How To Format Photos Based On Instagram Dimensions

Because there have been so many changes with Instagram lately, not everyone is on the same page of awareness regarding all of the updates. Newbies and veterans alike might be still wondering what Instagram's dimensions ares, or what app do you need to download to make your picture square — and the answer is actually a lot simpler than you might expect.

Instagram ditched the square format and now gives users an option to choose from landscape and portrait, too. Optimal sizes range from 1080 x 566 and up to 1080 x 1350 pixels, but you can upload whatever size you want and Instagram will accommodate it. No longer do you need to download outside apps to morph your picture into their standards. Obviously someone let them know that we Millennials on the go don't want to take the time to figure out how to make our pictures that we love fit their standards. We just want to snap, upload it to one place, filter the hell out of it and post it. Who's got time and space for extra apps?!

Now, everything that we like to use to edit our pictures is available within the app itself. Which is a huge relief for someone like me, who never has any storage and likes to edit the crap out of my pictures. This update, like many other recent Instagram updates came and went without much chatter. If you missed this update, you might have also missed the following:

Account Switching

Do you have a secret foodie account where you document all of your meals and hashtag the heck out of them? Do you also have a secret account that's all pictures of your dog, with no shame? Great news — you can now switch back and forth between your accounts with the tap of a button. Now you don't have to log in and log out all the time.

Touch Feature

It used to be just that people with the iPhone 6s were able to use the long tap/touch feature, but now all phones can utilize the feature. If you want to see a picture enlarge from the grid, just tap and hold and it will pop up. You can also tap and hold for more options like sharing, editing, commenting and liking.

New Filters

Clarendon, Gingham and Moon were added to the filter line up, weeding out some of the competition like VSCO with their high quality effects. These filters add to the already updated editing software that allows color tinting and fade tools.

Explore Updates

Now your explore tab is a lot more interesting. An algorithm pulls together what Instagram thinks will interest you and if you take the time to look around, you'll probably find that it's pretty accurate. Mine's always full of puppies and eyebrow tutorials, which is pretty on-point for me.

Images: Getty Images (3)