Instagram Story Size: Dimensions, Exports and Black Bars

Build a full-height Story without stretching your photo, then check the text before posting. I'd keep separate layouts for Stories and Reels.

Instagram Story size: start with 1080 × 1920 pixels

Use a vertical 1080 × 1920 pixel canvas, with a 9:16 aspect ratio. That is the starting size for both Story photos and Story videos. It also gives you the full-height shape commonly used for Reels.

The recommended Instagram Story dimensions and Instagram Reel size share a canvas, but not a text layout. Stories have controls at the top and a reply area below. Reels place captions near the bottom and action buttons on the right.

I'd duplicate the design before moving the text. Keep the background if it works, then prepare each version in this order:

1. Create a 1080 × 1920 pixel canvas. Place your photo or video without stretching its original proportions.
2. For the Story version, keep your headline and logo away from the top controls and bottom reply area. Reserve space for any stickers.
3. For the Reel version, move essential text away from the lower caption area and the action buttons on the right.
4. Export each version, then preview it separately in Instagram. Reposition any text or product detail covered by the interface.

Reel cover images: compose for a tighter preview

A Reel cover should identify the video even when a preview shows less than the full-height image. Keep the subject and a short title together near the center rather than placing them at opposite edges.

Take Ceramico Studio (@ceramico.studio), a small ceramics shop. Say its pottery video features a mug centered with “Fresh from the kiln” close above it. Leave the studio wall around that group so a tighter preview keeps the handle and title together.

Inspect the cover wherever a preview is available. If the title disappears, move it closer to the subject rather than making all the lettering smaller.

Story photo and video export settings

Export the finished composition, not just the original photograph. A correctly sized project can still produce the wrong file if the export settings resize it. Open the exported asset and confirm that it is 1080 × 1920 pixels.

Instagram lets you upload Reels with an aspect ratio between 1.91:1 and 9:16. Reels should have a minimum resolution of 720 pixels and a minimum frame rate of 30 FPS. Use 9:16 when you want the full-height vertical composition.

I prefer exporting from the original project rather than recompressing an earlier export. That preserves the best starting detail for lettering and fine textures. Enlarging a small photograph cannot restore detail missing from the original.

Choose the export format for the content you have made:

• For a still Story layout, export a JPG or PNG and check the finished pixel dimensions.
• For a moving layout, MP4 is a practical export choice. Review the motion, sound and text together.
• For a sequence of clips, inspect the transitions so a headline or product detail does not disappear between files.

Instagram Story size on iPhone XR: canvas versus screen

Your phone's display dimensions are not your export dimensions. For an iPhone XR, use the same 1080 × 1920 pixel Story canvas rather than stretching the artwork to match the handset.

A 16:9 landscape photo fitted inside that 9:16 canvas leaves background above and below it. Filling the vertical canvas instead crops the photo's left and right edges. Viewers see the background or crop you include in the exported composition.

For your Instagram Story in Photoshop, set the canvas in pixels. Inches and centimeters describe a physical size based on resolution metadata; they do not replace the exported pixel dimensions.

The scheduler's Story and Reel previews give you a composition check while preparing posts. Preview the finished asset in Instagram too, so you can inspect the controls over your content.

• Check the exported pixel dimensions rather than the editor's document dimensions.
• Read the headline on your phone without zooming in.
• Inspect the subject, logo and text against the Story controls.
• Check the Reel caption area, right-side buttons and cover preview separately.

Instagram Story post size: fix black bars and blurry images

A black background can be deliberate. Unwanted black bars appear when a different-shaped image leaves unused space inside your vertical composition. Changing the background color does not change the canvas size.

Fit keeps the whole photograph and leaves background around it. Fill covers the canvas but crops the photograph. I'd choose between those treatments before adding the headline, rather than stretching the subject.

For Ceramico Studio, fit a landscape photograph of bowls onto a white vertical background. Keep the complete row visible and place the headline in the open area. If you choose fill, inspect whether the bowls at either end disappear.

The recommended photo size for an Instagram Story describes the finished composition, not a reason to stretch every source image. For blurry lettering, check the export dimensions and return to the original project. For hidden text, change its position.

Once the assets are ready, the Instagram scheduler lets you arrange Stories and Reels in the week calendar or posting queue. Scheduling requires a professional Instagram account, either business or creator.

Instagram Story size ratio and Reel dimensions at a glance

Choose the placement before exporting. Story photos and videos share the vertical canvas; Reels need their own text placement. Treat the Reel cover as a separate composition so its subject and title work together in a tighter preview.

Canvas sizes are design recommendations; check overlays in each format's preview.