Instagram 3×3 from one photo

Why the bottom-right file goes up first

A profile grid is three columns. The newest post is the top-left cell. The next newest is to its right. After three posts, the next one starts the row below. After nine posts, the first file you published is sitting at the bottom-right, and the last file you published is at the top-left.

Split photo names the top-left piece split_1_1.png and the bottom-right piece split_3_3.png. So the oldest post has to be split_3_3.png. If you publish split_1_1.png first, the finished grid is upside down.

Count the posts before you start. Nine new posts in a row rebuild the picture. A tenth post, or a story you posted in the middle, shoves the puzzle down the profile. The tool cannot lock those nine slots. It only makes the files.

Profile posting order

Make the nine files

1. Open split photo. It already shows 3 rows and 3 columns, Gap 0%, Margin 0%. Upload the photo. JPEG, PNG, and WebP are the formats the page names.
2. Leave the sliders at 0. Gap runs from 0% to 5% in steps of 0.5. Margin runs from 0% to 10% in steps of 1. Both are a percent of the photo's width and of its height. Anything above 0 is left out of the PNGs, not drawn back in as a line.
3. If you rotated or flipped first, the cut uses that view. The Rows and Columns sliders still stop at 10.
4. Press Export ZIP. The download is named split_images- plus a timestamp. Inside, row 1 is the top and column 1 is the left.
5. Publish in the table order. After the first three, open the profile. If the seams meet, post the rest. If the sides are missing, the profile crop does not match the slice. The resolution help page does not document that crop.

What 0% gap is in pixels

A 1080×1080 photo at 3×3 with gap and margin at 0 becomes nine 360×360 PNGs. A 3240×3240 photo becomes nine 1080×1080 PNGs. Same slider positions, larger source, larger tiles.

Set Gap to 5% on the 1080 square and leave Margin at 0. The gap is 54 pixels. Two gaps are 108 pixels. Each piece is 324×324, and the missing strips are not in the ZIP.

Set Margin to 10% and Gap to 0 on that same square. 108 pixels come off each edge. Each piece is 288×288. That is the wrong file for a puzzle you want to meet edge to edge.

Square, 4:5, and 3:4

Instagram's help page "Image resolution of photos you share on Instagram" was checked 2026-10-26. It says a feed photo with a width from 320 to 1080 pixels is kept when the ratio sits between 1.91:1 and 3:4. At a width of 1080, that is a height from 566 to 1440. Width above 1080 is sized down to 1080. Width under 320 is enlarged to 320. A ratio outside that range is cropped. The page is https://help.instagram.com/1631821640426723. It does not describe the profile thumbnail crop.

A square slice is inside that range. 4:5 is 1080×1350, also inside it. 3:4 is 1080×1440, which is the tall edge the page names, not a size the page rejects. The older note on this site called 4:5 the tallest feed ratio. That does not match the help page as checked on 2026-10-26. A story frame, 1080×1920, is taller than 3:4, so a feed post of that file is the one the page says it will crop.

The profile grid still crops thumbnails on its own. A 4:5 tile and a square tile can both be valid feed uploads and still fail to meet as a puzzle if the thumbnail is not the full tile. Check after the first row. The size table, including the collage presets, is on the Instagram sizes page.

Carousel uses the other order

A carousel is one post you swipe, not nine posts. Add the files in reading order, split_1_1.png first and split_3_3.png last. Use one ratio for every slide. Collage87 does not publish the carousel. It only makes the ZIP. WeChat Moments also selects split_1_1.png first. That order is written up on its own page.

Questions