Instagram Stories and Reels use a 1080x1920 pixel dimension with a 9:16 aspect ratio. This vertical format fills the entire phone screen, creating an immersive full-screen experience for viewers. Getting this size right is essential for professional-looking Stories content.
The 9:16 aspect ratio matches most modern smartphone screens perfectly. When you upload a Story at exactly 1080x1920 pixels, Instagram displays it without any scaling or cropping. Any other dimensions will be adjusted by Instagram, potentially cutting off important content or adding letterboxing.
Keep in mind that Instagram overlays UI elements on your Story. The top 15% contains the username and progress bar, while the bottom 20% has the reply field and swipe-up link area. Keep critical content like text and faces in the center 65% of the image, roughly between 290 and 1630 pixels from the top.
To resize for Instagram Stories with ImgTools, upload your image and switch to the Resize tab. Enter 1080 for width and 1920 for height, or use the Story preset button. If your source image has a different aspect ratio, consider using the Crop tab first with the 9:16 preset to select the best portion of your image.
For photographic Stories, save as JPEG at 85-90% quality. For graphics with text overlays, PNG preserves sharper text edges. The maximum file size for Instagram Stories is 30 MB for images.
This same 1080x1920 dimension also works perfectly for Instagram Reels thumbnails, TikTok images, YouTube Shorts thumbnails, Facebook Stories, and Snapchat content. It has become the universal vertical content format across social media platforms.
ImgTools processes everything locally in your browser. Your Story images are never uploaded to any external server, keeping your unreleased content completely private.