The Instagram Story circle at the top of your feed is a prominent spot that quickly grabs attention and invites users to click. That’s why 62% of the audience becomes more interested in brands when they post Instagram Stories regularly.
But to make the most of this Instagram feature, it is important to ensure that your content looks its best. That’s only possible when you get your Instagram Story dimensions right.
In this blog, I will walk you through the 2024 Instagram Story dimension changes and everything related to optimizing your content for maximum impact. Let’s get started.
Instagram Story sizes are set to make sure they look good on all devices. In 2024, the best Insta Story size is 1080 pixels wide by 1920 pixels tall. This means that the optimal Instagram Story ratio is 9:16.
To put things in context – think of a rectangle split into 25 equal parts. There are 9 parts for the width and 16 parts for the height. This setup makes sure your content covers the entire screen of most smartphones. It gives your viewers a better and more enjoyable experience.
Instagram Stories provide a fun, interactive way to connect with your audience and effectively boost social media engagement. To make the most of this, you need to create content that stands out and uses the screen effectively to capture attention.
When your story fills the screen, it grabs attention and makes the experience more engaging. If your content is too small or poorly cropped, viewers might focus on empty space, making the story less enjoyable.
Using the right Instagram Story dimensions ensures your visuals look their best, helping you capture attention and encourage interaction with your content.
The current recommended Instagram Stories size is 1080 x 1920 pixels, which maintains the 9:16 aspect ratio. While these dimensions are unlikely to change soon, app updates may slightly alter the layout of elements like stickers, GIFs, and the profile picture.
These small changes usually happen to make the user experience better or to bring in new features. For example, Instagram might move the position of interactive stickers slightly to fit a new interactive tool.
So, even though the main Instagram Story aspect ratio stays the same, you still need to keep up with any small changes to the layout. You can check this information through the official Instagram blog.
Making content that meets the recommended Instagram Story ratio can get challenging at times, but it’s generally quite easy. Most smartphones let you take videos and pictures in the 9:16 aspect ratio.
Moreover, you can also use Instagram editing tools to change the aspect ratio of any content you already have. Keeping your content in these dimensions helps your audience enjoy watching it and makes your visuals more attractive.
Adapting your visual content for Instagram Stories doesn’t mean losing creativity. Instead, it can spark new ideas within a limited space. Here are some easy tips to help you adapt your visuals:
By using these graphic design tips and putting them into your social media strategy, you can create amazing Instagram Stories that people will remember.
👉 You might also want to read: How to Create High-Quality Content for Instagram?
Another way to ensure your content fits the recommended IG Story px size is by using templates.
Instagram story templates are a good way to make sure your content is the right size and looks good. You can easily find free and paid ready-to-use templates on multiple websites.
Here’s how to use IG Story templates effectively:
You can also create your own templates but using pre-made templates takes away the worry of resizing. This way, your visuals are always the correct Instagram Story dimensions and ready to be published.
Apart from having a creative vision, you also need to go over some technical details to help your IG Story upload easily and look great. Instagram allows different file types, but using the recommended ones can help avoid problems with quality or glitches.
For images, the best formats are JPG and PNG. For videos, use MP4. Also, remember the file size limits: images can be up to 30 MB and videos can be up to 4 GB. If you go over this limit, social media platform will automatically compress media, which in turn will harm the overall quality.
While following dimensions is important, the quality of your visuals depends a lot on resolution and file size. A higher resolution means a clearer image. For Instagram Stories, start with a resolution of at least 72 PPI (Pixels Per Inch).
If your final output goes over the recommended Instagram Story size, you can always reduce file size with different apps or websites. This can be done without losing much quality.
You must have noticed that important elements of your IG stories (like text boxes or stickers) can sometimes get overlapped by interface features (such as the reply bar or viewer’s name).
This is where the “safe zone” comes into play. Think of it as a border inside your IG Story where you should keep important information, so it doesn’t get hidden by these elements.
Generally, the IG Story safe zone leaves out the top and bottom 250 pixels of your story.
When you are editing, look out for blue lines that may show up when you put text boxes or stickers close to the edges. These lines often tell you if something is getting too close to this important space.
By placing interactive elements, like polls, questions, or hashtags, in the IG Story safe zone, you keep them visible. This helps improve the user experience and encourages people to engage.
