# Instagram highlight covers that match your brand [Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/instagram-highlight-covers) The row of circles under your bio is the first thing a new visitor reads after your name. Here is how to size them, choose a style, and make a set that looks like one brand. ## The short version - Instagram highlight covers are uploaded as full 1080×1920 story images, and Instagram shows only a circle cropped from the middle. - Anything that matters on a highlight cover should sit in the centre, large and simple, because the circle is shown very small on the profile. - The three common cover styles are icons, short words and pure colour, and a set should use one style throughout. - A highlight cover can be added from your camera roll without posting it to your story first. - Covers that share one background family and one ink colour make a profile look considered even when the stories inside are casual. **Instagram highlight covers** are the small circles under your bio that label your saved stories. You upload each one as a full 1080×1920 story image, and Instagram crops a circle from the middle and shows it at a tiny size. So the rule is simple: design the whole frame, put one large, simple thing in the centre, and make every cover in the set share the same background and ink. Do that and the row reads as one brand rather than a drawer of odd thumbnails. ## Instagram highlight cover size There is no separate cover format. A highlight cover is a story, so design it at the [Instagram story size](https://gradiently.design/guide/instagram-story-size): 1080×1920 pixels, 9:16. When you set the cover, Instagram lets you move and zoom the image inside a circle, and the profile shows that circle small enough that fine detail disappears. | What | Value | What it means for you | | --- | --- | --- | | Canvas | 1080×1920 px, 9:16 | Same as any story, so the cover can also be posted | | Visible area | A circle from the centre | Keep the icon or word in the middle third | | Display size | A small circle on the profile | Thick strokes, no thin lines, no small text | | File | PNG or high quality JPEG | PNG keeps flat colour and gradients clean | Design the full story frame, then treat only the centre as the cover. - Highlight cover upload 9:16: 1080 × 1920 - Visible centre 1:1: 1080 × 1080 The upload is tall, but only the square at its centre, and a circle inside that, ever reaches the profile. ## Icons, words or colour: choosing a cover style Most highlight covers fall into three styles. Each works; mixing them in one row is what makes a profile look unplanned. Pick the one that suits how people use your highlights. - **Icons.** A single glyph per cover: a fork for Menu, a pin for Visit, a star for Reviews. Best when your highlight titles are short and the topics are obvious. Draw them all from one icon set so stroke weight and corners match. - **Words.** One short word set large: Menu, Prices, Book, FAQ. Best when the topics are not obvious from a picture, or when your brand is typographic. Keep to one word and one font. - **Pure colour.** No symbol at all, just a different light or colour on the same background for each cover. Best for creators and studios whose highlight titles do the labelling, and whose profile should feel calm. A vertical highlight cover with the single word Menu centred on a gradient background A word cover: one short word, large, centred, so it survives the tiny circle. A matching vertical highlight cover with the word Book centred on the same gradient background The next cover in the set: same Mark, same type, same position. Only the word changes. Word covers need the words to read at a small size on every part of the background. If the light behind the word is too close in value, it vanishes. [Text on a gradient](https://gradiently.design/guide/text-on-gradient) explains how to keep contrast across a blend. ## How to make highlight covers match your brand Matching is mostly about restraint. Choose one background family, one ink colour and one style, then vary a single thing from cover to cover. Here is a set built that way: the same deep ground, with the light moving to a slightly different colour for each topic. - Menu: amber light: `radial-gradient(circle at 50% 45%, #f59e0b 0%, #7c2d12 45%, #1c0a05 85%)` - Book: rose light: `radial-gradient(circle at 50% 45%, #fb7185 0%, #881337 45%, #1f0710 85%)` - Reviews: violet light: `radial-gradient(circle at 50% 45%, #c084fc 0%, #4c1d95 45%, #12081f 85%)` - Visit: teal light: `radial-gradient(circle at 50% 45%, #5eead4 0%, #115e59 45%, #04201e 85%)` Four covers, one recipe. The light sits at the centre, exactly where the circle crops, so each cover glows in the profile. Notice that each glow is centred. That is deliberate: a cover background with its brightest area in a corner looks like a flat disc once it is cropped to a circle. Put the interest where the crop lands. - Ground: #1c0a05 - Amber: #f59e0b - Rose: #fb7185 - Violet: #c084fc - Teal: #5eead4 - Cream ink: #fdf6ec A dark ground, four lights and one cream ink for every icon or word. Six colours are enough for a row of eight covers. If your brand already has colours, start from them. [How to choose brand colors](https://gradiently.design/guide/how-to-choose-brand-colors) helps if you are still deciding, and [instagram grid aesthetic](https://gradiently.design/guide/instagram-grid-aesthetic) shows how the covers sit against the posts beneath them. ## How to add a highlight cover without posting it 1. **Design and save every cover first** Make the whole set in one sitting, export each at 1080×1920, and save them to your phone's camera roll. 2. **Open the highlight** On your profile, press and hold the highlight, then choose Edit highlight. 3. **Choose Edit cover** Tap the image icon beside the cover circle to pick a picture from your camera roll, rather than a frame from the highlight. 4. **Centre it in the circle** Drag and pinch until the icon or word sits in the middle with an even margin all round, then tap Done. 5. **Check the row from another account** Look at the profile at normal size on a phone. If you cannot read a cover at a glance, the symbol is too small or too thin. ## Highlight cover mistakes to avoid ### Avoid - Mixing icons from different sets - Small text or thin outlines that blur in the circle - A different background on every cover - The brightest colour in a corner the crop removes - Covers made at a square size and stretched ### Do - One icon set or one font for the whole row - Bold symbols filling about half the circle - One background family, varied by a single colour - Light and interest in the centre of the frame - Every cover made at 1080×1920 Keep highlight titles short too. The title under each circle is cut off when it is long, and a cover that says Menu above a title that says Menu twice over adds nothing. Let the cover and the title split the job: a symbol in the circle, a plain word underneath. ## Making a full set quickly The fastest way to a matching row is one design duplicated, with only the word or icon changed. In Gradiently every cover wears the same Mark, a living gradient background that renders fresh at the story size, and your words read because the Mark moves its calmest area behind them. Make the first cover, add a page per topic, and change one word on each. When your brand moves on, swapping the Mark updates the look of the whole set together. For the stories that live inside the highlights, [Instagram story templates](https://gradiently.design/guide/instagram-story-templates) covers a reusable set of frames, and [Instagram branding](https://gradiently.design/guide/instagram-branding) pulls the profile, grid and stories into one system. ## FAQ ### What size should Instagram highlight covers be? Make them 1080×1920 pixels, the same as a story. Instagram crops a circle from the centre, so keep the icon or word in the middle. ### Can I add a highlight cover without posting it to my story? Yes. Edit the highlight, choose Edit cover, then pick the image from your camera roll instead of a frame from the highlight. ### Should highlight covers use icons or words? Use icons when the topics are obvious from a picture and words when they are not. Choose one style for the whole row rather than mixing them. ### Why do my highlight covers look blurry? The circle is shown very small, so thin lines and small text break up. Use bold symbols, larger words and a PNG export. ### How many highlight covers should I make? Make one per highlight you actually keep up to date. A short row of useful, matching covers reads better than a long row of stale ones.