 (portrait).

Here are more details one each of these options.

1:1 - Square Images

Ideal image size - 1080px by 1080px

These are the traditional square images that are characteristic of Instagram. If you want to use this option, Instagram has an auto-cropping functionality that makes it super-easy.

Earlier it was a problem uploading square pictures because most cameras took pictures in landscape or portrait formats, but not square. Nowadays, however, you can take a square picture directly from an iOS device or by using any photo apps that have different size options.

Here’s an example of an Instagram post with a square (1:1) image.

1.91:1 - Landscape

Ideal image size - 1080px by 608px

These are the horizontal photos that you might have seen on some Instagram posts. Adding these types of images is a bit tricky as most landscape images are of 16:9 aspect ratio as opposed to 1.91:1. So, most pictures that you upload will automatically get added with a black border around it.

More often than not, the black border does not look aesthetically pleasing and would make the post inconsistent with other posts on a person or brand’s Instagram feed.  

Here’s an example of a horizontal Instagram image post with black borders at the top and bottom, because of an imperfect aspect ratio.

This is another horizontal post from the same Instagram page, but this time they’ve got the image size and aspect ratio right.

4:5 - Portrait

Ideal image size - 1080px by 1350px

These are the posts that have a portrait format images with an aspect ratio of 4:5. These are fairly easy to upload as you can take a portrait image from your mobile’s camera. And, even if you have a portrait image of different aspect ratios, you can always crop it to fit the Instagram post.

Here’s an example of an Instagram post with a vertical, portrait-style image.

Stories

The beauty of Instagram is that you can create different types of content like posts, Stories, and IGTV videos. And, all these have the option of uploading images and different image size guidelines for each.

Now that we have discussed the different image sizes allowed for Instagram posts, let’s have a look at the guidelines for Instagram Stories.

The ideal Instagram Stories image size is 1080px by 1920px and the aspect ratio should be 9:16. This is the perfect image size to ensure that there is no black border and the image fits the Story perfectly.

However, Instagram Stories allows you to add any image between 1.91:1 to 9:16. You can simply crop the image to fit the Story or it will automatically add a black border to fill the remaining space.

Ideally, you should upload portrait-style images for your Stories as Stories are basically vertical and are meant to be viewed as such. Even though you are allowed to add landscape images to Stories, it just does not look good. It is always better to use a 9:16 aspect ratio, to the extent possible.

And, if for some reason you can’t upload an image with a 9:16 aspect ratio, at least try to upload a vertical image in any other dimension.

IGTV Cover Picture

While IGTV is essentially meant for videos, you do need to upload images for the cover photos of those videos. There are specific image size guidelines for adding IGTV cover photos, which are very different from those for posts and Stories. 

IGTV cover photos should ideally have a resolution of 420px by 654px and an aspect ratio of 1:1.55. And, you can choose to either upload a new image or a still from your IGTV video, as your cover picture.

How to Upload the Right-Sized Images on Instagram Without Hassle

After reading about all the different image sizes and Instagram image guidelines, you might be a little worried. There’s no need to worry though because uploading the right-sized images is not as big of a deal as it may look.

No one really has the time to modify their pictures and change the size and aspect ratio every time they upload a picture to Instagram. There are several ways in which you can achieve this without making too much effort.

You can either use a photo editing tool that allows you to edit a picture to make it Instagram-friendly or simply let Instagram do it for you.

Here’s how you can upload images to Instagram while meeting the size guidelines.

Photo Editing Tools

There are several no-crop photo editors that allow you to make your images Insta-friendly without cropping those.

Square InPic

This is one of the best and highest-rated Instagram-friendly photo editors that you can use to resize your images without cropping. This is especially good at creating square-sized Instagram images without cropping your original picture. And, it also comes with other design features like emojis, filters, etc. that you can use to enhance your images.

Square Pic

This is another great photo editor that can convert any image into a square-sized, Instagram-friendly image. It comes with different background options like blur, black, and white backgrounds to create aesthetically-pleasing, Instagram-friendly images.

No Crop & Square for Instagram

This is another no-crop photo editor that you can use to resize images for Instagram. It is simple to use and comes packed with a variety of useful features to enhance your images. Apart from resizing images, this tool also lets you create photo collages and add filters and other effects to your images. And, it has over 300 background patterns for you to choose from.

Instagram Auto-Cropping

If you don’t care much if your pictures appear with a black border, then you don’t need to resize images before uploading as Instagram will do it for you. Whenever you upload an image that is of an incompatible size, Instagram will automatically crop and resize it to fit its dimensions.

A lot of people don’t bother about editing images and just let Instagram do it for them. However, it might make your Instagram feed look less visually appealing. The trick to avoid that is to follow a consistent pattern for all your image posts. 

