Lightroom export settings for Instagram: every setting, and where it comes from
These are the Lightroom export settings for Instagram if you post from the Instagram app:
- Crop first: crop to the shape you want in Lightroom (3:4 portrait fills the profile grid tile).
- Image Format: JPEG.
- Color Space: sRGB.
- Quality: high. We use 90; no number is proven best (more on that below).
- Limit File Size To: off.
- Resize to Fit: Width & Height, 1080 × 1440 pixels, with Don't Enlarge ticked.
- Resolution: leave it as it is. It only matters for print.
- Output Sharpening: Sharpen For Screen, Amount Standard.
- Metadata: your choice. Tick Remove Location Info if you don't want GPS data in the file.
Each setting below links to Adobe's or Instagram's own page, so you can check it yourself. Last checked 24 October 2026. If you're still deciding on the shape, start with our Instagram post size guide.
Or skip the export dialog. Our Lightroom plugin handles the export for you: JPEG, sRGB, sharpened for screen, sized for Instagram when it posts. See how it works →
What are the best Lightroom export settings for Instagram?
JPEG, sRGB, 1080 pixels wide, sharpened for screen, cropped to the shape you want before you export. Instagram's app keeps photos between 320 and 1080 pixels wide at their original resolution as long as the shape is between 1.91:1 and 3:4, so an export that already fits leaves Instagram nothing to resize or crop.
Here is the whole Export dialog in Lightroom Classic, panel by panel:
| Export dialog panel | Setting | Set it to | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| File Settings | Image Format | JPEG | The format Meta's API accepts for photo posts |
| File Settings | Quality | High (we use 90) | Instagram re-compresses and doesn't say how, so no number is proven best |
| File Settings | Color Space | sRGB | Meta converts other colour spaces to sRGB |
| File Settings | Limit File Size To | Off | Not needed; Meta's only published cap is 8 MB, through its API |
| File Settings | HDR Output | Off, unless you've tested it | Neither Instagram page we read says what happens to an HDR file |
| Image Sizing | Resize to Fit | Width & Height, W 1080, H 1440 pixels | Fits every shape Instagram's app keeps uncropped |
| Image Sizing | Don't Enlarge | Ticked | Stops Lightroom enlarging a small crop |
| Image Sizing | Resolution | Leave as is | Adobe describes it as a print setting |
| Output Sharpening | Sharpen For | Screen, Amount Standard | Adobe's default; see the sharpening section |
| Metadata | Include | Your choice | Controls what is written into your file |
| Metadata | Remove Location Info | Ticked, if you don't want GPS data shared | Removes GPS data from the file |
| Watermarking | Watermark | Your choice | A style decision, not a quality one |
Sources: Adobe's Export files to disk page for every Lightroom setting; Instagram's image resolution help page for the app's sizes; Meta's media reference for the format, colour space and 8 MB cap. All read on 24 October 2026.
What size should you export from Lightroom for Instagram?
1080 pixels wide, in a shape between 1.91:1 landscape and 3:4 portrait. Set Resize to Fit to Width & Height at 1080 × 1440 and Lightroom gives you 1080 × 1440 for a 3:4 portrait, 1080 × 1350 for 4:5, 1080 × 1080 for a square and 1080 × 720 for a 3:2 landscape.
That works because Width & Height, in Adobe's words, "resizes the photo to fit within the specified width and height, retaining the original aspect ratio". Instagram's help page explains the 1080: "If you share a photo at a higher resolution, we size it down to a width of 1080 pixels." Exporting wider than that only hands the resize to Instagram.
A shape outside 1.91:1 to 3:4 "will be cropped to fit a supported ratio", says the same page. So do the crop in Lightroom with the Crop tool, where you choose what stays in the frame.
Should you export in sRGB for Instagram?
Yes, export in sRGB. Meta's developer documentation says images in other colour spaces "will have their color spaces converted to sRGB", so a file in another space gets converted after you've uploaded it, not in Lightroom.
