Why Are There White Bars Added To My Instagram Photos?

Posting to Instagram varies depending on the type of content you are publishing and the type of Instagram Profile you have. 

And with auto-publishing for Instagram Business Profiles now making it easier than ever to keep your Instagram followers engaged with new content, SmarterQueue is going one step further into making sure you don't need to take any unnecessary steps. ✨

That is why we've made sure that any images that are too wide or too tall for your Instagram Feed will be adapted and published with no issue. 💪

In This Article

How Does Publishing Different Size Images Work With Instagram?

Instagram's API only supports photos of a specific ratio (between 4:5, and 1.91:1). Normally, if you'd add an image to your post that is taller or wider than these ratios, we wouldn't be able to publish it directly.

Instead, we would need to send a mobile or email notification, so you could publish the post manually - this would allow you to post the image  cropped to fit on Instagram.

To avoid having to take extra steps to post or have your images be cropped unnecessarily, we've made sure that your content is Instagram API ready without you needing to take any additional steps. 

By adding white padding to your image, we are able to adapt its ratio to Instagram's specific requirements while ensuring that the image you intended is shared with your audience. 

How Does SmarterQueue Auto-Publish Different Size Images To Instagram?

The first time you create an image post for your Instagram Business Profile you'll see a prompt letting you know about Instagram's limitations:

Moving forward, SmarterQueue will automatically add white padding to your image and save you the hassle of having to manually edit the images that don't fit in Instagram's feed before creating your post.

And if you don't want to publish to Instagram Directly (or you're scheduling posts to an Instagram Personal Profile), you will be able to publish manually, via the SmarterQueue Mobile App, and crop your image in the Instagram App, including the padding. 

NOTE: When cross-posting, the padding is only applied to the image used for your Instagram post. For the rest of the social profiles you've selected, the image will remain in its original aspect ratio.

How Can I Avoid White Bars Being Added To My Image?

There might be times when you'd rather go a different way with your images and would prefer cropping instead of padding. 

Adding padding adapts your image's aspect ratio to Instagram's specific requirements and ensures that no cropping is needed, but we want to make sure you can go a different way when needed. 👍

To avoid white bars being added to your image, without having to disable direct publishing, simply select "Story" instead of "Feed" in the Post Editor, when creating the post.

When it's time to publish the post, you'll get a mobile notification with the original image. 

Once you select "Post To Instagram" and open the post in the SmarterQueue Mobile App, you'll be able to create your desired post as follows:

1. On iOS, you'll be able to simply select "Feed" instead of "Story", which will then allow you to create a Feed post and crop the image.

2. On Android, the Story editor will open directly, but you'll be able to close it. 

With your image automatically saved to your Gallery and the caption in your Clipboard, you can simply open Instagram to create a brand new "Feed" post with them. 

Note: The image will be too tall/wide for Instagram, but you will be able to choose how the image is cropped

Related Articles