Navigating Instagram’s New Rectangular Grid: What Photographers Need to Know
“ A cohesive, high-quality Instagram feed isn’t just a portfolio—it’s your most powerful tool for attracting clients and growing your photography business.”
Square vs Rectangular Instagram Posts
Instagram has officially transitioned its profile grid from the iconic square format to a rectangular 4:5 aspect ratio. While this shift aligns with the platform’s focus on vertical content and modern user preferences, it has significant implications for photographers who rely on Instagram to showcase their work.
In this post, we’ll break down the pros and cons of the new format, offer practical strategies for adapting your photography, and explore tools to help you maintain a cohesive and professional Instagram feed. Plus, we’ll share tips on whether to delete or archive older posts, how to audit your Instagram profile, and how to ensure your uploads are always the highest quality.
Why Did Instagram Make the Change?
Instagram’s move toward a rectangular grid reflects broader trends in content consumption. With vertical content dominating social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts, Instagram aims to remain competitive by prioritizing visuals optimized for mobile viewing. The 4:5 aspect ratio allows for a more immersive display of vertical content, which naturally aligns with how most users capture and view images on their smartphones.
However, this change doesn’t come without challenges—particularly for photographers accustomed to the traditional square grid.
The Benefits of the 4:5 Rectangular Grid for Photographers
1. Enhanced Visual Storytelling
The 4:5 aspect ratio offers more vertical space, allowing photographers to present their work with greater detail and context. This format is particularly beneficial for:
Portraits that emphasize the subject’s full height.
Environmental portraits, where the background plays a key role in the story.
Close-up shots that benefit from a slightly elongated frame.
By providing more room to frame your images, the new format can elevate your storytelling potential.
2. Reduced Cropping
With the square format, many photographers had to compromise on composition to fit their images into Instagram’s constraints. The rectangular grid minimizes this issue, preserving the integrity of your original shot. This is especially valuable for photographers who specialize in:
Lifestyle photography with wider scenes.
Editorial and fine art photography, where composition is critical.
Action shots or group photos that require more room to breathe.
3. Alignment with Vertical Content Trends
The shift to vertical content is not just a trend—it’s the future of social media. Adapting to this format ensures your profile remains relevant and appealing to today’s audience.
The Drawbacks of the Rectangular Grid
1. Disruption of Existing Feeds
For photographers who have spent years curating a perfectly balanced square feed, this change can feel disruptive. Carefully planned layouts that relied on symmetry and alignment now appear uneven, requiring adjustments to restore harmony.
2. New Composition Challenges
While the rectangular format offers more space, it also requires a fresh approach to composition. Photographers must rethink framing to ensure their subjects remain the focal point while still taking advantage of the extended canvas.
3. Editing Older Content
If you want your past posts to align with the new grid format, you’ll need to manually adjust each image to fit. While tools exist to help, such as adding borders to square images, these solutions can sometimes detract from the overall aesthetic of your feed.
Delete vs. Archive: Should You Keep Older Posts?
With Instagram’s new rectangular grid, many photographers are revisiting their profiles to ensure a cohesive and professional look. But what should you do with older posts that don’t fit the new format or align with your current aesthetic?
When to Archive Older Posts
Archiving is the best option when you want to clean up your feed without permanently losing content or any positive benefits that content serves towards boosts in the algorithm. Archived posts are hidden from your profile but remain accessible to you. Archive posts if:
They no longer match your current style but might have sentimental or historical value.
They disrupt your new grid layout but could still be repurposed later.
You’re pivoting your niche and want to focus on new content without deleting your history.
When to Delete Older Posts
Deleting posts is a more permanent solution. Use it for content that:
Is low quality or no longer represents your brand.
Was tied to events or promotions that are irrelevant now.
Received minimal engagement or negative feedback and doesn’t contribute to your profile.
Guide to Auditing Your Instagram Profile
Now is the perfect time to revisit your Instagram profile, optimize your feed, and ensure it’s working as a powerful marketing tool. Here’s a step-by-step guide to auditing your profile:
Step 1: Review Your Bio
Your bio is one of the first things visitors see. Ensure it’s clear, concise, and reflects your brand. Include:
Who you are and what you do (e.g., “Portrait Photographer Specializing in Fine Art and Family Sessions”).
A call-to-action (e.g., “Book your session today!” or “DM for inquiries”).
A link to your website, booking page, or portfolio. A good idea is to use a LinkTree style url that is hosted through a 3rd party service or, even better, a landing page on your own website. The Linktree can have buttons that link to featured content, promotions or other url's that you want to highlight.
Step 2: Evaluate Your Profile Picture
Your profile picture should be:
A clear representation of your brand (your logo or a professional headshot).
High-quality and easily recognizable, even at a small size.
Step 3: Analyze Your Feed Layout
Look at your profile as a whole. Does it feel cohesive and visually appealing? Consider:
Color schemes: Are your images consistent in tone and style?
Variety: Do you balance different types of posts, like portraits, behind-the-scenes shots, and graphics?
Alignment: Do posts fit the new rectangular grid?
Step 4: Assess Post Quality
Review each post and ask:
Does it showcase your best work?
Does it align with your current brand and services?
Does it include engaging captions that encourage interaction?
Pro Tip: How to Upload Content in the Highest Quality
Photographers take great care to create visually stunning images, so ensuring your content looks its best on Instagram is critical. However, many users don’t realize that Instagram compresses uploads by default, which can lower the quality of your photos and videos.
To make sure your content is uploaded at the highest possible quality, follow these steps:
Go to Your Profile: Tap the profile icon at the bottom right to access your profile.
Open Settings: Tap the ☰ More Options menu in the top right.
Navigate to Media Quality: Under the "Your app and media" section, select Media quality.
Enable High-Quality Uploads: Toggle the Upload at highest quality option to turn it on.
Why This Matters
High-quality uploads allow your visuals to appear sharp, vibrant, and professional—essential for photographers using Instagram to showcase their work. While enabling this feature may slightly increase upload times, it ensures your audience sees your content as you intended. This simple adjustment can make a significant difference in how your portfolio is perceived online.
Embrace the Change
Instagram’s transition to a rectangular grid may feel daunting at first, but it presents new opportunities to showcase your work in an immersive and dynamic way. By auditing your profile, adjusting your content strategy, and enabling high-quality uploads, you can ensure your Instagram remains a powerful platform for attracting and booking clients.
Ready to elevate your Instagram game? Start by auditing your profile today, and let us know how the changes are helping you grow your photography business!
Instagram Templates for Photographers
Looking for Instagram templates that have the new 4:5 ratio rectangular format? The Imaginator Studio created an Instagram template bundle that contains 188 canva templates that feature coordinating modern aesthetic Instagram posts, stories, carousels and highlight covers. You can customize the Instagram templates using either a free or pro Canva account to match your brand by uploading your own images and changing the font, text and colors. Find the Modern Photography Instagram Social Media Template Bundle in the Imaginator Studio Etsy store.