Lightroom's Color Space menu offers sRGB, AdobeRGB, ProPhoto RGB and others and converts the photo to the one you pick. Choosing sRGB means the conversion happens in Lightroom, under your control.
What JPEG quality should you use for Instagram?
Use a high setting; we use 90, but nobody outside Instagram can tell you the best number. Instagram re-compresses photos after upload and doesn't publish how, so any "perfect" quality figure you read is a guess.
Adobe describes the Quality slider plainly: it "specifies the amount of compression", from 0 to 100, and JPEG compression discards data to make the file smaller. You'll see claims that 100 makes Instagram compress harder, or that 80 to 85 is the sweet spot. Neither Instagram nor Meta says anything of the kind on the pages we read, and we haven't measured it, so we won't repeat either.
What we can say: the only file size limit Meta publishes for an Instagram photo is 8 MB, through its API. Limit File Size To makes Lightroom aim for a size you name, so leave it off unless a file is ever refused.
What does Lightroom's Output Sharpening for Screen do?
It adds sharpening on export, on top of any sharpening you set in Develop, and it is tuned to the output you choose. Adobe says "the amount of sharpening that Lightroom Classic applies is based on the output media and resolution you specify", and that in most cases you can leave Amount on Standard.
Because the sharpening is worked out for the size you export, exporting at the 1080 pixels Instagram's app shows means it is calculated for that size, not for a bigger file Instagram then shrinks.
We haven't measured whether Low, Standard or High looks best after Instagram's own compression, and Instagram doesn't publish what that compression does. So start with Adobe's default, Standard, and compare a test post on your phone before you change it.
Does resolution (PPI) matter for Instagram?
No: Instagram works in pixels, so the Resolution box changes nothing about how your photo looks there. Adobe says the Resolution setting is for "files intended for print output", and Instagram's help page only ever talks about width in pixels.
A 1080 × 1440 export at 72 PPI and the same export at 300 PPI have the same pixels. The number is a note for a printer, and a phone screen doesn't read it.
Should you keep metadata when you export for Instagram?
Keep what you want written into the file, and tick Remove Location Info if you don't want GPS data in it. Adobe's Metadata options run from Copyright Only to All, and Remove Location Info "removes GPS metadata from photos, even if All Except Camera Raw & Camera Info or All is chosen".
Neither Instagram page we read says what Instagram keeps from your metadata after upload. Treat your copyright line as a record in your own file, not as protection on Instagram.
Why do Lightroom exports look soft on Instagram?
The causes you control are size and shape: Instagram enlarges anything narrower than 320 pixels, shrinks anything wider than 1080, and crops shapes outside 1.91:1 to 3:4. Instagram's help page lists all three, which is why exporting at 1080 wide in a supported shape is the fix you control.
The other cause is Instagram's own re-compression, which it doesn't document and you can't switch off. Feeding it a file that needs no resizing or cropping is the most you can do.
Do the settings change if a scheduler posts for you?
Yes, slightly: a scheduler posts through Meta's API, which accepts photos up to 1440 pixels wide and shapes from 4:5 to 1.91:1. Meta's media reference lists JPEG only, 8 MB maximum, a minimum width of 320 and a maximum of 1440, "will be scaled down to the maximum if necessary".
So for a scheduler, the documented tallest shape is 4:5 (1080 × 1350, or up to 1440 × 1800), not the app's 3:4. Our post size guide covers what we saw when we posted taller shapes through the API.
How do you save these as a Lightroom export preset?
Set everything once in the Export dialog, then click Add at the bottom of the Preset panel on the left, name it and click Create. Those are Adobe's own steps, and the preset then sits in that panel for every export after.
Name it for the shape and the door, such as "Instagram app 1080", so you don't pick the wrong one when you're tired. If you post both from the app and through a scheduler, save one preset for each.
