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Instagram now has horizontal and vertical mode. No more cropping photos and videos!

Alex Beech

Alex Beech

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Instagram no longer restricts photos and videos to a square format 1:1 format. The latest update to its Android and iOS app lets you upload your images and recordings without having to cut them down to size. The square is dead, long live the rectangle.

One of the first accounts to take advantage of this has been the official Star Wars’, which has posted a new teaser for ‘The Force Awakening’ in its original landscape format.

Instagram now has horizontal and vertical mode. No more cropping photos and videos!

How do I upload photos and videos in the format I want?

To enable this feature, enter and browse Instagram’s Gallery option. Choose from your camera roll the photo or video you want to upload, then tap the new button in the lower left corner. This button lets you select if you want to publish the photo or video in the old square format of Instagram, sacrificing parts of the image, or in its original rectangular form.

instagram-select-format

After activating this option you can edit your photo or video in the traditional way, adding effects, filters, etc. before publishing it to your account.

Here is a how a horizontal image is displayed on the app.

And here is one displayed vertically.

Furthermore, you are not limited to the original format or a square – the app now lets you zoom and crop photos however you choose. So, you can select exactly what you want to show, in whatever format you desire.

Cut! (Or don’t, it’s up to you)

With this update Instagram will eliminate the need for external editing apps to frame full images and create custom crops. That said, for now this change is only supported in the app and not the main Instagram site. Hopefully that will change soon.

Find out more with our comprehensive Instagram guide.

Follow me on Twitter: @MariaBaeta

Alex Beech

Alex Beech

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