Instagram Photos Not Looking Sharp? Try These Tips

Tweak these options to upload high-quality photos on Instagram.

Have you ever taken a photo that looked amazing on your phone, camera, or computer—only to upload it to Instagram and notice that the quality is much worse? If so, you're not alone.

Instagram compresses files uploaded to its platform to keep its storage space as small as possible. And while this makes sense from a business perspective, that doesn't make ugly-looking images any less annoying for users.

Fortunately, you can limit compression on your Instagram photos. This simple guide will show you three techniques for doing so.

1. Resize Your Photos Correctly

The easiest way to limit compression on the photos you upload to Instagram is by resizing the photos according to the platform's requirements.

Below are the different formats you'll need to keep in mind when resizing your content:

• Portrait post on your feed: 4:5
• Instagram story: 16:9
• Landscape posts: 1:9:1
• Square photos on your feed/profile picture uploads: 1:1

You can use several free apps to change your Instagram photos' dimensions. Adobe Spark is a good choice if you're resizing images from your computer, while Photoshop Express (free for iOS and Android) is a helpful smartphone alternative.

2. Change Your Lightroom Export Settings

Even if your photos are now the correct size, you'll still need to take a couple of extra steps to limit compression. If you use photo editing software like Adobe Lightroom, you can tweak your export settings to compensate for any changes that happen when uploading your pictures.

When you upload your photos, you should ensure that you change their format to JPEG. Moreover, it's a good idea to ensure that you export in the maximum quality available—otherwise, your image will lack detail when you share it on Instagram.

You can also tweak the dimensions to maximize sharpness, as this video explains:

It's worth taking note of the settings you need to use. This is especially true if you share your photos elsewhere—such as on a personal website. The dimensions for those activities will vary, so you'll need to change them back afterward.

3. Limit Your Transfer Steps

Okay, so you've changed the size of your photos, and they're ready to publish on Instagram. You've also checked your export settings on Lightroom, and everything looks good. The final step to limit compression on your photo is to reduce the number of times you transfer the image.

Every time you transfer a photo, you could risk having it compressed further by the platform you use. Try to avoid sending photos to yourself via instant messaging services like Instagram. You'll probably find your pictures altered to speed up viewing performance.

Google Drive will also compress your photos, as will Google Photos.

If you use a Mac and an iPhone, the best solution to this problem is transferring files via AirDrop. This is a good option regardless of whether you use Adobe editing software or something else.

If you've got an Android phone, you can use Nearby Share to transfer your pictures. Another way to limit compression is saving from Lightroom Creative Cloud; you can also try this if you have an iPhone.

Make Your Instagram Photos Look Better

Instagram is one of the best platforms to share your visual work, regardless of whether you're a professional photographer or simply wish to share moments with your friends. But when uploading to the platform, you must keep in mind how compression works.

While it's difficult to stop any platform from compressing your photos in some form, taking action to limit the damage will help you share higher-quality images. And when you do that, you'll feel more often like they look as they did on your camera.

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