Make your reel cover 1080 × 1920 pixels (9:16). Keep your headline and any faces between y 240 and y 1680 so the profile grid keeps them, and out of the bottom fifth, where the feed places your caption.
The size, and why it is 1080 × 1920
Reels are vertical 9:16 video, and the cover uses the same frame. Instagram stores and serves covers at 1080 pixels wide, so 1080 × 1920 is both the largest size that helps and the smallest size that stays sharp. Anything bigger is scaled down with no benefit. Anything smaller is scaled up and goes soft.
If your image is not 9:16, Instagram fills the frame and crops the rest. A square 1080 × 1080 image keeps only its middle 607 pixels of width and is stretched to fill the height.
The safe zone, surface by surface
The same cover is cut differently depending on where it appears. These are the parts of a 1080 × 1920 cover each surface shows.
| Surface | Visible part of the cover | What gets lost |
|---|---|---|
| Profile grid | x 0 to 1080, y 240 to 1680 | Top and bottom 240 px |
| Reels feed | Full 1080 × 1920 | Lower fifth sits under your caption and buttons |
| Reels tab on your profile | Full 1080 × 1920 | Nothing, but it is shown small |
| Explore | About x 62 to 1018 | A thin sliver of each side |
| Desktop profile grid | x 0 to 1080, y 240 to 1680 | Top and bottom 240 px |
A layout that works everywhere
- Headline between y 300 and y 900. That clears the grid cut above and sits high enough to read in the feed.
- Faces and subject in the middle band, roughly y 500 to 1400.
- Nothing important below y 1540, where the caption, username and audio line sit in the feed.
- Side margins of at least 70 px, so Explore's narrower tile doesn't clip letters.
Exporting the file
Export at exactly 1080 × 1920 as a high quality JPG or PNG. If you pick a frame from the video instead of uploading an image, the cover can only be as sharp as that frame, so export the reel itself at 1080 × 1920 too.
Questions
Can a reel cover be 1080 × 1350?
You can upload one, but Instagram fills the 9:16 frame and crops it. A 4:5 image loses about 30% of its width and is stretched, so it looks softer than a true 1080 × 1920 cover.
Does the cover have to be the same as the video?
No. You can upload a separate image as the cover, or pick a frame from the reel. Either way the same crops apply.