As a creative, you know the importance of showcasing your work to the world on social media. However, if you have ever uploaded an image to Instagram, you might have noticed that the image quality gets compressed, resulting in a loss of detail and sharpness. In this post, we will discuss how to avoid compression that occurs when uploading your images to Instagram.
When you upload your photos to Instagram, the platform downscales the image to a width of just 1080 pixels, resulting in compression. To avoid this, you must first resize your photo. Otherwise, Instagram will recompress and resize your image, and you will not like the result.
For photos taken using a mobile phone, you can use Adobe Lightroom Mobile to export photos at a smaller file size and a 4:5 aspect ratio. Using Lightroom Mobile to take photos also allows you to capture pictures in DNG format, which produces a much higher quality digital image than a JPEG.
For photos captured with a DSLR or mirrorless camera, Adobe Lightroom Classic CC makes it easy to adjust the aspect ratio and crop the image accordingly. Once you have finished processing your photo, click on the R key to activate the crop overlay inside the develop module, adjust the crop, and export your image.
When exporting your image, ensure that you check the box “resize to fit” and choose the width and height option. Enter 1080 pixels for the width and keep the resolution at 300 pixels per inch. Additionally, make sure to set the file format to JPG, color space to sRGB, and quality to at least 75 pixels.
Note that Facebook can store images up to 2048 pixels across. Still, if you share your images directly from Facebook to Instagram, Facebook only gets the same resolution that Instagram uses (1080 pixels across). It is best to upload your images separately to Facebook if you want to maximize resolution.
In conclusion, to avoid compression while uploading your photos to Instagram, you must first resize your photo. Use Adobe Lightroom Mobile for mobile photos and Adobe Lightroom Classic CC for DSLR or mirrorless camera photos. By following these steps, you can showcase your work on Instagram without losing detail and sharpness.