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CollageCraft

How to make a collage for an Instagram story

Pick a 9:16 story layout under Social — Story Split or Story Grid work well — fill it, then export with Export for Social at the story size (1,080 x 1,920 px). Start from a 9:16 layout and nothing gets cropped; start from anything else and it will.

3 min read · Updated 2026-09-11

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Why use a collage app for stories?

Instagram's own story layout tool works, but the choice is thin and every photo keeps its own frame regardless. A dedicated collage app gives more layouts, spacing, borders, backgrounds and text, and — this is the part that matters most — saves the result so you can reuse it or post it somewhere else too.

The shape is what actually matters, more than any of that. A story is 9:16, tall and narrow. Post a square collage into one and you get empty bars, or Instagram zooms and crops it for you; build at 9:16 from the start and it fills the screen properly.

Which story layouts are there?

9:16 story layouts
LayoutCategoryPhotos
Story SplitSocial2
Story TripleSocial3
Story GridSocial4
Story FeatureSocial3 (one large on top)
Before/After StoryBefore / After2 (stacked)

Any other layout can go to a story too, but it will be cropped to fill the tall frame. Starting from a 9:16 layout avoids that.

How to make an Instagram story collage, step by step

  1. Open Templates, tap Social and choose Story Split, Story Triple or Story Grid.
  2. Tap the photo-plus icon at the top and pick your photos.
  3. Leave the top and bottom of the design fairly calm: Instagram puts your name at the top and the reply bar at the bottom of a story.
  4. Add a caption with Text or a date sticker with Stickers.
  5. Tap the globe icon to open Export for Social. Under Platform choose Instagram, then the IG Story (9:16) format.
  6. Tap Save to Photos, open Instagram and add the image to your story.

What size should a story collage be?

Instagram stories are 1,080 x 1,920 px. The story preset in Export for Social saves exactly that. The regular Export sheet sets the longest side instead, so for a 9:16 layout the sizes are:

Export sizes for a 9:16 layout
Export optionSaved sizePlan
IG Story (9:16) in Export for Social1,080 x 1,920 pxFree
HD in Export607.5 x 1,080 pxFree
2K in Export1,152 x 2,048 pxFree
4K in Export2,304 x 4,096 pxPro

HD comes out too small for a full-screen story — it gets enlarged, and soft is the kindest word for how it ends up looking. Use the story preset, or 2K.

Tips for story collages

  • Two or three photos read easiest on a phone screen; past four, keep each one simple.
  • Spacing plus a solid BG colour gives photos room to breathe — a thin gap reads cleaner than touching edges.
  • A face near the top can get covered by your own profile name. AI Crop centres on faces, then nudge the result down a bit if it still sits too high.
  • This same layout also works for Facebook, WhatsApp status, TikTok and Snapchat: Export for Social has a 9:16 format for each.

Where this trips people up

  • A square layout used for a story, which loses the sides off every photo.
  • HD saved and posted full screen — it looks blurry on anything newer than a few years old.
  • Text sitting in the bottom strip, right where the reply bar lives.

Questions and answers

Is the story collage maker free?
Yes — the story layouts and the IG Story (9:16) preset are both free, and both save with no watermark.
Can I add music or video to the story collage?
No, it only makes still images. Add the music in Instagram itself, after you've uploaded the collage to your story.
Why is my collage cropped in the story?
It's not shaped 9:16. Either start from a story layout like Story Split, or set Ratio to 9:16 before you export.

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