If your once-beautiful Instagram 9 grid now looks like a chaotic mess thanks to Instagram’s new tall profile grid format, you’re in the right place. When Instagram moved to the 2025 tall grid, it changed the dimensions enough to make seamless puzzle grids harder (but not impossible) to create.
In this post, I’ll walk you through exactly how to create a seamless Instagram 9 grid that works with the new tall grid format, from planning what goes in each square to posting all 9 images without cutting them off.
Plan your 9 grid strategy
Before you design a single thing, decide what content will live in each of your 9 squares. This is where you tell a story about who you are and what you do.
Here’s the structure I use for my Instagram 9 grid:
- About you and what you do
- Your why or mission
- A freebie or lead magnet. You might like Step-by-step guide to lead magnets.
- Educational content related to a product or service. You might like How to create your first digital product.
- Direct promotion of that product or service
- Testimonials for that product or service. You might like Where & how to use testimonials.
- FAQ for that product or service
- Testimonials for your other offerings (like 1-on-1 work)
- Direct promotion of those other offerings
This approach creates a mini sales funnel on your profile. When people land on your Instagram and see your 9 grid all together, they get a complete picture of what you offer and why they should stick around.
Once you have your structure locked in, write the captions for all 9 posts before you design anything. This keeps your messaging consistent and makes the design process faster.
Design your 9 grid in Canva
Now that you have your content strategy, time to design.
The official Instagram tall post size is 1080 pixels wide by 1350 pixels tall. However, the visible part on the profile grid (what people actually see) is narrower. Through testing, 1015 pixels wide is the sweet spot.
For a 3-by-3 grid, that means:
- Width: 3045 pixels (1015 × 3)
- Height: 4050 pixels (1350 × 3)
Start by creating a new Canva design with these exact dimensions.
Next, add guides to help you visualize the 9 separate posts. Go to File > Settings > Add guides, choose Custom, set 3 columns and 3 rows with no gap, and click Add guides. Now you can see exactly where each post begins and ends.
Add a text label in each square to remind yourself what content goes there (about page, testimonials, freebie, etc.). This keeps you on track while you design.
From there, use Canva’s Elements and Text tools to build out your design. If you don’t want to start from scratch, you can find free Instagram 9 grid templates in Canva to adapt.
Split your design into 9 separate posts
Once your full Instagram 9 grid design is done, you need to break it into individual images.
First, export your design as a PNG. Click File > Download, select PNG, and keep the size as is.
Next, use Canva’s Image Splitter app. In the sidebar, click Apps, search for “Image Splitter,” and open it. You’ll tell it to split your image into 3 rows and 3 columns, then click Split Image.
Canva will automatically generate 9 images, each 1015 pixels by 1350 pixels. The Image Splitter saves these directly to your Canva uploads folder, so you can grab them right away.
Adjust the split images for tall posts
Here’s where it gets slightly tricky. Your split images are 1015 pixels wide, but Instagram tall posts need to be 1080 pixels wide. You’ll need to add padding to the sides of each image so they fill the full width.
Create a new Canva design with the Instagram tall post size: 1080 pixels by 1350 pixels.
Add each of your 9 split images to a separate page (one image per page), then resize and center each image so it fits the full 1080-by-1350 canvas with some space on the sides.
For the corner images (1, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 9), the side space will show as white or your background color. Copy the adjacent image, paste it on that same page, and position it to extend off the edge. This creates the illusion of a seamless grid when people view your profile.
For example, on the first image’s page, you’d also add part of the second image extending off the right side. On the third image’s page, you’d add part of the second image extending off the left side. Do the same for the vertical connections.
This takes a few minutes, but it ensures your grid appears fully seamless on people’s screens.
Upload and post your Instagram 9 grid
The final step is posting to Instagram. Here’s the key: post from back to front. Start with image 9 and work backward to image 1.
On Instagram, click Create > Create Post. Select your first image (image 9). When Instagram asks about cropping, change it to 4:5 or Original. Don’t use the default square crop, or you’ll cut off parts of your grid.
Paste your caption and hit Share.
Repeat this for all 9 images in reverse order. When you’re done, scroll to your profile and see your seamless Instagram 9 grid come together.
Make your grid work for your business
Your Instagram 9 grid is one of the most valuable real estate on your profile. It’s the first thing visitors see, and it tells them whether you’re worth following. Use it to showcase your offers, build trust with testimonials, and make it easy for people to understand what you do.
Want a head start on your 9 grid?
If you’d rather skip the fiddly setup (correct dimensions, guides, splitting the design, adjusting for the tall format), I’ve got a free Instagram 9 grid Canva template that handles all of that for you. Drop in your content, export, and post.
