Instagram says, “Square no more!” The news many Instagram users have been waiting for has finally arrived! In a blog post on Aug. 27, Instagram announced that it will now allow users to post photos and videos in landscape and portrait formats.
Instagram writes, “It turns out that nearly one in five photos or videos people post aren’t in the square format, and we know that it hasn’t been easy to share this type of content on Instagram: friends get cut out of group shots, the subject of your video feels cramped and you can’t capture the Golden Gate Bridge from end to end.”
Instagram’s square format has always been what set it apart from competitors and eliminated some of the dreadful editing. But image displays are now much bigger and Instagram users, including advertisers, are getting more creative with their posts, forcing Instagram to make this a permanent option.
Now, when posting an image or video, tap the format icon to change the orientation of your photo to either a portrait or landscape format. When looking at your profile in grid view, photos shared as a portrait or landscape will appear as a center-cropped square.
The change became effective later in the day after the official post. Some Instagram users will need to update their app first to see the new change. To learn more about the update, visit the Instagram Help Center.
Instagram also writes, “We’re especially excited about what this update means for video on Instagram, which in widescreen can be more cinematic than ever.”
Instagram users rejoice, and start thinking outside of the box when posting images or videos to Instagram!
Sources: Instagram Blog, AdWeek, Business Insider
