New social media sites continue to sally, new features are added, and algorithms are e'er beingness updated, making it tough to keep up with social media best practices.

However, social media is here to stay. According to Instagram, there are more than than one billion active users every calendar month and more than 500 1000000 agile Stories every twenty-four hours. Even more, 90% of accounts follow a business on Instagram, making this platform a prime choice for all types of businesses.

Instagram Stories are a popular trend that isn't going away. Pamela Bump, Audience Growth Author at HubSpot, says, "Instagram Stories serves equally an outlet for brands to creatively show their products, services, or happy customers in action. Branded Instagram Stories likewise enable audiences to larn more most topics related to your brand's manufacture. Helpful and valuable content might likewise allow prospective buyers to trust your brand more."

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With this knowledge, you desire your marketing team ready to develop a strategy for your Instagram Stories. To create this strategy, your team should decide what kind of images or videos they want to mail.

How exercise yous plan on taking those images? With phones or professional cameras?

Below, you'll learn the Instagram Story dimensions and why they're important to your Instagram marketing strategy.

Instagram Story Dimensions

The dimensions for Instagram Stories are 1080 pixels broad by 1920 pixels tall (1080 x 1920, or 1080p resolution). Your Instagram Story size should take an aspect ratio of 9:16. The minimum width is 500 pixels, the maximum video length is 15 seconds, and the accepted video file types are MP4, MOV, or GIF.

Instagram Story dimensions (1080 pixels by 1920 pixels)

If you shoot an Instagram Story video using your phone, the dimensions volition likely exist 1080 pixels by 1920 pixels, so you don't have to resize information technology. If you're using another camera or a custom setup, nonetheless, y'all'll have to utilise a video editing app to make sure your video has the right dimensions.

While this may seem similar a lot of work, it'south exceedingly important for user experience and for ensuring maximum date on your Story.

Why are Instagram Story dimensions important?

Instagram has provided these dimensions and sizes to make sure that your Story is uploaded with as much quality as possible. These dimensions are likewise ideal for about mobile devices, guaranteeing that your video, image, or gif shows up properly beyond different operating systems and screen resolutions.

Using Instagram Story dimensions also:

  • Helps your brand look more than professional
  • Ensures that the content looks high-quality
  • Prevents unnecessary pixelation

If you don't adhere to these dimensions, your images or videos will be cutting off, and the content that y'all wanted to share won't evidence upwards equally intended. That's why it'south best to pre-size your images and videos using an Instagram photo editing app.

Speaking of, allow's go over the ideal Instagram Story image size. Spoiler alert: it's the same as the Instagram Story video dimensions, which makes information technology piece of cake to remember.

Instagram Story Paradigm Size

The Instagram Story image size is 1080 x 1920 pixels with a nine:16 aspect ratio. The platform accepts JPEG, PNG, and GIF file formats. Yous have the option of collaging photos using Instagram's Layout feature or calculation a maximum of x photos to your Story.

Whether you lot upload a video, image, or a mixture of both to your Story, it's disquisitional to go along your content in a "rubber zone" where it won't be cutting off or hidden.

The Instagram Story Size Prophylactic Zone

The "safe zone" refers to the area in your Instagram Story where the content isn't obstructed or at risk of getting cut off.

Instagram will automatically evidence bluish lines if you try to move content out of the prophylactic zone, particularly if you're adding stickers or GIFs. When I tried to motility the timestamp to the edge of the screen, Instagram didn't let me become toward the edge or let me cover my contour motion-picture show upwards top.

Instagram Story margin guides

Instagram volition as well provide guides when you're placing elements on your Story, allowing you to center them perfectly.

Instagram Story centering guidesOn personal Instagram Stories, it'due south common to postal service videos using the front camera of your prison cell phone. The frame can be tilted, and your face tin can be cut off; this is all good and well.

On an Instagram business account, however, you'll want to brand sure that all videos are shot professionally and that the item that yous want to promote takes middle stage on the screen. Well-nigh importantly, if you're planning to add together polls or stickers, leave enough infinite in the frame so you lot can place this content without obstructing something else.

Beneath, we'll go over some additional tips for sizing your Instagram Story.

Instagram Story Size Tips

1. Ensure your content is high-quality earlier you upload.

Instagram will compress images during the upload process, so an already grainy or pixelated image will only go worse in one case information technology gets to the platform.

Cheque that your images are at to the lowest degree 72 ppi resolution before you lot add them to Instagram.

