Free tool

Instagram Reel size

Resize a still image for a vertical Reel cover at 1080 × 1920. Preview a centered 3:4 crop to see how much of the artwork survives in a taller thumbnail. The result is an image you can bring into your Reel workflow.

Size

Reel cover canvas · 9:161080 × 1920px9:16Thumbnail crops depend on the selected cover and placement. Check Instagram’s preview.

1080 × 1920

or drop one on the frame

Your picture stays on this device: it is resized in your browser and never uploaded.

Guides

  • Centered 3:4 crop · approximate — keep what matters inside

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How to use it

  1. Open a cover photograph or a finished cover design.
  2. Inspect the vertical frame and the optional centered crop guide.
  3. Reposition the subject with the preview, keyboard controls or zoom.
  4. Download the still JPG and select it in your Reel cover workflow.

Design the cover around one subject

A Reel cover has a different job from a frame in a moving video. It needs to explain the topic while a viewer scans a small grid. Start with one face, product or action and place it near the center. If you add a title in another editor, keep it brief enough that it still reads when the cover is reduced.

Understand the crop overlay

The overlay marks a centered 3:4 rectangle inside the 9:16 canvas. This is a geometric preview of a possible thumbnail crop, not an exact reproduction of every Instagram screen. Moving the subject until it fits inside that rectangle makes the design more tolerant of cropping. The cover position you select in Instagram remains the final choice.

Prepare a still rather than a video export

The download from this tool is a JPG picture. It does not change a video’s frame rate, audio, duration or encoding, and it does not generate moving footage from the cover. Keep your video editor’s export settings separate. Bring this image into the cover picker or into your editing project where a still asset is needed.

Avoid stretching a horizontal frame

Fill mode crops a horizontal source to the vertical canvas without distorting faces. Drag to follow the subject and use the zoom control for a tighter composition. If the full width contains essential information, Fit mode adds padding instead. A deliberately framed horizontal image can look clearer than a close crop that cuts off a hand, product or demonstration.

Review the cover in more than one context

Check the Reel cover picker, your profile view and any feed preview offered during publishing. Controls, captions and thumbnail ratios can change how much of the picture is visible. Do not use the extreme top or bottom edge for the only copy of a key word. A centered visual hierarchy gives you more room to adjust later.

Make future episodes recognizable

For a recurring series, use the same general subject placement and type treatment in the original design. Change the episode topic and artwork while preserving enough visual consistency that viewers can recognize the series. Export each cover from its own original file. That avoids accumulating the compression and tiny alignment differences that come from repeatedly editing an earlier JPEG.

Questions people ask

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