Instagram, who don’t know of this social media, since they launch on 2010 Instagram gradually become one of the few platform that many people use, you could use this platform as sharing media for yourself, becoming an influencer, make a portfolio for your creation, even use it to make an online store, to post all these contents you require a few knowledge of what Instagram post work the best for you, such as picture and video you name it, as Instagram provide more update to benefit all their users it could be confusing to figure out the suitable image size as you prepare your next post and content, right?
As we do some research we are finally able to sort out all the differences of Instagram post dimensions, aspect ratio, and the best resolution for your each upcoming post.
Is it necessary to post based on the exact size?
As we learn from the Instagram site, Instagram will make sure to upload the best resolution as possible (up to width 1080px)
Instagram also mention when you upload the picture width between 320 X 320 and 1080 X 1080 pixels, they will maintain the original resolution of the picture as long you keep the aspect ratio between 1.91:1 and 4:5 (a height between 566 and 1350 pixels with a width of 1080 pixels) “See the picture above for reference”, if your picture did not fall to this category Instagram will make an adjustment based on the resolution and the ratio. For example, if you upload a picture above the 1080pixel resolution, Instagram will squeeze the resolution or even asking you to crop some part of the photo and if you upload the picture lower than the minimum resolution Instagram will enlarge the picture to meet the minimum resolution which is 320 pixels resulting in a pixelated picture once your post it, you don’t want to see that right?
In summary, if you would like to keep your picture to be the best resolution possible and meet your expectations we suggest you to follow our guide.
Instagram Image Size Guide
Square Photo on Instagram
This is the original photo size back once they 1st launch the Instagram, the aspect ratio is 1:1 and the optimal picture size is between 320px X 320px and 1080px X 1080px, however we recommend that you post the picture on 1080px X 1080px to keep your picture high quality once posted.
Vertical Photo on Instagram (Portrait)
On vertical photos the aspect ratio should be 4:5 and we highly recommend you to follow this aspect ratio, if you upload picture more than this aspect ratio Instagram will be asking you to crop the image instead to match the ratio, meanwhile for the image size the optimal will be at 1080px X 1350px
Horizontal Photo on Instagram (Landscape)
For horizontal photo the aspect ratio will be 1.91:1 until 16:9 and the optimal image size will be at 1080px X 608px
Carousel Post on Instagram
Many people have been asking “could you post a carousel/multiple photo on Instagram with a different aspect ratio?” The answer is “No”, unfortunately It is not possible to post multiple picture with different ratios on Instagram, therefore if you would like to post multiple photos on instagram you can only choose one of the ratios from portrait, landscape or square, if you still would like to post multiple picture that has different ratio we suggest you to use 3rd party apps to resize the aspect ratio
Instagram Video Size Guide
Square Video on Instagram
The square video aspect ratio and the size is almost the same as the square photo the minimum requirement of resolution for Square video will be 600 X 600 pixels and the maximum will be at 1080 X 1080 pixels, please note for all video post on instagram could only reach 60 seconds duration at maximum and if you would like to post multiple video (Carousel video) square video is the only choice as Instagram would not allow you to post carousel video for Landscape video or portrait video.
Vertical Video on Instagram (Portrait Video)
The vertical video can reach maximum until 4:5 aspect ratio, higher than this resolution the Instagram will ask you to crop the video instead. As for the size of the resolution the minimum will be at 600 X 750 Pixels and the maximum will be 1080 X 1350 pixel, for this type of video we suggest you to post it at the maximum resolution as instagram might compress it resulting in reduced resolution.
Horizontal Video on Instagram (Landscape Video)
Horizontal Video, the Horizontal video can have aspect ratio between 1.91:1 and 16:9 and the minimum resolution is 600 X 315 pixels and the maximum will be 1080 X 608 pixels, due to the aspect ratio of 16:9 is easier to have access with, we suggest you to keep it at this ratio (normal phone camera horizontal ratio), unless you have specific need for 1.91:1 aspect ratio.
There are also a few rules for uploading your video for instagram post, such as:
- Video Length must be between 3 – 60 seconds
- Video frame rate is at 30 fps (frame per second)
- maximum video width is 1080 pixel
IGTV
When Instagram first introduced this feature the IGTV only supported vertical video however as the new update came out the IGTV now supports horizontal video as well.
The resolution of IGTV and aspect ratio as follow:
- Vertical Video Minimum 4:5 (1080 X 1350 Pixel) and maximum 9:16 (1080 X 1920 pixel)
- Horizontal Video Minimum 5:4 (1350 X 1080 Pixel) and maximum 16:9 (1920 X 1080 Pixel)
IGTV Cover
yes, if you upload video on IGTV you could choose your cover for your videos, at Instagram site they mention the recommended cover picture is 420 X 620 Pixel or 1:1.55 in aspect ratio, however you can upload the cover with resolution 1080 X 1620 Pixel. Despite all the resolution and aspect ratio once your video uploaded and once you see it on the Instagram feed the video preview will be at 4:5 aspect ratio and on the grid (search or your profile grid) it will be cropped to be 1:1 aspect ratio, therefore if you would like to make IGTV to the fullest you might want have to think it thoroughly.
A few IGTV rules you should now:
- The video that you upload on IGTV must be at least 60 seconds long (1 Minute)
- Must be at least 30 fps (frame per second)
- Video resolution minimum should be 720 Pixel
- From your mobile device you can upload the video duration maximum for 15 Minutes and from the website you can upload the video with maximum duration of 1 hour (60 Minutes)
- The 60 Minutes duration only available for account that has 10,000 followers or approved account
- The maximum size of video 10 minutes and under is 650MB and for the size of video duration 60 minutes and under is 3.6GB
Instagram Stories
If we talking regarding Instagram stories it has different setting then the rest of the Instagram feature as it has fix resolution on the screen and if you uploading the image more than the size or less then the size you can change it directly as you desire, for the size it self it has minimum size aspect ratio of 1.91:1 and maximum of 9:16 and the standard resolution is at 1080 X 1920 pixel, to maximize this feature we recommend that you use aspect ratio 9:16 and even the standard resolution is 1080 X 1920 pixel you can upload any resolution as long as the aspect ratio are 9:16, following are some of the resolution that you can use (1024×576, 1152×648, 1280×720, 1366×768, 1600×900, 1080×1920, 2560×1440, 3840×2160, and 7680 x 4320) like we mention earlier you can use any resolution as long its use 9:16 aspect ratio.
Instagram stories video
For the video on Instagram stories the aspect ratio and resolution are the same, the only difference is the duration if you post a picture on Instagram the duration is set automatically for 6 – 7 Seconds per story and for the video you could extend the duration until 15 seconds long before it will create a new story automatically.
Instagram Live Video
Live video on Instagram has the same aspect ratio and resolution as Instagram stories, a few things that you need to know is on Live video the maximum duration is 60 minutes and once you have finished live you can either save the clip or share it on your story which your followers could watch.
That’s it all, now you ready to prepare for your next content, research and create the most appealing content for all your followers.
