Resize Image for Instagram Easily – 5 Best Online Tools!
Are you looking for a quick, easy and effective way to resize photos for Instagram? Or for any other web uses?
Look no further! We bring you our selection of the best online tools to upload, resize and download (or even publish) your Instagram photos in a matter of seconds.
Let’s go!
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Why Should You Resize Images for Instagram (or any other medium)
It is not unusual to wonder why should one take the trouble to resize photos for Instagram –or any social platform for the matter–. Why not just upload your image from the camera roll, let the Instagram app crop it, and be done?
There are several reasons this is a bad idea, especially if you want your Instagram feed and Instagram stories to be visually attractive:
- Image Quality – If you have a high-resolution image ready to upload, you need to consider how the quality will be adjusted after being published on Instagram (or Facebook, Twitter, or any other channel). These networks usually don’t support a large image file so when you upload pictures whose image size exceeds their preset dimensions, they downgrade image quality automatically, with variable results. If you consciously adjust the resolution before uploading, you can make sure your image looks perfectly sharp.
- Image Dimensions – Instagram has multiple image placements, and the photo dimensions and aspect ratio for each can vary. The Instagram profile picture doesn’t have the same dimensions as the Instagram stories or the Instagram post photos – and the latter isn’t even just one size: there are options for Instagram portrait post (vertical), Instagram landscape post (horizontal), and the “traditional” Instagram post image in square format. Here you can see all the standard Instagram dimensions!If you have a vertical photo, it might be the perfect image size and dimension for portrait posts, but it’ll be automatically (and terribly) cropped if you use it on landscape or square posts. By resizing images to each intended placement, you can ensure your Instagram images will be appreciated in all their glory.
- Professional Appearance – While the above-listed factors apply to all social media platforms, Instagram is by definition the photography lovers’ virtual club. To be successful on Instagram, be it as an individual or as a brand, you need your Instagram images to be as perfect as possible. When IG users visit your profile and see that all your pictures are beautifully resized to fit their placement, when they see you have the same resized image in an Instagram ad portrait style or Instagram ad square style and in an Instagram story and it looks great in both, that speaks volumes of your professionalism. And users love that.
Top 5 Online Image Resizer Tools for Image Resizing
Below we list our favorite five, web-based tools that let you resize images for Instagram online automatically, and instantly download the dimension-optimized result. Save time, effort, and money with these free or very affordable solutions!
Canva Magic Resize
Paid version: Yes, with full access
Pricing: Starts at $12.99/mo – SEE SPECIAL DEALS BELOW!
Canva is a leading company that offers a user-friendly yet powerful design tool with everything you need to create stunning visuals in no time and without design skills.
That includes their awesome Magic Resize feature, that as it says in the name lets you resize your designs in one click, like magic. All you have to do is click on the Resize button on the editor, and select the desired size you want your visual in.
There is a list of preset dimensions including Instagram posts and Instagram stories –plus more like “Facebook event image”, “blog banner”, “Twitter ad”, etc.–, and you can set your own custom sizes as well. Once you select all the desired sizes, just hit resize and the multiple images adapted to each channel will appear on the screen, ready to download and use. It’s that simple.
Magic Resize is a feature available on Canva Pro, the premium, paid version of the platform. However, you can still set a design to a custom dimension from the beginning, including Instagram uses and more, with a free account.
Plus, you can now try Canva Pro for free for 45 days and use the Magic Resize tool for free for all that time! If you’re ready to commit to Canva Pro, don’t miss our special Canva coupon with 15% off on the annual Canva Pro plan!
And know what else? There are much more benefits in Canva when it comes to designing visuals for Instagram or other mediums. You get professional Instagram templates, high-quality stock images and graphics, and even a video editor with video templates for Instagram reels and more! It’s overall a perfect tool for image resizing and designing.
Adobe Express Image Resize
Paid version: Yes, with advanced options
Pricing: Starts at $9.99/mo – SEE SPECIAL DEAL BELOW!
Adobe Express is Adobe’s user-friendly design tool, that combines powerful features from their top professional design suite, albeit in a simplified way.
There are two ways to access image resizing: You can use the Free Image Resize tool to upload a design, then select the desired dimension –presets like Instagram profile pictures and Instagram stories are included in the list, as well as a lot of other popular channels like video thumbnails for YouTube for example– and download the resized visual, all for free.
Within Express image editor, there is also the premium Resize edit option, which is more advanced and lets you select multiple sizes to resize your design into. This is part of the premium Express subscription, though, which is paid.
