One image, two crops
Every feed image is now seen twice, at two shapes. In the feed it shows at the ratio it was posted; on the profile, Instagram now cuts every tile to 3:4, trimming whatever falls outside that shape. Since May 2025 the app also accepts 3:4 photos natively, which makes 1080x1440 the safest master: it fills the tile exactly and still crops cleanly to 4:5. Keep faces, product and any words inside the central area both crops share. If posts go out through a scheduling tool, check which ratios its publishing route accepts, because publishing through the API has lagged behind the app.
Carousels are sequences, not albums
A carousel holds up to 20 photos or videos, and the slides share one aspect ratio, set by the first, so decide the ratio before generating anything. Slide one does the work of a headline: it has to earn the swipe on its own. The slides after it should read in order, such as a problem and its fix, a product from every angle, or a look built piece by piece, with one visual system throughout. Consistency is where generated carousels usually fail: a label drifts, a model's face changes between slides, the light jumps. Fix the product and the characters before generating the set, not after.
Alt text, captions and discovery
Instagram writes automatic alt text, but it is generic, and each image can take your own under the accessibility option in the post's advanced settings. Describe what matters to someone who cannot see the picture: the product, its colour, the setting and any words set into the artwork, because a screen reader cannot read text inside an image. Captions carry discovery as well. Instagram search reads the words in a caption, and hashtags are now capped at five per post, so a few specific tags and a plain description of the product do more than a block of tags. Write both per market rather than translating the English.
The grid is the shop window
People arriving from a Reel, an ad or a search judge the brand by its grid before they read a word. A grid that works has a rhythm, such as product, context, people and detail, repeated within a controlled palette. Up to three posts can be pinned to the top, which suits a live campaign, a bestseller and a brand story. The studio holds that rhythm at volume: the brand hub applies colours, typography and image style at generation, product-lock keeps every pack and label exact, and one approved master is exported to 3:4, 4:5 and 1:1 with captions written for each market.
Updated 25 September 2026