Instagram Image, Video, Story, Reel, and Carousel Specs: Complete Guide

Instagram has only a handful of core content formats, but they behave very differently once they appear in the app.

A square feed post, a portrait carousel, a Story, and a Reel can all carry the same campaign idea, yet each uses a different canvas, crop, interface, and viewing context. Treating them as interchangeable is one of the easiest ways to end up with cut-off text, weak thumbnails, awkward crops, or a design that simply feels too small on a phone.

This guide covers the Instagram sizes and aspect ratios you are most likely to use, explains where each format works best, and shows how to prepare creative that survives Instagram’s cropping and compression.

For the latest maintained dimensions, file types, and downloadable templates, use the Instagram section of Media Cheat Sheet. Social platform specifications change regularly, so use the cheat sheet as your final check before exporting.

Instagram specs at a glance

For day-to-day Instagram work, four shapes cover most situations:

The important part is not memorising every number. It is understanding that feed, full-screen vertical, and carousel content are different design environments.

If aspect ratios still feel confusing, read What Are Aspect Ratios? A Simple Guide for Designers & Marketers first.

Instagram feed image sizes

Square Instagram posts

Square is Instagram’s classic format.

A 1:1 post is predictable, easy to design, and simple to reuse elsewhere. It works well for:

• product shots;
• announcements;
• quote graphics;
• simple photography;
• branded templates;
• content that may also be published on other platforms.

The disadvantage is screen space. On a phone, a square image occupies less vertical room than a 4:5 portrait post.

If you are designing specifically for Instagram, rather than creating one universal asset for several platforms, portrait is often worth considering.

Portrait Instagram posts

The familiar portrait feed format is 4:5, commonly exported at 1080 × 1350 px.

This is one of the most useful Instagram formats because it fills more of the mobile feed without becoming a full-screen Story or Reel.

It works particularly well for:

• product photography;
• campaign key visuals;
• editorial graphics;
• before-and-after layouts;
• infographics;
• photography where the subject benefits from a vertical crop.

A common mistake is to create a 9:16 design and assume Instagram will show all of it in the normal feed. A full-screen vertical asset and a portrait feed asset are not the same thing.

If the post matters in the feed, compose a dedicated feed version.

Landscape Instagram posts

Instagram also supports wide images, commonly around 1.91:1.

Landscape is useful when the subject genuinely needs width: architecture, panoramas, group photos, screenshots, wide product arrangements, or designs originally created for a horizontal environment.

The trade-off is visibility. A wide image occupies relatively little vertical space on a phone.

Do not choose landscape simply because the original photo is landscape. If the subject allows it, an intentional portrait crop can often produce a stronger Instagram post.

Instagram video specs

Video dimensions depend heavily on placement.

For regular feed video, square, portrait, and landscape can all make sense. For Reels, vertical 9:16 is the natural format.

A practical export approach for social video is:

• MP4 container;
• H.264 video;
• AAC audio;
• progressive scan;
• square pixels;
• a frame rate matching the source;
• enough bitrate to preserve detail without creating a needlessly huge file.

If you regularly export video for several platforms, see Best Video Export Settings for Social Media for a fuller workflow.

Instagram Story size

Instagram Stories use a 9:16 vertical canvas.

A practical working size is 1080 × 1920 px, although larger files with the same 9:16 ratio can also be used.

The bigger challenge is not the canvas. It is the interface.

Instagram places account information, controls, reply fields, captions, stickers, buttons, and other UI elements over the Story. That means a design can technically have the correct dimensions and still fail because the important content is too close to the top or bottom.

Design Stories for the safe zone

Keep essential information away from the outer edges.

That includes:

• logos;
• headlines;
• prices;
• coupon codes;
• legal copy;
• product names;
• calls to action;
• faces or product details that must remain visible.

Background photos, gradients, textures, and decorative shapes can extend to the edge. Critical information should not.

That distinction is the basis of safe-zone design, covered in more detail in Social Media Safe Zones Explained.

Instagram Reel size

Reels are built around a 9:16 vertical canvas.

That makes it tempting to treat a Reel like a Story with moving pictures. In practice, Reels create their own design problems.

Instagram overlays interaction controls, captions, account information, audio information, and other interface elements around the video. A viewer may also encounter the Reel in several contexts: the Reels viewer, feed, Explore, or your profile.

The safest workflow is to design the full Reel at 9:16 while keeping the actual message in a more conservative central area.

Meta recommends Reels creative built for 9:16, with important messages inside the safe zone. You can check the current recommendations on the Meta Reels ads page.

What should stay inside the Reel safe zone?

Prioritise:

1. the main subject;
2. the opening hook;
3. subtitles;
4. logos;
5. offers and prices;
6. the CTA.

Less important visual detail can sit behind interface elements.

If you want a Reel-specific workflow, see How to Design for Instagram Reels.

Instagram carousel size

Carousels are one of Instagram’s most useful formats because they allow one post to hold a sequence rather than a single visual.

