Instagram recompresses everything you upload, so the goal of an export is to give it a file it does not need to resize and cannot misread. That means the right pixel dimensions for the aspect ratio, sRGB colour, modest sharpening, and a file small enough that the app does not squeeze it a second time.
In Lightroom Classic, that is: crop to 4:5 or 3:4 in Develop, open File > Export (Ctrl+Shift+E on Windows, Cmd+Shift+E on a Mac), and set JPEG, quality 80, colour space sRGB, Resize to Fit Width & Height at 1080 x 1350 for 4:5 or 1080 x 1440 for 3:4, and Output Sharpening for Screen at Standard.
What size should Instagram photos be in 2026?
Instagram's help centre says feed photos are stored at up to 1080 pixels wide, and anything wider is sized down to 1080. Height is kept anywhere from 566 to 1440 pixels, as long as the ratio sits between 1.91:1 and 3:4. The ratios that matter:
| Format | Ratio | Export size |
|---|---|---|
| Portrait feed post | 4:5 | 1080 x 1350 |
| Portrait feed post | 3:4 | 1080 x 1440 |
| Square | 1:1 | 1080 x 1080 |
| Landscape | 1.91:1 | 1080 x 566 |
| Story, reel, reel cover | 9:16 | 1080 x 1920 |
Two changes since 2025 matter for photographers. Instagram now accepts 3:4 portrait posts natively, which is closer to the 2:3 frame your camera shoots and loses less of the image than 4:5. And the profile grid now shows thumbnails as 3:4 rectangles instead of squares, so a 3:4 post appears on your grid uncropped while a 4:5 post loses a sliver at each side.
Landscape posts are the weak option: at 1080 x 566 they take up well under half the screen height of a 3:4 portrait, so crop verticals wherever the composition allows.
How do you crop for Instagram in Lightroom Classic?
Crop first, because the export dialog resizes but never crops. In Develop, press R for the Crop tool, open the Aspect menu and pick 4 x 5 / 8 x 10, or choose Enter Custom and type 3 x 4. Press X to flip the crop between horizontal and vertical.
Do not crop your master edit for Instagram. Make a virtual copy first with Photo > Create Virtual Copy (Ctrl+' or Cmd+'), crop the copy, and put the copies in a collection called Instagram. Your client gallery and print files keep the full 2:3 frame, and you can see at a glance which images you have already posted.
What are the best Lightroom export settings for Instagram?
Work down the export dialog in order:
- Export Location: set Export To Specific folder, or choose Choose folder later if you will save this as a preset and want to pick the folder each time.
- File Naming: something readable, such as the date and a short name. The filename does not reach Instagram, but it helps you find the file on your phone.
- File Settings: Image Format JPEG, Quality 80, Color Space sRGB, Limit File Size To unchecked. A 1080 x 1350 JPEG at 80 is usually well under 1 MB, so there is nothing to limit.
- Image Sizing: Resize to Fit Width & Height, W 1080, H 1350 (or 1440 for 3:4), tick Don't Enlarge. Resolution does not matter on screen.
- Output Sharpening: Sharpen For Screen, Amount Standard.
- Metadata: Copyright & Contact Info Only, with Remove Location Info ticked. Instagram strips most metadata anyway, but your exports also end up in your phone's camera roll and in messages.
- Watermarking: off, for reasons covered in should you watermark your photos.
The Width & Height setting is the useful trick. Lightroom fits the image inside a 1080 x 1350 box, so a 4:5 portrait comes out at exactly 1080 x 1350 and a landscape in the same batch comes out at 1080 wide. One preset handles a mixed batch of 4:5 and landscape crops; a 3:4 crop would come out 1012 wide, so it gets its own preset.
Should you export larger than 1080 pixels wide?
No. Instagram resizes anything wider than 1080 pixels down to 1080, so a 1440 or 2048 pixel export only hands the resizing to Instagram's algorithm instead of Lightroom's, after your output sharpening was calculated for the wrong size. Export at exactly 1080 wide and the app has nothing to resample, only to recompress.
Then keep the preset fixed. What makes a grid look uneven is not the pixel count, it is a mix of crops and sharpening from exports made months apart with different settings.
How much should you sharpen for Instagram?
Less than you think. Downsizing a 45 megapixel file to 1080 pixels wide softens it, which is what Output Sharpening for Screen at Standard restores. High is visible as crunchy edges on hair and fabric after Instagram adds its own compression, and Low is usually too little for a downsized file.
Leave your Develop sharpening at the level you use for full size delivery. The export sharpening is calculated for the output size, so it does the downsizing work and your master edit stays clean for prints.
Why do my photos look washed out or soft on Instagram?
Washed out is almost always a colour space problem: an export in Adobe RGB or ProPhoto shown by an app that assumes sRGB. Export in sRGB and the problem goes away; why your photos look washed out on the web explains what is happening and how to check the embedded profile on a file.
Soft is usually the upload, not the export. In the Instagram app, go to Settings and privacy > Data usage and media quality and turn on Upload at highest quality (the exact wording moves between app versions). Without it the app compresses harder to save data, especially on a mobile connection. Transfer the file to your phone as the original JPEG (AirDrop, a cable, or a cloud folder set to keep originals) rather than through a messaging app, which recompresses it before Instagram ever sees it.
What size should stories and reel covers be?
Stories, reels and reel covers are all 9:16, so export them at Width & Height 1080 x 1920. Instagram overlays the caption, username and audio line along the bottom of a reel and the action buttons down the right edge. Published safe zone guides put the bottom band at anywhere from about 280 to 430 pixels, so keep faces and text above the bottom 450 pixels.
Reel covers have a second constraint: in the profile grid the 9:16 cover is cropped to a 3:4 rectangle from the centre, about 1080 x 1440. Put the subject and any title in that central band, then check the grid on your phone after posting. For a still photo used as a story, a 4:5 export placed on a plain background in the story editor looks better than a 2:3 frame stretched to fill the screen.
How do you save the settings as an export preset?
With the dialog set up, click Add at the bottom of the Preset panel on the left, name it something like "Instagram 4x5 1080", and save it in User Presets. Make a second one for 3:4 and a third for 9:16. Next time, select the virtual copies, right click, and choose Export > Instagram 4x5 1080 to export without opening the dialog at all.
The same habit applies to client work: a separate preset at 2048 or 3000 pixels on the long edge for galleries, so you are never exporting a client delivery with Instagram sizing by mistake. The same dialog can deliver client work too: the Xposure export plugin for Lightroom Classic sits next to your presets and uploads the JPEGs straight into a client gallery. For what to post once the files are ready, how to grow on Instagram as a photographer covers the side Lightroom cannot.
Open Lightroom now, make the three presets, and export your next nine posts from virtual copies in an Instagram collection, so the grid matches before anyone scrolls it.
