Instagram Reel Dimensions: Only 28% of the Archive Is Already Vertical

Only 28% of the archive is already shot vertical: 1,443 of 5,172 photos, by EXIF across 16 shoots. The rest is horizontal, shot for web.

If you're the one commissioning the shoot and deciding what format to request for social, Instagram reel dimensions aren't just a screen ratio: they're how much of what already exists works without cropping. Across the archive, only 28% of the photos are vertical — 1,443 of 5,172, counted by EXIF across 16 photo shoots (of 22 in the archive; 6 were left out for having no frames), against the reel format four independent sources checked today agree on: 1080×1920 pixels, 9:16 ratio (Instagram's own help page loads no content to confirm it directly). The remaining 72% is horizontal: shot for web, not for a vertical reel.

And it doesn't measure anything else. A reel calls for a vertical frame; content shot for web calls for horizontal. The figure doesn't say which format is better: it says what share of the archive is already ready for one or the other without cropping anything. Fitting a horizontal photo into a vertical slot means losing the sides of the frame, or the reverse.

How much of the archive is already vertical?

The share isn't even across sources. Branded campaign shoots (BRND) run nearly double the vertical share of event shoots (HOTSPOT):

What almost nobody accounts for

Even campaign work doesn't come out mostly vertical. In BRND, with framing direction and a planned shoot, only 39.8% is vertical. If the production with the most control doesn't cross 50%, a company's general archive is unlikely to either.

Events are the least reel-ready without cropping. In HOTSPOT the share drops to 20.5%. With nobody framing vertical during the shoot, the camera defaults to horizontal.

Cropping a horizontal into vertical isn't free. A photo framed horizontal loses its edges when forced into vertical: whatever sat at the edge of the frame is gone. It isn't an export setting, it's a decision that had to be made when the shutter clicked.

What to ask for when you brief a reel

If you're commissioning a reel, say so before the shoot, not after in editing. Asking for photo or video framed vertical from the start avoids the crop; if you also need to work out the light for that shoot, the guide to usable light in Mallorca, Ibiza and Madrid has the real daily window, built with the same kind of EXIF census as this figure.

Frequently asked questions

Is a reel's frame the same as a web photo's frame?

No. Four independent sources agree an Instagram reel measures 1080×1920 pixels, 9:16 ratio — Instagram's own help page doesn't expose that figure today to confirm it directly. Web content is usually horizontal. Going from one to the other after the shot means cropping the frame, not just changing the border around it.

How much of the archive already works for a reel without cropping?

28%: 1,443 vertical photos out of 5,172, counted by EXIF across 16 photo shoots in the own archive. The remaining 72% is horizontal.

Is branded material more vertical than event material?

Yes. In campaign shoots (BRND), 39.8% is already vertical; in event shoots (HOTSPOT), 20.5%. An event with no framing direction defaults to horizontal.

What should the brief ask for if the final destination is a reel?

Vertical framing from capture, not cropping in editing. 72% of the current archive is horizontal because nobody asked for vertical at the moment of shooting.