For example, you can consistently use only portrait-style images with the auto-cropped black borders and make it look like your theme. This way, your Instagram feed will look consistent and you won’t have to put in any extra effort into resizing and editing your images.

Does Your Choice of Image Size Impact Your Feed?

A lot of people worry that if they will use a mix of landscape, portrait, and square images then that might make their Instagram feed look inconsistent and haphazard. However, that’s not the case because all your images automatically appear as square images on your feed.

This means that if someone opens a post, they will see the landscape or portrait style images. But, your entire feed as a whole will appear consistent because the preview image will automatically be a square one for all posts.

So, no matter your choice of image, your Instagram grid will appear perfect.

Wrapping it Up

Instagram automatically crops images and fits them in the right dimensions for any type of content. However, you need to be mindful of the image sizes to avoid that and ensure that your images fit perfectly without cropping. 

Cropped images often are shown with black borders, which ruins the visual appeal. To avoid that, you should upload your images in the right size to fit your post or story dimensions perfectly.

You can use this guide and create amazing Instagram image content.

How to upload a photo without cropping to Instagram - we comply with the requirements and use applications for posting

Instagram's habit* of cropping photos in the most inappropriate places is frustrating. The user uploads a photo, and Insta boldly compresses and cuts off half of the picture. As a result, heads, legs, parts of the landscape remain behind the scenes, and I only want to delete such a post. Previously, to place a photo without cropping, you had to use additional software, but now there are other ways that we will talk about in our article. nine0003

Why Instagram* crops photos

This social network has several reasons to crop users' photos. She tries to adapt pictures so that they look on vertical phone screens, even if the photo has a strange aspect ratio. And besides, network owners want to save space on servers.

The main reason why a social network crops photos is to equalize the conditions for all users so that photos of any size and quality look attractive, and all pages are the same on the social network on all devices. nine0003

Insta by default crops photos that do not meet its requirements. If the image width is between 320 and 1080 px and the aspect ratio is between 1. 91:1 and 4:5, then the image is published unchanged. If the resolution is lower, Instagram* increases it. If more than 1080 px, then it compresses to 1080 px.

In Paint, the size of the future frame is always indicated at the bottom. The picture can be edited by moving the corners to achieve the desired size

By default, Instagram* scales the photo and takes the center of the frame for publication. If you click on the zoom icon in the lower left corner, then Instagram * will take the entire frame for publication. nine0003 When you click on the zoom icon, the entire photo is in the frame. The frame can be sent to Insta without editing the edges if the aspect ratio is 16:9. Before publishing, you can see how it will look like

Recommended reading: Optimal image sizes for social networks: cheat sheet.

How to post a photo to Instagram* without cropping

If the photo falls within the proportions Instagram* needs, then Instagram* will not crop part of the image. nine0003

Format Approval
Avatar photo square, 1:1 optimal 160 x 160 px,

minimum 110 x 110 px,

maximum 180 x 180 px

Post photo horizontal 1.91:1,

vertical 4:5,

square 1:1

horizontal, 1080 x 566 px,

vertical, 1080 x 1350 px,

square, 1080 x 1080 px

Photos for stories and IGTV vertical

9:16 orientation

1080 x 1920 px

Official information from the support of Instagram* informs that the photo will be published in the best possible resolution with a width of up to 1080 pixels. This rule does not depend on whether the device is Android or iOS.

If the photo has a width of 320 to 1080 pixels, then its original size is preserved, but only in cases where the aspect ratio meets parameters from 1.91:1 to 4:5. In this case, the height should be from 566 to 1350 pixels, and the width should be 1080 pixels.

If you want to share a photo with a different extension, Instagram* will crop the photo to the correct size.

If the photo is smaller, then Instagram* will increase the width to 320 pixels. If more than 1080 pixels, then the width will be reduced to 1080 pixels.

There are several ways to add a full photo to Instagram*. To do this, select one of the options:

  • do not use the background; nine0089
  • use a vertical photo;
  • present the photo as a panorama.

Let's consider these placement methods in more detail.

How to upload a photo without a background

Previously, all images of non-standard sizes were published by the social network with a white background behind the frame. This was necessary if the width or height of the photo was not enough. Now you can do without it. Instagram* allows you to post pictures that do not fit the size requirements. When publishing, an automatic transparent background will appear on the image. nine0003 Transparent background adjusts to the frame and is not noticeable

There will be no background if the photo is scaled when publishing. After the frame is selected, it remains to decide on the part of the picture that you want to publish. But there is a nuance - sometimes important parts of the photo disappear, because Insta crops them.

