Photoshop Export Settings for Instagram (2026)
Photoshop offers many export controls, and most of them do not matter for Instagram. Five settings decide whether your post stays sharp and true to colour after upload: format, width, quality, colour profile and file name. Leave everything else on default.
The settings at a glance
| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Format | JPG, PNG for lots of text and flat areas | Instagram stores JPG internally, a good JPG gives the conversion a clean starting point |
| Width | 1080 px | Instagram scales anything wider down and anything narrower up |
| Height | 1350 px (4:5), 1080 px (1:1), 1920 px (Story) | All slides of a carousel need the same format |
| Quality | Upper end of the slider | Instagram compresses again afterwards |
| Colour profile | Convert to sRGB, embed profile | Otherwise colours often look flat on phones |
| Metadata | None, or copyright only | Smaller file, no location data in the image |
| Resolution (ppi) | Irrelevant | Instagram only knows pixels |
| File name | 01_, 02_, 03_ | Order when you upload |
Export As or Save for Web?
Export As (File > Export > Export As) is the current dialog. There you set format, quality, size and colour space, and you see a preview. Save for Web (Legacy) is still under File > Export, shows JPG quality as a number from 0 to 100, and is the way to export slices for panoramas. The scale of the quality slider differs between Photoshop versions.
In the Adobe Community, users report inconsistent JPG quality from the Export As slider. We have not reproduced that in every version. If a file looks off, export it once through Save for Web (Legacy) and compare both files at 100 percent.
Colour: always sRGB
Photoshop documents often carry Adobe RGB or another profile. Phones and Instagram expect sRGB. Without conversion, vivid greens and deep reds look duller on the phone than in Photoshop. Tick "Convert to sRGB" when you export. In the document itself you set the profile under Edit > Convert to Profile if you want to work in sRGB from the start.
Size and sharpness
If you work at double size, for example 2160 × 2700, scale down to 1080 pixels wide on export. Otherwise Instagram does the scaling and you give up control over how it is calculated. When you reduce in the Image Size dialog, "Bicubic Sharper (reduction)" is the classic choice. If you sharpen afterwards, do it lightly: Instagram compresses again and exaggerates hard sharpening edges.
Story and Reel
Stories and Reels use 1080 × 1920 pixels. The settings are the same, only the height changes. The zones the app covers are in the article Safe zones for Instagram.
Check before you upload
- Open the exported file and check: 1080 pixels wide, colour profile sRGB.
- Look at it at 100 percent. Text and lines must be clean.
- Move it to your phone without a messenger that shrinks images.
- Check the media quality in the Instagram app. Depending on the version the option is called "Upload at highest quality".
More on blur after uploading is in Canva post blurry on Instagram. It is written for Canva, and the causes apply to Photoshop just the same.
On to Canva
If the work continues in Canva, the PSD to Canva tool prepares the file: the full image, the layers as PNG with a layer list, and the fonts of your text layers. Try Canva's own PSD import first, it works in many cases.
Postd needs none of these controls
Postd has no export dialog with eight settings. The export gives every slide at 1080 pixels wide in the format of your carousel, named in the right order. The format is JPG, with Pro you also get PNG and export up to 2×. Pro costs €6.99 a month or €69 a year. Open the editor without an account.
FAQ
What are the right Photoshop settings for Instagram?
JPG at high quality (PNG for lots of text and flat areas), 1080 pixels wide, 1350 pixels tall at 4:5, the sRGB colour profile and no unnecessary metadata. Resolution in ppi does not matter.
Which JPG quality should I choose in Photoshop?
The upper end of the slider. In Save for Web (Legacy) that is about 80 to 100, in Export As the upper part of the scale. Instagram compresses again afterwards, so a low setting does not pay off.
Do I have to export in sRGB for Instagram?
Yes. Phones and Instagram expect sRGB. With another profile, colours often look flat after upload. Ticking "Convert to sRGB" on export takes care of it.
Why do my Photoshop exports look different on Instagram?
Usually it is the colour profile, wrong dimensions or the app's compression. Check sRGB, 1080 pixels wide and the upload quality setting in the Instagram app.