The truth is that most users don’t care about their Instagram image size. So should you care about the right Instagram story dimensions? Yes, if you don’t want to waste time creating stories that don’t produce results. However, Instagram business accounts must boost their brands. They can publish their content more efficiently when they know about the correct dimension for Instagram story.
Here are the Instagram image and video dimensions for Instagram stories, so that your visuals appear properly on the app.
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The Instagram story size dimensions in 2021
Here’s a break down of the most important Instagram Story Dimensions:
- Required size: 1080 px width x 1920 height px
- The safe area is considered within 1080 px width x 1420 height px
- The aspect ratio of 9:16
- Minimum width: 500 px
- File format:
- Photo: JPEG, PNG, GIF
- Video: MP4 or MOV
- Maximum File Size:
- Video – 4GB
- Photo – 30MB
Now let’s move on to some details.
The recommended Instagram Story size is 1080 pixels wide x 1920 pixels high.
For this size, the images and videos you post will have an aspect ratio of 9:16 with several resolutions:
1024×576, 1152×648, 1280×720, 1366×768, 1600×900, 1080x1920, 2560×1440, 3840×2160, and 7680 x 4320.
If your photo or video has these dimensions:
- It will fulfill the whole screen and will look visually attractive.
- Instagram won’t cut off any part of your photo or video if it follows the recommended dimension.
- You will avoid cross-device dimension problems. As long you stick with these sizes, your story will look great across all devices.
The Instagram Story safe zone
When you create Instagram Stories, you also need to remember about the safe zone. The “safe zone” refers to the area in your Instagram Story where the content isn’t constrained or at risk of getting cut off.
The safe area is within 1080 x 1420 pixels (as a friendly reminder, the story size is 1080 px x 1920 px.)
When you create an image or video, Instagram recommends leaving approximately 250 px of the top and bottom free from text, or other elements. So when designing an image, creating a video or a sponsored ad for Instagram stories, remember about the size of the safe zone so you don’t cover important details.
Instagram will automatically show the lines if you try to move content out of the safe zone, especially if you’re adding stickers or GIFs. When you try to move the timestamp to the edge of the screen, Instagram wouldn’t let you cover your profile image up top. Instagram will also provide a helping ruler when you’re placing elements on your Story, allowing you to center them perfectly.
On an Instagram business account, however, you’ll want to make sure that all videos are shot quality and that the product that you want to present takes center stage on the screen. Most importantly, if you’re planning to add polls or stickers, leave enough space inside the frame so you can place this content without covering something else.
What Happens If Your Instagram Story Image Size is Not Correct?
Instagram is very strict when it comes to the size of the images or videos you post on Instagram stories.
So what happens if you suddenly publish an Instagram Story and it’s the wrong size?
- Instagram will automatically crop and zoom in on your images.
- The images will obviously have a lower quality.
- The image will not be showcased in all the space on the screen.
Things to Remember When Creating Instagram Stories
Below, I’ll go over some additional tips for sizing your Instagram Story.
- The file formats:
- for images are. jpg and .png
- for videos .mp4 or .mov.
- The maximum Instagram story length:
- for a frame will be 15 sec
- for image, stories will be visible for 5 sec
- Your images should be at least 72 ppi resolution before you add them to Instagram.
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Why You Should Care about Instagram Stories?
All social media marketers should use Instagram Stories. While posting regularly on your feed is a great tactic, adding Stories into your strategy will lead to a better ROI from your time and budget spent on the platform.
Here are the most important reasons why Instagram stories are important for brands:
- Active and engaging user community. This IG feature has the highest rate of engagement out of all social media platforms so you have to take advantage of them to engage with your audience on a deeper level.
- Test new and creative hypotheses. Since stories disappear after 24 hours, it allows you to get creative and test lots of ideas to see what fits best for your followers.
- Be playful. Stickers, drawing capabilities, augmented reality filters, and much more, are going to help you make the stories distinguish even more.
- Improve discoverability. Thanks to Instagram hashtags, you have the chance of your account being discovered by other people.
However, you can use a ready-made Instagram story template with proper Instagram story dimensions.
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Final Thoughts
What happens when you will follow all the rules of the Instagram story dimensions? Your stories will stand out from the crowd. Your photos and videos will be spot on. Your audience will love interacting with them. It will boost engagement, and, as a result, boost the leads.
Have any other tips and tricks for creating engaging Instagram stories? What are your favorite brands that have posted Instagram stories that you like? Let me know in the comment section below.