Half of the text at the bottom of the frame and part of the character's head are missing from the photo. But there is no transparent background on the sides. It is worth scaling if the essence of the image is in the center of the frame, and there is nothing important at the edges

Recommended reading: How to make your own stickers in Telegram.

How to upload if the photo is vertical

Not so long ago, Instagram* introduced the ability to post vertical long photos. A special button has appeared in the interface that allows you to stretch the image on the sides and add a transparent background there. The photo will be in full size, but with frames.

The button is easy to find. You can also use your fingers to stretch and reduce the frame until a frame appears on the sides

How to work with a panoramic photo

Instagram* will not allow you to post a panoramic photo in the feed because it is too long horizontally. To upload a frame to the social network completely, without cropping along the edges of half the frame, you need to use special software.

There are 2 simple programs that will help you with this - SwieablePanorama (iOS only) and InSwipe Panorama for Instagram* (works on Android and iOS). In any of the programs, a photo is easily loaded and cut into several identical blocks. They can be uploaded to Insta in the form of a carousel. This is a rather unusual and winning way to publish a panorama without losing the quality and meaning of the image. nine0003 InSwipe allows you to divide a photo into equal pieces up to 10 parts and save it for sharing on Instagram*. When posting to Instagram*, all you have to do is click on “Select Multiple” and highlight the parts you want. The result will appear in the carousel

Recommended reading: How to make an attractive cover for a VK group.

How to adjust the size to Insta

To make the image meet the requirements of the social network, you can use special applications. Finding software that will help you crop a photo or fit it to the right size is not difficult. nine0003

Crop yourself from a computer

In order for the image to be displayed on the network completely, you can crop it manually, through the program. Almost any graphic editor will help with this, even the simplest Paint will cope with the task of changing the size in pixels or as a percentage.

Here are a couple of programs through which photos are usually cropped:

  • Photoshop . A huge number of functions and possibilities for editing. The only difficulty is that you will have to install this rather big software and understand its intricacies. nine0089
  • Lightroom . Here you crop the layers, choose the aspect ratio, adjust the sharpness. You can apply the settings of one photo to the next, which will be processed later.
  • Canva . A great online program for creating covers, pictures and more. You can not only compress the size or change the aspect ratio of the frame, there are many possibilities. Available effects, insert any text or background, elements and inserts.

The main thing is to remember the proportions and the maximum possible expansion of the image, depending on its purpose. After all, it can be square, vertical or panoramic. nine0003 The easiest way to check and adjust the aspect ratio is in Paint

Compress the size to fit

You can use any online program, including Canva. Through them you can upload photos, resize and edit. After such processing, Instagram* will not cut the edges.

Blogs usually prepare many photos at once to provide a page with content for weeks and months. To do this, it is convenient to use SMMplanner delayed posting, where posts are posted in advance, and then become visible to subscribers exactly on schedule. nine0003

To understand this feature, we advise you to study Delayed Posting to Instagram* from a computer. Here we talked about how to work with it, how to create and plan Stories, how to publish carousels and much more.

Third party apps to share from your phone

Another way to upload full size photos is to use dedicated apps. Below are the most popular and simple among the programs.

InstaSize

Software for Android and iOS phones. There are both standard functions and other features - change the size, edge, frame characteristics. You can edit a photo for publication, create a collage or story. In addition - the function of zooming pictures. You can pull up a photo from the gallery, clouds, or take a picture right now. nine0003 Several formats in which you can work. There is the most necessary functionality - crop edges, add filters, text and settings. Program with many functions. Most of them are paid, but for the main goal - to publish a photo without cropping the edges - the free functionality is enough.

When you click on each of the options, the program offers to download additional utilities for editing

In addition, the following functions are available:

  • rotate or resize the photo;
  • use the background - over a hundred free options;
  • filters - if there are not enough of those that are in Insta;
  • blocks of text - insert, change slope, location;
  • stickers - the user has more than 400 different stickers to choose from.

Run the program and select a picture to share. A light frame will appear in the frame, under which you need to fit the image. After that, the frame can be published - Instagram * will no longer crop it. nine0003

We looked at the main ways you can post a photo to Instagram* without cropping half of the photo. All of them are easy to use, because the main thing is just to keep the proportion and resolution of the frame. And through the program, you can further configure filters, add frames and inscriptions, in general, fully prepare the photo for publication in all its beauty. If you know other ways - tell us about it.

The article has been updated. First published: January 26, 2021

How to post a photo in full size on Instagram and is it possible?

