What's the ideal Instagram story format? And how do you create them?

Instagram stories help you share moments and experiences while keeping your followers up to date with your current activities. You can share vertical photos or short videos, which disappear after 24 hours.

However, like, all content on social networks, if it's not shared in the right format, your audience won't interact with it.

But what's the ideal Instagram story format?

As more and more people use Stories to boost engagement levels or promote their brands, we're going to talk about optimal dimensions and valuable tips to help you be an Insta Stories ace.

Reminder on Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories or IG Stories help users publish vertical images and videos that disappear after 24 hours. Your profile photo is surrounded by a colored circle when you publish a new story to inform your followers.

The colored rings around profiles represent new story publications.

Tap on people's profile photos to discover their stories. This action will also show you all the content they've recently shared in full-screen mode. To go back or forward in a story, you can press left or right on the screen.

You can keep track of who is viewing your story thanks to statistics.

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You can also keep it active for more than 24 hours by adding it to your profile as a headline story.

The photos and videos you share via Stories disappear from your profile, feed and posts after 24 hours, unless you add them to your profile as a featured story.

Contrary to other social network publications such as Facebook Live, Stories don't allow public comments, but you can send comments and likes to the author directly.

Discover here how to like an Instagram story.

What's the right Instagram story format?

The best format for 'an Instagram story is 1080 pixels wide by 1920 pixels high, with a 9:16 ratio.

Images and videos are adapted to vertical; if you upload images in landscape format, they won't look good. This will have a direct impact on your engagement.

Here are the specifications in a nutshell:

• Image files must be in JPG or PNG formats and less than 30 MB in size.
• Video files must be in MP4, MOV or GIF format, 60 seconds long and less than 4 GB in size.
• Everyone can view your stories if your account is public. For private accounts, your posts are only visible to your followers.

If you don't respect the good dimensions, the social media platform will crop or zoom in on your content, which can ruin your publication. If your images are small, they will appear pixelated in the final publication.

Use the optimal Instagram story size:

• Helps your content appear high-quality.
• Avoids pixelated or cropped posts.
• Allows your brand to stand out on the social network (if you use your account for business purposes).

Now that you know these features, make sure you publish in the right story format and with the right resolution.

Discover how to program your Instagram stories.

How to create an instagram Story easily?

To create a new Instagram story, tap on your story icon in the top left-hand corner of the screen and select your smartphone's camera option.

Using your phone's camera, you can then shoot a video or click on a photo vertically. You can use options like Boomerang, or timelapse to apply special effects. (See the Instagram lexicon)

Portrait content helps you take advantage of Instagram's'screen surface. You can also add written text, stickers, layouts, questions, countdowns and quizzes to your stories.

Bref, the app offers dozens of marketing tools at your disposal to create stories that have a real effect on your followers.

You can also use photos and videos from your phone's gallery and resize them using photo and video editing apps before uploading them to your stories.

5 best practices for creating quality stories

Instagram has introduced stories as a great way for brands and individuals to share ephemeral moments.

Thanks to their versatility, you can keep your followers informed, promote your personal or professional brand, or even post a video as a story to boost your influencer marketing.

To ensure that every Instagram story is essential and engaging, you need to master the format and follow certain practices. Here are our tips for optimizing your Instagram stories.

Use high-quality content

Your posts will look professional with high-quality content.

Instagram has become an essential platform, and the ideal format for Instagram stories is the vertical format. Your Instagram story videos, whether photo or video, should be in a 1080 x 1920 pixel format.

Make sure your images have at least 72 PPI (pixels per inch) to avoid losing quality on Instagram when uploading.

Your resolution is just as important as having a photo in the right format and ratio.

Respect the correct dimensions

You don't have to worry about story dimensions if you shoot vertical videos or photos with your smartphone from the app.

However, if you import your photos or videos, Instagram will crop or zoom your horizontal content to fit the correct Instagram story size. If this happens, the final uploads will be of poor quality. Therefore, your stories should maintain a aspect ratio'9:16.

Shoot vertically

In contrast to the Instagram feed, where you can use a variety of formats, video stories must imperatively be vertical.

If you have landscape content, consider posting it to your feed rather than sharing it as a story.

Use editing apps

You can use editing apps like Canva, Adobe Spark and Lumen5 to upload high-quality content while maintaining the correct dimensions. These story apps allow you to enter specifications, upload and edit content and create graphics.

Limit files to 30 MB

Instagram recommends limiting the file size for your stories. Even if you want to post as many stories as possible, each Instagram video or photo should not exceed 30 MB.

In summary, mastering the format and dimensions of your Instagram story in the right format is crucial to guarantee high-quality content that will attract and engage your followers.

FAQ on the right instagram story format

What's the best size for an Instagram story?

Your Instagram story should be 1080 pixels wide and 1920 pixels high, with an aspect ratio of 9:16.

Photos should be at least 500 pixels wide and in JPG and PNG formats. Video files must be in MP4, GIF and MOV formats with a maximum duration of 60 seconds. IG Stories supports vertical content.

Does changing the dimensions of Instagram stories change the shape of videos?

No. Although 1080 by 1920 pixels are the best-quality visuals, they take up a lot of storage space on your device and take too long to publish to the network. Switching to lower pixels speeds up uploads while preserving video and image quality.

For example, by switching to 720 pixels by 1280 pixels, uploads will be faster while preserving HD quality. This won't change the shape of the video, as these settings maintain the required 9:16 aspect ratio.

How long do Instagram stories last?

Instagram stories disappear after 24 hours. If you add them to your profile as story highlights, they stay as long as you like.

What is the best aspect ratio for Instagram stories?

A 9:16 aspect ratio in height and width works well for Instagram stories. It's popular because it adapts well to all devices while making your posts look good.

Conclusion

Creating an Instagram story isn't difficult, but posting an engaging one is something else. The idea is to get around the subtleties of the platform while not overwhelming your followers. You can use strong visuals and powerful graphics to succeed in being as impactful as possible.

Stories are a powerful way to get an engaged community while building your brand image. Make sure you use the right dimensions so your posts don't look unprofessional and make an impact.