# Instagram Reel cover size and how to design one [Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/instagram-reel-cover-size) Your Reel cover is seen far more often than your Reel. It sits in your grid, your Reels tab and in shared previews, cropped differently in each. Here is how to make one that survives all of them. ## The short version - The Instagram Reel cover size is 1080×1920 pixels, the same 9:16 frame as the Reel itself. - Your profile grid shows Reel covers as 3:4 tiles cropped from the centre, which hides roughly the top and bottom 240 pixels. - Keeping every word and logo inside the middle 1080×1350 of the cover keeps it readable in the grid and in tighter previews. - An uploaded cover image gives you a designed title card, while a frame picked from the video only works if that frame was planned. - Covers that share one background, one type style and one position for the title make a profile grid look deliberate. The **Instagram Reel cover size** is 1080×1920 pixels, a vertical 9:16 frame that matches the Reel. The catch is that almost nobody sees the whole thing. Your profile grid shows each cover as a 3:4 tile cut from the middle, so roughly 240 pixels disappear from the top and from the bottom. Design the full frame, but keep the title, your logo and anything that matters inside the middle 1080×1350, and the cover will read wherever Instagram shows it. ## Instagram Reel cover size at a glance | Property | Value | | --- | --- | | Cover size | 1080×1920 px | | Aspect ratio | 9:16, vertical | | Shown in the profile grid as | A 3:4 tile, cropped from the centre | | Safe area for words | The middle 1080×1350 (from 285 to 1635 px down) | | File type | PNG for type and gradients, high quality JPEG for photos | | Colour profile | sRGB | Make the cover at the full Reel size. A smaller or squarer image gets scaled and cropped in ways you can't control. The same 1080×1920 frame is used for [TikTok covers](https://gradiently.design/guide/tiktok-cover-size), YouTube Shorts covers and [Instagram Stories](https://gradiently.design/guide/instagram-story-size), so a cover system you build here travels well. The differences are in what each app lays over the top, which is covered in [social media safe zones](https://gradiently.design/guide/social-media-safe-zones). ## Where the cover appears, and how each place crops it A Reel cover has three jobs. It is the tile in your profile grid, the card in your Reels tab, and the preview people see when a Reel is shared to them. Each one shows a different slice of the same image, and the grid is the tightest of the common ones. - Full cover 9:16: 1080 × 1920 - Grid tile 3:4: 1080 × 1440 - Safe area 4:5: 1080 × 1350 The full cover, the slice the profile grid keeps, and the slightly smaller safe area that also covers tighter previews. All three share the same width. The arithmetic is simple. A 3:4 tile at 1080 wide is 1440 tall, so the grid keeps the band from 240 to 1680 pixels down and drops the rest. If you keep words inside 1080×1350 instead, centred, you have a margin of about 45 pixels inside the grid crop too, which matters because the tile is small and type that touches its edge looks accidental. The grid itself is explained properly in [Instagram grid crop](https://gradiently.design/guide/instagram-profile-grid-crop). > **The cover is not the first frame** An uploaded cover shows in the grid and the Reels tab, but the Reel still plays from its own first frame. Make that first second strong as well, because in the Reels feed it is what people actually see. ## Uploading a cover image or picking a frame When you share a Reel, Instagram lets you either choose a frame from the video or add an image from your camera roll. Both have their place, but they suit different kinds of account. ### Frame from the video - Fast, nothing extra to make - Often blurred mid movement or mid blink - No room planned for a title - Grid looks like a contact sheet - Fine for casual, personality led accounts ### Uploaded cover image - A sharp, designed title card - Title placed inside the grid safe area - Same background and type on every Reel - Grid reads as a body of work - Best for tutorials, series and businesses A useful middle path is to film or edit a deliberate title frame into the Reel, a second or so of clean background with your headline, and pick that as the cover. You get a planned image without a separate file, and the opening of the Reel matches its tile. ## How to design an Instagram Reel cover 1. **Start at 1080×1920 and mark the safe band** Draw guides at 285 and 1635 pixels from the top. Everything that has to be read goes between them. 2. **Write a title of two to five words** The grid tile is roughly a third of the phone's width. "Three dinners, one tray" survives at that size; a full sentence does not. 3. **Set it big and in one place** Choose a position, say the upper middle of the safe band, and use it on every cover so the eye knows where to look across the grid. 4. **Let the background carry the brand** Above and below the safe band, the background runs to the edges. It is what people see first in Stories shares and full previews, so make it unmistakably yours. 5. **Check the crop before you post** Crop a copy to 1080×1440 from the centre and look at it at thumbnail size. If the title is hard to read there, it is too small or too long. A vertical Reel cover reading Three dinners, one tray, with the title centred inside the grid safe area A recipe series cover: short title in the middle band, background running to every edge. A vertical Reel cover with the single word Lighting set large in the centre of the frame A one word cover for a tutorial series, readable even as a tiny grid tile. Type on a moving or photographic background loses contrast in patches. If your cover uses a gradient or a still from the video, read [text on a gradient](https://gradiently.design/guide/text-on-gradient) or [make text readable on photos](https://gradiently.design/guide/readable-text-on-photos) before you settle on colours. ## Keeping Reel covers consistent across your grid One good cover is easy. Thirty that look like they belong together is what makes a profile feel like a channel worth following. Decide three things once and keep them: the background family, the type style and the title position. Change only the words, and perhaps one accent colour per series. - Series one, deep blue: `linear-gradient(180deg, #14213d 0%, #1f4e79 55%, #3a86c8 100%)` - Series two, indigo: `linear-gradient(180deg, #14213d 0%, #3d2c6b 55%, #7a5cc4 100%)` - Series three, sea green: `linear-gradient(180deg, #14213d 0%, #1d5c55 55%, #3fa58f 100%)` One navy ground shared by every cover, with a different lift colour per series. The grid reads as one account with three clear shows. If you plan your grid as a whole, the ideas in [Instagram grid aesthetic](https://gradiently.design/guide/instagram-grid-aesthetic) apply to Reel covers just as much as to posts. Gradiently keeps the background consistent for you: every design can wear the same Mark, a living gradient that becomes yours alone once you claim it, and the Mark moves its calmest area behind your title so the words stay readable on every cover. ## Exporting and adding the cover - Export at exactly 1080×1920, so Instagram has nothing to rescale. - Use PNG when the cover is mostly type and gradient; compression shows first on smooth colour. - Add the cover when you share the Reel, under the cover option, and check the grid preview the app shows you. - Keep a master file per series, so the next episode is a change of words, not a redesign. - Look at your profile on your own phone after posting. The grid is the real test. ## FAQ ### What size should an Instagram Reel cover be? 1080×1920 pixels, a 9:16 vertical image, the same size as the Reel itself. ### How does Instagram crop Reel covers on the profile grid? The grid shows a 3:4 tile cut from the centre, which keeps the band from about 240 to 1680 pixels down and hides the top and bottom of the cover. ### Where should text go on a Reel cover? Inside the middle 1080×1350 of the frame, from about 285 to 1635 pixels down. That keeps it inside the grid crop with a small margin to spare. ### Can I use a custom image as a Reel cover? Yes. When you share a Reel you can pick a frame from the video or add an image from your camera roll as the cover. ### Is the Reel cover what plays first in the Reels feed? No. The uploaded cover appears in your grid and Reels tab, but the Reel plays from its own first frame, so that opening second needs care too.