Contents:

  • 1 Why does Instagram cut photos?
  • 2 Life hacks on how to publish a photo in full size
  • 3 How to upload a photo without losing quality?
  • 4 Ideas for uploading a large photo
  • 5 Questions from our readers

Instagram is a social network that focuses on visual content. Apart from online stores, the lion's share of business accounts on this service belongs to bloggers and photographers. This activity involves the creation of high-quality and attractive content. But the site forces users to play by their own rules and fit into the framework. Let's talk about how to post a photo in full size on Instagram. nine0003

Why does Instagram cut photos?

Users of social networks often notice that the quality of photos drops when uploaded to the Internet. Why is this happening? Is it really a conspiracy of the owners of communication services to worsen the quality of life of people? In fact, this is of course not the case. And in 2019, everything is much better in this regard - for posts, the maximum resolution is 1080 by 1920, and for stories 600 by 1067, which is often quite enough for most modern mobile devices. Modern users, moreover, can post images in any orientation, unlike the early days of the social network. nine0003

Of course, I can write that this is done in order to save space on the site's servers. Think for yourself, if there are no restrictions, people will also upload 4k photos, which weigh quite a lot. But these are just my conjectures, there is no official information confirming this idea. Although, of course, lower quality = lighter weight = faster loading. This is the first reason. Let's move on to the second.

What is the feature of Insta? in publication format. They are displayed correctly and uniformly on devices of any year of manufacture and with any operating system. And this is achieved precisely by limiting the uploaded photos. nine0003

Life hacks on how to post a photo in full size

Formats, restrictions, resolution, yes, yes, yes. But you can somehow upload a large photo, it’s impossible that people don’t come up with some tricks for this. In fact, this section is here to warn you. There are many articles on the Internet about how to supposedly add an image without losing quality, without cropping it. They mention applications, and the same ones that promise to help you in this situation. But I don’t really understand why people write about these tools over and over again, because no matter how we process the image, or make a panorama, in the end everything will rest within the framework of the social network itself. nine0003

For example, the NoCrop application, which is often recommended in such articles, only helps to fit the photo to the required extension. Of course, when uploading an image processed in this application, its quality will not drop. But since it has fallen to this, it cannot be said that the photo will be uploaded in full size. But, again, why download third-party software for this if the service does it on its own? Therefore, alas, 1080 by 1920 is our limit.

How to upload a photo without quality loss? nine0007

As we have already understood, it is unrealistic to fully preserve the quality. But do you need something more than FullHD? Of course, 4k technology is already being introduced into phones, but there are only a few such devices, and it will take some time before a full transition to a new generation of screens. Therefore, under “How to upload a photo without losing quality on Instagram?” I mean, first of all, maintaining the original orientation, and not adapting to the standard square format.

Go to instructions:

  1. Open the app and click on the plus icon to open the post creation interface.
  2. Here we go to the gallery by clicking on the appropriate tab.
  3. Select an image.
  4. You can spread two fingers across the screen from its edges to the center to fit the entire image into a post. And you can make it much easier - click on the icon with two arrows. Then the picture will automatically be positioned as we need.

Large photo upload ideas

So, as we understand, there is no way to get around the restrictions of the social network. But what if you post the image as it is? Let's discuss a few ideas that might come in handy.

  1. Horizontals. If you really need a profile panorama, split it into three photos and put them in a row so that they appear in one line. It looks quite interesting and unusual - often people do not use horizontal lines, but whole pictures of tiles. But about them in the next paragraph. nine0267
  2. Tiles. Is there a lot of text or, in general, objects and letters are not readable on the post? Make some tiles out of the photo. For example, the most common option is 3 by 3. But some also make a continuous tile for the entire account. But it's quite difficult. When choosing a tile, for example, from nine posts, your creativity rests on a square format.
  3. Frames. When uploading an image in landscape orientation, the post looks rather strange. Therefore, many people use frames in order to take the maximum available space in the user's feed. nine0267
  4. If none of the options suits you, you can make a collage of several images.

If you look at the situation soberly, then the answer to the question “How to post a photo in full size on Instagram?” one is nothing. There are, of course, many articles on the Internet on this topic. But most of them cite applications that only fit photos to the format of a social network. That is, Insta does not crop anything, because everything has already been compressed to a photoset.

Questions from our readers

#1. Why does Instagram cut photos?

The resolution limitation allows you not to stretch the image loading time. And it ensures the uniformity of publications, which allows them to be correctly displayed in the feed of users, regardless of what device they use.

#2. Hello! I tried to upload a small photo, it is stretched to a size of 1080 on the larger side. How to make sure that the original size of the photo does not change? For example, I have a photo of 600x700, how can I leave it the same? nine0127

Add a white border to it, adjusting the photo in this way to the standard size of Insta.

#3. How to upload a photo in the correct orientation?

Now there are no orientation problems.

Learn more