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Rob JB
Participating Frequently
December 1, 2023
Question

Resizing image in Lightroom.

  • December 1, 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 18530 views

Totally confused. I've found numerous helpful guides online how to resize, "shrink," an image in Lightroom so it fits within Instagram's parameters, but nothing works. When I open the file in Instagram it is no different in size than the images I normally export to Instagram. I lose the impact of my images when Instagram crops them. I need the entire photo to appear, not a truncated version.

 

I must be doing something wrong, since I would imagine this is a very common practice.

 

Any guidance - in plain english - will be appreciated.

Rob

    4 replies

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    Carole34664108yuf7
    Participant
    January 8, 2024

    I'm having the identical problem. I've followed the advice for the resizing parameters in Lightroom, but it makes no difference what I do. I'm not a fan of Photoshop. but can muddle through with it if I have very good instructions in laymans language

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    Robert2785522237p4
    Participant
    January 8, 2024

    Carole, I gave up trying to resize in Lightroom and Photoshop. There are numerous apps that are either free (if you don't mind ads) or  minimal cost. The one I use cost about $10, and it takes about 30 seconds to complete the process. I wish I had thought about using apps instead of trying to following the online videos or the help that I had received in this community. I appreciate the input from everyone who spent the time to guide me, but it's simply much easier, at least for my purposes, to use the app.

     

    Good luck,

    Rob

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    Carole34664108yuf7
    Participant
    January 8, 2024
    Thanks Rob, you may have saved me endless hours of heartburn! Do the apps
    work on a PC?
    Keith Reeder
    Keith Reeder
    Participating Frequently
    December 1, 2023

    Are you saying that resizing it in the Export dialogue is not working?

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      Rob JBAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      December 2, 2023

      I think the answer to your question is "yes." However, I may doing this totally wrong. Can you see what I recently sent to Richard Plondon?

       

      Thanks,

      Rob

      R
      Community Expert
      richardplondonCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      December 2, 2023

      First, are you using an Instagram specific plugin directly, or are you using the standard Export to disk and then uploading the resulting JPG to Instagram?

       

      Second, can you please post a screenshot of the Export resizing settings you are using - or if you are using an export plugin, a screenshot from that.

       

      You can grab a rectangular area screenshot (Win+Shift+S) and then paste the copied image straight into the text of a reply - this is more convenient for the reader, plus some people are reluctant to open attachments.

      R
      Community Expert
      richardplondonCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      December 1, 2023

      The resizing specification width 1080, height 1350 will I think maximise your image for Instagram's requirement. It doesn't make any difference in this case what number you put for "Resolution" in the Resizing section. The "tallest" accepted aspect ratio is 4:5, which works out to 1350 high when the width is 1080. Portrait images that are narrower than this 4:5 ratio will export to suit that 1350 height, being made however much smaller than 1080 wide as follows naturally from their shape. All other image shapes will export to suit the 1080 width requirement, with their height being whatever follows naturally.

       

       

       

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      SassyWC
      Participating Frequently
      March 31, 2024

      Should you resize in Develop/Crop first then still choose resize to fit in the export?

       

      JohanElzenga
      Community Expert
      JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      March 31, 2024

      You need to understand the difference between resizing and cropping. Lightroom can only resize on export, because it does not alter original photos. However, resizing only changes the total number of pixels, not the aspect ratio. If you want to change the aspect ratio as well (from rectangle to square, for example), then you need to crop first. That is what you do in Lightroom before you export.

       

      -- Johan W. Elzenga
        B
        Community Expert
        Bill SpragueCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        December 1, 2023

        Are you asking about cropping to an aspect ratio, like square, or changing the pixel count?

         

        I think Instagram allows images with a maximum aspect ratio of 4:5, when they are in a vertical orientation. Horizontal images are also allowed to be as “tall” as the 4:5 aspect, though many photographers will crop to 1:1 (square) in this case.  Use the Crop tool in the Develop module to get it to this aspect ration or "shape".  

         

        The recommended image size for Instagram is 1080 pixels on the longest side.  Therefore, in the Export dialog, set the image size to 1080 pixels wide under the “Image Sizing” section. Ensure you uncheck the “Resize to Fit” option to maintain the aspect ratio.

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        Community Expert
        richardplondonCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        December 1, 2023

        The "Resize to Fit" checkbox does not have to do with aspect ratio, it controls whether the image is resized or not.

         

        If unchecked, the current crop boundary is exported at its own aspect ratio and to full original resolution.

         

        If checked, the current crop boundary is exported at its own aspect ratio and to whatever resolution you define - usually, meaning a lower overall number of pixels, however that has been defined. 

         

        Export cannot impose any different aspect ratio on the fly - either by cropping down from, or by packing-out the cropped image. If you want to do those things, either a postprocessing utility must be invoked with your export - or the images can be output to a saved JPG by the Print module, and this does have those capabilities. So, in Print you can make a "page" of the needed dimension and with a background colour that will show if any packing-out needs to happen. Then the images can either use Zoom to Fill (auto-crop) or Zoom to Fit (scaled down to contain within a boundary) behaviour.

         

        One downside with this solution: "printed" output loses all individuality as to which particular photo - with its filename, titling, keywords etc - each has derived from. Remembering that "print" can equally show a layout with more than one photo per page. Export by contrast, is designed to preserve all of that distinct-per-photo information.

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          Rob JBAuthor
          Participating Frequently
          December 1, 2023

          I just tried different settings that you as well as Bill Sprague suggested. When I exported the file and brought it into Instagram, once again the entire image is cropped and when I enlarge the top and bottom of the image don't even appear. Basically, I have a photo that is not cropped, but is too large to fit within Instagram's size limitations. I was hoping to reduce the size of the image in it's entirety, so it will fit without being truncated. In other words, I want to "shrink" the image.  I hope this makes it a bit clearer.

           

          Thanks for your guidance.

          Rob 

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