2. Upload the correct size, shape, and aspect ratio.

Instagram is strict nigh adhering to its dimensions to ensure quality photos and videos. When you upload a vertical prototype or video from your phone, y'all most likely won't take to retrieve about these dimensions because Instagram will automatically format them.

All the same, if y'all have horizontal photos that don't fit the dimensions, Instagram volition crop your photos, zoom in on content, or zoom out (making your image look small-scale and placing it on a groundwork). This typically results in lower-quality images and videos. So, brand sure yous stick to the 9:sixteen attribute ratio.

Instagram Story aspect ratio (9:16)

iii. Use photograph editing apps.

Photo editing apps can help you command the quality of your Stories and ensure you're always using the correct dimensions. To edit your photos for Instagram, y'all can use the post-obit tools:

Canva

This is the perfect option for creating images for your Instagram Stories. To get started, Canva has templates that are designed with the Instagram dimensions in heed. Canva offers free and paid plans.

Lumen5

This software makes information technology easy to produce videos for Instagram Stories. One time you get started creating a video, you can choose the right dimensions on the platform. Lumen5 offers both free and paid plans.

Easil

Easil has templates for Instagram Stories to help you create engaging content. They have templates for unmarried images, and multi-card Stories besides. Easil offers gratis and paid versions.

Adobe Spark

Adobe Spark makes it easy to create images and video graphics for Instagram Stories. Yous can build your own Stories with their typography and imagery options. Adobe Spark has free and paid plans available.

Embed Social

Embed Social is a different kind of tool for Instagram Stories — with Embed Stories, y'all can brand your Stories Shoppable by adding CTAs and creating embeddable code that you tin add to your website. Embed Social offers gratis and paid plans.

With these tools, you can input the specifications, upload images and videos, and complete the editing process. These work well if you have higher-quality images taken with a professional camera or want to add graphics or text to your images or videos.

4. Upload vertical content.

While Instagram posts are more than flexible in orientation and dimensions, Instagram Stories piece of work best in a vertical format. Brand sure your photos and videos are vertical before posting. If the content doesn't lend itself to a vertical orientation, consider publishing it as a normal post instead.

5. Stay under 30 MB in file size.

Exist mindful of your file size; Instagram volition only accept upward to thirty megabytes. This should requite you plenty of wiggle room to upload high-quality photos and videos.

If the quality doesn't look right, it's time to troubleshoot.

How do I set up the quality of my Instagram Stories?

There might be instances in which your Stories don't upload with the quality that you'd similar. Let'south go over a few questions you lot might have near quality, plus some troubleshooting tips.

Why are my Instagram Stories blurry? Why does the picture quality change on my Instagram Story?

Your Instagram Story could be blurry for two reasons:

  1. Instagram compressed the video or image to a degree that makes it await blurry.
  2. The dimensions or aspect ratio is off.

To fix this, you lot'll want to double-cheque the quality of the image or video yous uploaded. What's its file size? Is it at least 72 ppi? If the file size is besides small or the ppi is also low, and then Instagram's pinch process worsened it further. Consider creating a college-quality version so that, when Instagram compresses information technology, it doesn't look every bit pixelated.

Side by side, double-check the dimensions. To ensure the highest quality possible, try to use the full 1080 x 1920 size.

If those 2 cheque out and your Story is all the same blurry, follow the following tips to isolate the problem.

one. Check if the quality is better on other devices.

If your internet connectedness is poor, Instagram Stories will appear lower quality than they would on a faster connection.

Instagram does this to save resources for user experience equally y'all interact with other areas of the site. Consider asking someone you know if the quality is depression on their end also. They — and your audience — may be viewing your Stories with no issues.

2. Turn off Data Saver.

Data Saver is a characteristic that prevents videos from loading in accelerate, which helps reduce your data usage.

If your connectedness is fine just you're notwithstanding having issues with quality, this feature may be lowering the quality of your feed on your end.

3. Exam photos from different cameras.

As a last resort, examination whether there's a difference in quality between your phone'due south integrated camera versus the Instagram camera. The photos you accept with your phone's camera versus the in-app photographic camera (or vice versa) may weather Instagram's compression settings better.

Instagram Story Sizes are Essential for an Instagram Strategy

All marketers should apply Instagram Stories. While posting regularly on your feed is a slap-up tactic, adding Stories into your strategy will result in a better ROI from your fourth dimension and resources spent on the platform. Instagram Stories tin improve your discoverability, increment make reputation and awareness, and help you and your business grow better.

Editor's annotation: This post was originally published in October 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Originally published Apr twenty, 2021 7:00:00 AM, updated November 16 2021