Now that you know all about Instagram Story dimensions & resolutions, let’s jump to actual content and design trends.
Following the latest design trends can help you maintain your brand identity and stand out amongst Instagram competitors.
Look at what is popular, like color schemes, font pairings, or animation styles. Try different Instagram trends and see what your followers respond to. Keep in mind that these trends change quickly. Focus on adding them in a way that matches your current style without losing your brand’s message or identity.
👉 READ MORE: Discover fresh Instagram Story ideas to elevate your brand engagement. Explore 22 creative concepts you can use today!
One of the latest popular trends is using soft colors and simple designs. This creates a feeling of style and subtle beauty.
Another trend is adding hand-drawn parts to your posts. This gives your content a personal touch and feels real rather than something created with AI Image Generators. Many audiences like this because they want to connect with brands that feel authentic.
That said, you don’t need to use every trend. Make sure to only pick social media trends that fit your brand’s identity and connect with your target audience.
Interactive stickers (like polls, quizzes, or questions) get people to join in. They also give you useful information about your audience and help build a community.
Animations, whether they are smooth transitions or fun GIFs, add energy to your Instagram Stories. This draws people’s attention and makes the overall experience more fun and memorable.
Before moving ahead – keep in mind that you should use these elements wisely. Too much animation or too many interactive prompts can be heavy and distract from your main message. Aim for a balance that improves the story without taking over.
A common mistake that I have seen social media marketers make is forgetting about the stories size and Instagram Story aspect ratio. If you upload content with the wrong ratio, like a square image (1:1) to Stories, it can get cropped or stretched. This makes your visuals look less appealing.
Another mistake that you might be making is not paying attention to updates from Instagram. These updates can change dimensions, file size limits, and even what file types you can use. By keeping up with these changes, you can make sure your content fits the platform’s needs and looks great.
If you’re constantly posting Instagram Stories, you might notice a boost in profile’s overall engagement. But if the numbers on the dashboard still look the same, you might need to rethink your Instagram marketing strategy.
That’s where Vaizle comes in—a powerful analytics tool designed to help you connect, analyze, and report marketing data with ease.
With the free Instagram Page Analysis tool, Vaizle can help you get detailed analytics on post engagement, impressions, audience demographics, and top-performing content formats.
Missing little details like Instagram Story dimensions and aspect ratio can make your content look blurry and unprofessional. But if you’re abiding by the 1080 x 1920 pixels range and 9:16 ratio, there’s nothing to worry about.
While you’re busy creating engaging content, you can’t miss out on the bigger picture, i.e., your analytics. Vaizle not only helps you track and analyze all your Instagram marketing data in one place but also integrates with other social media platforms for a comprehensive view of your performance.
Sign up for Vaizle’s 7-day trial today to streamline your analytics, connect across platforms, and optimize your social media strategy!
The recent update in 2024 keeps the perfect Instagram Story size at 1080 pixels wide and 1920 pixels tall. This is a 9:16 aspect ratio. These sizes help your story use the full screen. It also ensures your story looks great on different devices!
It’s a good idea to use online tools or photo editing software to check the size of your content. Many editing apps have real-time aspect ratio guides. These guides help you adjust your content while you create it. This way, you can make sure it fits Instagram’s requirements perfectly.
Your Instagram Story might appear blurry if the image or video you upload doesn’t meet Instagram’s recommended resolution (1080 x 1920 pixels). Additionally, if the image size is above 30 MB, Instagram might compress the media size, thus making your IG Story look blurry.
The Instagram Story safe zone refers to the central area where critical elements like text, logos, and calls-to-action should be placed. This ensures they aren’t obscured by the app’s user interface or profile icons.
Mamta is an SEO Analyst with 2 years of experience. Currently, she is spending her time on content roadmapping to drive organic growth and engagement for SaaS businesses. Mamta is also an avid cinephile who spends her spare time watching latest action and sci-fi flicks from around the world.
Vaizle is an AI-powered marketing analytics tool with features like social media benchmarking & reporting, ad analysis, competitive social media analysis, and ads to Google Sheets connectors. Vaizle is designed for startups and enterprises needing actionable insights in the simplest possible manner.
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