How to Make a Seamless Instagram Panorama

It has been a couple of years since Instagram introduced the feature that allows you to post multiple pictures simultaneously in a single post. This gave rise to a lot of creativity one of which is creating seamless panorama by slicing your picture in two.

If you are planning on taking advantage of this feature this is how you can do it.              

First of all, you will need two things:  Adobe Photoshop (or any pixel-based photo editor that lets you work with layers) and a basic understanding of Instagram’s requirements for sizing photos.

First, about the sizing: Instagram automatically resizes and compresses your images anytime you post. For example, square photos will always end up being 1080 x 1080 and vertical ones will always be 1080 (w) x 1350 (h). So if you want to create a panorama made out of two vertical photos, you’ll need to duplicate the pixels lengthwise, while the height stays the same: 1080 x 1350 becomes 2160 x 1350. Or if you choose to create a panorama made out of three images, you’ll use 3240 x 1350. This is also applicable if you’re starting off with square images, which will fit into a panoramic space with twice the width (2160 x 1080).

CREATE YOUR PANORAMA

Okay, let’s open your Photoshop and then open up two documents.

  • The first one should be 2160 x 1350; this is where you will split your pictures into two parts. Let us name the first document “image 1”
  • The second document should be 1080 x 1350; this is where you will drop your single images and get them ready to export. We can name this document “Slices.”
  • Open or drag your image into the first document (“image 1”).
  • Go to “View” in your menu bar and select “New Guide Layout.”
  • Set two columns with zero width and zero gutter. If rows are selected, deselect them since you won’t need to cut horizontally, only vertically. This will create a turquoise line right down the middle of your photo.
  • NB: Make sure your “Snap to Guide” is turned on. It’ll make your work easier.
  • Select the marquee tool on your left-hand side (or hit the shortcut “M” key) and drag your cursor over the first half of the photo. If Snap To Guide is turned on, your selection will automatically snap to the turquoise vertical line you created earlier.
  • Now that you have your selection, you can simply copy and paste it to a new layer on the “Slices” document.
  • Go back to the “Full Image” document and repeat for the other half of the image.

Now you’re ready to export. You can either export each layer at once using Photoshop’s “Layers to Files’ ‘ option (under “File” > “Export”) or you can export each layer individually. In case you want to double-check your final export settings, you can use “Save for Web.”

If you’re using a PC, it might be easier to save your files to a cloud service, where you can easily access.

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