The most important rule is simple:

Choose the carousel shape before you design the slides.

If the first slide establishes a portrait carousel, design the remaining slides for the same portrait format. Do not mix a carefully composed 4:5 cover with later slides that only work as squares.

Square vs portrait carousels

Use 1:1 when:

• the design is simple;
• you need easy reuse;
• the content contains little text;
• the visual system naturally fits a square.

Use 4:5 when:

• the post is primarily for mobile;
• you need more vertical room;
• slides include diagrams or examples;
• you want the post to occupy more of the feed.

For educational, marketing, and B2B-style carousel content, 4:5 is often the more comfortable canvas.

Keep carousel structure consistent

A good carousel normally has:

• a clear first-slide hook;
• one main idea per slide;
• consistent margins;
• repeated navigation cues where useful;
• readable typography;
• a final slide that gives the reader a next action.

Do not fill every pixel just because the space is available. Good spacing makes carousel slides easier to scan.

Reel covers and thumbnails

A Reel is vertical video, but viewers do not always discover it as a full vertical video.

They may first see the cover in a profile grid, feed preview, Explore surface, or another cropped context.

This is why a Reel cover should not be an afterthought.

When designing a cover:

• keep the subject near the centre;
• avoid headlines touching the edges;
• make the title readable at small size;
• preview the crop;
• do not rely on tiny supporting copy.

Think of the cover as a thumbnail, not a poster.

If the only version that looks good is the full 9:16 frame, the cover probably needs a stronger central composition.

Instagram ad sizes

Instagram ads can appear across Feed, Stories, Reels, Search, and commerce-related placements.

That means there is no single “Instagram ad size.”

The better approach is placement-specific creative.

Instead of giving Meta one square image and allowing it to adapt that image everywhere, prepare deliberate variations for important placements:

• 1:1 or 4:5 for feeds;
• 9:16 for Stories;
• 9:16 for Reels;
• additional placement-specific crops where required.

Automatic adaptation is useful, but it cannot fully understand your visual hierarchy.

A resized ad may technically fit and still move the logo, product, headline, or CTA into a weak position.

Aspect ratio vs resolution

These two terms are often confused.

Aspect ratio describes shape.

Resolution describes pixel dimensions.

For example:

• 1080 × 1080 = 1:1;
• 1440 × 1440 = 1:1;
• 2160 × 2160 = 1:1.

All three files have the same shape but different pixel counts.

Instagram recompresses uploads, so exporting an enormous file does not automatically produce a sharper post.

Start with a clean, sufficiently large source, export at a sensible resolution, and avoid repeatedly saving already-compressed files.

Why Instagram treats images and videos differently

Images and videos can share the same aspect ratio but still look different after upload.

Video introduces additional variables:

• codec;
• bitrate;
• frame rate;
• audio;
• colour information;
• motion complexity.

A highly detailed video may appear softer than a static image at the same dimensions because Instagram has much more information to process and compress.

This is covered in Image vs Video Specs: Why Platforms Treat Them Differently.

Common Instagram sizing mistakes

Designing everything as a square

Square is convenient, not universal.

It wastes space in Reels and Stories and provides less room than 4:5 in the feed.

Reusing 16:9 video as a Reel

Technically possible does not mean visually good.

A horizontal video inside a vertical canvas usually creates empty space or requires an aggressive crop. Re-edit important video for vertical viewing.

Putting text at the bottom of a Reel

The lower part of the screen is busy. Captions, account information, and other interface elements can compete directly with your design.

Treating carousel slides as unrelated images

A carousel is one piece of content. Build the slides as a sequence with one visual system.

Forgetting the cover

A good Reel with a weak cover loses impact before playback even begins.

Exporting screenshots instead of source files

Screenshots can introduce scaling, colour changes, compression, and inconsistent dimensions. Export from the original design file whenever possible.

A simple Instagram production workflow

If you create Instagram content regularly, keep a small set of master canvases:

1. 1:1 square
2. 4:5 portrait feed
3. 9:16 vertical
4. 1.91:1 landscape, only when needed

Build the campaign concept in the format that matters most, then adapt the composition to the others.

Do not simply stretch or crop the finished artwork.

Move elements. Resize typography. Change line breaks. Reposition the CTA. Choose a different photo crop when needed.

That extra effort is what makes a multi-format campaign look intentional.

For a repeatable method, read How to Turn One Design into Every Social Media Size.

Final Instagram checklist

Before publishing, check:

• Is the aspect ratio correct for the placement?
• Is the source image or video sharp enough?
• Are important elements inside the safe area?
• Does the Reel cover still work when cropped?
• Are carousel slides designed for the same format?
• Is the text readable on a phone?
• Does the video communicate something immediately?
• Did you preview the final upload rather than trusting only the editor preview?

Instagram specifications will continue to evolve. The most useful habit is not memorising every number forever; it is having a reliable final reference.

Use the Media Cheat Sheet before export to check the current Instagram dimensions, formats, and downloadable templates.