Story and Reel Size Guide for Photo Dumps

Stories and reels are 1080 by 1920 pixels, a 9:16 vertical frame. Keep text and faces out of the top 250 pixels and the bottom 250 to 340 pixels, where buttons and captions sit. Export at full size so the platform doesn't upscale your photos and soften them.

The numbers

Platform limits change from time to time, so check the app's help pages if a number matters for a campaign. The 9:16, 1080 by 1920 frame has been the stable standard for years.

Safe zones, explained

A story fills the screen, but not all of it is yours. At the top sit your profile picture, name and the progress bar. At the bottom sit the reply field and, on reels, the caption and buttons. Anything placed there can be covered.

Guides differ slightly on the exact numbers. A safe working rule: leave 250 pixels clear at the top and 250 to 340 at the bottom. Use the larger bottom margin if you post reels, where the caption takes more room.

Photos inside a 9:16 frame

Most iPhone photos are 3:4, wider than a story. You can crop to fill the frame, or place the photo inside a layout with a border, which is what most photo dump templates do. Framing keeps the whole photo visible and gives the dump a designed look: prints on paper, a film strip, a grid.

Video clips from an iPhone shot vertically are already close to 9:16 and fill the frame without heavy cropping.

Exporting at the right size

If you build your dump in an app, check the export size. Grain renders every story at exactly 1080×1920, as an MP4 video or a still, and saves it to your Photos library. Its templates are designed for the 9:16 frame, so you can check the finished story full screen before you post it.