Instagram Now Supports 3:4 Photos Without Cropping

Instagram just introduced an update that allows users to publish photos with a 3:4 aspect ratio without cropping or adding borders. In the past, users could only upload vertical photos with a 4:5 aspect ratio, which often meant cropping individual images or adding white borders to preserve the whole frame.

Instagram Updates

Improved Photo Display

The small change is acceptable to users who want their photos to look just like they were taken. The update supports both single images and multi-photo carousels and ensures that 3:4 photos display without black bars, strange cropping, or formatting problems.

Now, 3:4 photographs will show up exactly as they were taken, whether you’re uploading a single picture or a carousel. This eliminates the need for trimming or adding black bars to your vertical photos.

The Use of Contemporary Photo Formats on Instagram

Instagram has been progressively moving away from its square-photo roots. The platform has adopted vertical formats, particularly in Stories and Reels, which predominate in mobile-first visual content, after previously being criticized for its strict 1:1 aspect ratio. In another indication of its move toward contemporary composition formats, Instagram started showcasing images in rectangular frames on profile grids earlier this year.

In the past, Instagram’s “tallest” photo format could only take pictures at a 4:5 ratio, which is marginally squarer than what most phone cameras can capture. Users were compelled to crop the image or employ workarounds in order to maintain the original framing.

Instagram’s gradual transition away from its square roots continues with this adjustment. Citing the increasing popularity of vertical content in both images and videos, the business began framing photos inside rectangles in user profile grids back in January.