Instagram Reel cover: 1080×1920 and the safe-area trap
Instagram Reels render at 1080×1920 (9:16). The cover frame you pick shows up in feeds, profile grids, and the dedicated Reels tab — but Instagram overlays the Reel UI on top of the upper and lower portions of the frame, so the safe area for your cover image is the central horizontal band, roughly the middle 60%.
Why 1080×1920 for Reels
Reels are 9:16 vertical video. Instagram captures a frame at 1080×1920 as your Reel's static thumbnail. The cover frame also determines what users see when scrolling the Reels tab.
Safe area to avoid UI overlap
The Reels player overlays the username at the bottom-left, the audio attribution at the bottom, the like/comment/send icons at the right, and the caption at the bottom. Keep all important content in the central 60% of the frame — roughly between the 20% and 80% vertical positions.
Reel cover vs Story cover
The dimensions are identical to Instagram Story (1080×1920), but Reels use a tighter central crop on the profile grid. A Reel cover that works on Story may show too much empty space on the profile grid because Instagram crops Reels to roughly 1:1 on profile pages. Design for the center.
Frequently asked questions
Can I change my Reel cover after upload? Yes — tap the three dots on your Reel, choose Edit, then Cover. Pick from a frame or upload a custom image.
Does the cover frame need to be 9:16? Instagram accepts 9:16 as the Reel frame; non-9:16 frames get cropped to fit and lose context.
How imgsize.cc handles it
Drop your source image into the workbench above. The crop box defaults to the 9:16 aspect ratio matching Instagram Reels. Drag the corner handles to frame your cover, then Resize — your output is exactly 1080×1920 PNG, ready to upload as a custom Reel cover.