Instagram is always making changes to its regulations around things like image size.
In fact, they’ve recently made quite a significant change in this area by updating the size of the videos and images that you can upload. However, why is this something you should be concerned about?
If you use Instagram to promote your brand or if you’re an aspiring influencer, changes like this can have a big impact on what kind of content you can post.
This article is all about looking at the correct size of a photo for Instagram and what this means for your brand.
Instagram is currently resizing landscape photos so that they don’t exceed a width of 1080 pixels. However, the images are actually displayed at 600 x 337.
Instagram has a similar policy around their landscape video dimensions, which come in at 600 x 336.5.
However, with retina displays and full screen, videos will be displayed at 1200 x 673. We recommend that you stick to this higher resolution again so that the videos you upload are of the highest quality.
Article Contents
Portrait Photos
Instagram displays portrait photos at 960 x 1200 with retina displays and 480 x 600 with normal displays. Again, we always recommend that you aim for the highest resolution you can get.
When it comes to portrait videos, however, you’re looking at a strange 481 x 599.484.
If you’ve worked with a professional video team to make your video, then make sure to treat them well because producing video content at this level of strange resolution isn’t an easy task, and we think that it’s downright ridiculous.
The Best Instagram Image Size
For the best Instagram image size, there’s no golden rule to live by. However, users are traditionally more familiar with seeing square images – but this is no reason to not experiment with landscape or portrait too.
Just make sure that you stick to the dimension we have talked about above so that your content is being seen at a high level of resolution.
Aside from this, don’t be scared to get creative with your content and play around with different sizes on Instagram so that you can give the people the best posts.
In addition, reading a guide to responsive web design image solutions will help you adapt faster to a growing number of screen sizes.
When talking about videos, we think that the standard square format looks the best.
In fact, there is research out there to suggest that square-shaped videos do much better than their landscape counterparts when it comes to engagement and views.
Square Dimensions for Video
Square videos are definitely more popular than landscape videos and can even attract up to 35% more people viewing them.
They also perform a lot better when used in paid advertisements as well, and they’re a lot easier to run than landscape videos. We recommend shooting your square Instagram videos using a 1:1 aspect ratio.
Resolution for Profile Pictures and Stories
For videos and story images, we think that it’s best you choose 1080 x 1920. The dimensions of your content being displayed could potentially change if the screen that it’s being looked at on is different to yours, however.
Still, we think it’s best to stick to 1080 x 1920 because this will guarantee the highest resolution that you can achieve.
Profile pictures, on the other hand, are a lot smaller and only show up 110 x 110 on your Instagram profile.
For maximum resolution with your profile pictures, we recommend using the same dimensions you would if you were posting a square Instagram post, which is at least 600 x 600.
So, What’s the New Instagram Photo Size?
Currently, there are three different sizes that you can use to upload videos and pictures to Instagram. These are landscape, portrait, and square.
Until just recently, Instagram has only allowed its users to post square photos, which can be incredibly limiting.
Integrating these two other sizes means that the platform is now much more versatile, and also means that its users can post much bigger, more captivating content.
Photo and Video Dimensions for Instagram
Considering these changes, you’re most likely wondering about the resolution and ratio for your videos and pictures that you want to post.
We’ve done a bit of research and experimenting to find out the best Instagram resolutions for your content.
Square Photos
If you post a standard square picture on Instagram, you’re looking at an average size of 600 x 600 pixels. However, Instagram will take square images that have pixels as high as 1080 x 1080.
Because of this, we recommend that if you’re going to upload square images, you make sure they’re the higher resolution so that they come across as high quality on the platform.
Landscape Photos
Instagram is currently resizing landscape photos so that they don’t exceed a width of 1080 pixels. However, the images are actually displayed at 600 x 337.
Instagram has a similar policy around their landscape video dimensions, which come in at 600 x 336.5.
However, with retina displays and full screen, videos will be displayed at 1200 x 673. We recommend that you stick to this higher resolution again so that the videos you upload are of the highest quality.
Portrait Photos
Instagram displays portrait photos at 960 x 1200 with retina displays and 480 x 600 with normal displays. Again, we always recommend that you aim for the highest resolution you can get.
When it comes to portrait videos, however, you’re looking at a strange 481 x 599.484.
If you’ve worked with a professional video team to make your video, then make sure to treat them well because producing video content at this level of strange resolution isn’t an easy task, and we think that it’s downright ridiculous.
The Best Instagram Image Size
For the best Instagram image size, there’s no golden rule to live by. However, users are traditionally more familiar with seeing square images – but this is no reason to not experiment with landscape or portrait too.
Just make sure that you stick to the dimension we have talked about above so that your content is being seen at a high level of resolution.
Aside from this, don’t be scared to get creative with your content and play around with different sizes on Instagram so that you can give the people the best posts.
When talking about videos, we think that the standard square format looks the best. In fact, there is research out there to suggest that square shaped videos do much better than their landscape counterparts when it comes to engagement and views.
Square Dimensions for Video
Square videos are definitely more popular than landscape videos and can even attract up to 35% more people viewing them.
They also perform a lot better when used in paid advertisements as well, and they’re a lot easier to run than landscape videos. We recommend shooting your square Instagram videos using a 1:1 aspect ratio.
Resolution for Profile Pictures and Stories
For videos and story images, we think that it’s best you choose 1080 x 1920. The dimensions of your content being displayed could potentially change if the screen that it’s being looked at on is different from yours, however.
Still, we think it’s best to stick to 1080 x 1920 because this will guarantee the highest resolution that you can achieve.
Profile pictures, on the other hand, are a lot smaller and only show up 110 x 110 on your Instagram profile.
For maximum resolution with your profile pictures, we recommend using the same dimensions you would if you were posting a square Instagram post, which is at least 600 x 600.
Top Tools for Instagram Growth & Engagement
| Rank | Tool | Type | More Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seek Socially | Growth Service | Visit |
| 2 | Nitreo | Growth Service | Visit |
