How an Instagram grid works

Your profile shows your posts three across, newest first. Split one picture into tiles, post them one after another, and the profile shows the whole picture — a banner across the top of your page, a launch reveal, a mood board that reads as one.

The order matters. Because the newest post appears top-left, the tile that belongs bottom-right has to go first. The tiles here are numbered that way: post 1, then 2, then 3, and the picture assembles itself.

Why 3:4 tiles

In 2025 Instagram changed the profile grid from squares to taller 3:4 thumbnails. Square tiles now leave gaps and 4:5 tiles get their top and bottom cut, so a grid made for the old layout no longer lines up. This tool makes 3:4 tiles by default — 1080×1440 pixels, the size Instagram shows without cropping.

The other shapes are still useful: 4:5 is the tallest shape the feed shows, and square suits a carousel people swipe through rather than a grid on the profile.

Panorama carousels

A panorama splits a wide picture into slides of one carousel post. Swiping reveals the next part of the picture, which keeps people on the post longer — a signal Instagram rewards. Landscapes, group photos and product line-ups work well; so do designs where one element crosses from one slide to the next.

Common mistakes

Posting in the wrong order. One tile out of place and the picture breaks — follow the numbers.

Other posts in the middle. A grid only reads as one picture while its tiles sit together; post them one after another, and plan grids in multiples of three so the rows stay aligned.

Tiles that mean nothing alone. Each tile also appears by itself in followers' feeds. The best grids have something worth seeing in every piece — a face, a word, a product.

Private by design

Your photo is cut in your browser. It is never uploaded to us, and it's gone when you close the page.