But there are a lot more perks in Adobe Express for designing Instagram graphics: you have dedicated templates, filters, a selection of free and paid stock images –plus you can connect your Adobe Stock account and use images from its huge library–, not to mention the video editor (which includes a video resizing feature).
Even more good news? You can enjoy a 30-day free trial for Adobe Express premium, to help decide if you want to stay subscribed!
If you love Adobe’s professional touch but lack the skills to use their first-grade tools, Adobe Express is the way.
Shutterstock Create
Paid version – Included for free with any image subscription – SEE SPECIAL DEALS BELOW!
Shutterstock, one of the leading stock photo agencies, has recently unveiled Shutterstock Creative Flow, a complete, web-based solution for creatives that includes Shutterstock Create, a user-friendly but very efficient image editing tool that merges the simple features of the Shutterstock Editor with the powerful editing capabilities of Picmonkey.
In Shutterstock Create you can use the Smart Resize feature to instantly change the dimensions of your design to any size you wish, including but not limited to Instagram posts, Instagram ads, profile photos, and all other Instagram image placements. However, this is a Premium feature, and you can only access it if you have an active Shutterstock image subscription.
But, and this is really great, you can use the Shutterstock Free Trial to access not only all premium features on Create but also downloads from Shutterstock’s 400+ million images library! If after one month you want to continue using Shutterstock, you can benefit from our special Shutterstock coupon code and get 15% off on your plan, too!
Even better, here are 3 ways to get Shutterstock Creative Flow, including Create, for free!
If you don’t want to spend money, another way to resize your design for free is to select the appropriate Instagram image dimension for your canvas before you start (there are preset sizes for all kinds of placements on Instagram), that way you can download your visual for free. Or, you can resize the canvas dimension manually (introducing the pixel width and height) in the canvas edits tool.
Either way, Shutterstock Create is one useful tool to have at hand!
iStock Editor
Paid version: It's always free, but works only with iStock images – SEE SPECIAL DEALS BELOW!
iStock is one popular stock photo site, parented by Getty Images. For years, their website includes the iStock Editor, a simple but rather useful image editing tool that lets you make quick edits to any iStock image before even buying it or downloading it.
It has a very simple crop tool that lets you change the size of your visual. You can enter a custom size, or select one of the preset dimensions that include, you guessed, Instagram, albeit with only one, square format option.
The best about the iStock Editor is that it’s completely free and uncomplicated, and provides an actually free image resizer. You will never be charged for using this tool, but do keep in mind it only works for iStock images, which you have to pay to download.
But don't despair, because we have an exclusive iStock free trial for you to test the waters with both the images and the editor without spending! And if you like what you get with the trial, our iStock promo code will save you 15% on your images!
If you want to use iStock images in your Instagram designs, this is a super easy and effective way to make them the perfect size.
Visme Canvas Resize
Paid version: Yes, with full access
Pricing: Starts at $29/mo
Visme is an online tool for creating, downloading, sharing, and storing visual designs. Their image editor includes an image resizer that is very straightforward. All you have to do to resize images with it is to click on the canvas size button on the menu and select the dimensions you wish. You can add a custom size, or select preset measurements from the list that will appear (the list varies depending on which type of design you are working with – the web graphics section has sizes for Instagram posts, Instagram stories, and profile images among many other social platforms).
While you can use Visme to create and edit graphics, including resizing images, for free, if you want to download your design you need to subscribe to their paid plans. Do keep in mind that the subscription comes with full access to all of Visme’s features, plus extra cloud storage and many other perks.
How do you get the whole picture to fit in Instagram
When you upload an image to Instagram, depending on where you want to post it –as a profile image, or an Instagram story, for example– the platform shows you options to adjust the image size, with a basic image cropping function.
This can sometimes work ok, for example, if you have images for square posts you can make the images fit portrait posts by adding grey or black sections on top and bottom. But in other cases, it just stretches the picture or downgrades the image quality a lot.
The best way to make a picture fit on your Instagram placement is to resize it, not crop it.
How Can I Resize a Picture on Instagram Without Cropping?
To avoid the –usually bad– Instagram automatic crop tool, you need to use image editing software to change the image dimensions without altering the quality. There is a range of tools, from entry-level to professional such as Adobe Photoshop, that let you do this.
However, to resize an image manually is a long and depending on the tool used, also a complicated task. But today there is a much better solution to easily resize Instagram photos –and images for all kinds of purposes–: AI-powered, image editing tools!
Resize Photos for Instagram Easily
With any of the above-listed tools, you can resize pictures to fit Instagram or any other platform’s ideal dimensions with just a couple of clicks of your mouse, and get the perfect Instagram images!
Which one is your favorite?
