Instagram Grid Maker
This page is the Instagram grid maker and carousel splitter. Upload one photo and it cuts the pieces for a 3 × 3 profile grid, or the slides for a carousel post, then hands you every piece as its own file plus one ZIP. Download them in the order shown with your results and the picture lines up again in the feed. The cutting happens in your browser, so your photo is never uploaded.
- 1 Upload your photo
- 2 Choose columns
- 3 Preview the pieces
- 4 Download and post
Drop your images here
or · PNG, JPG/JPEG or WebP
Lower quality means a smaller file. PNG always keeps every pixel, so this control only affects JPG and WebP.
Piece sizes come from your own photo
Every piece is cut out of the photo you upload, so its size is a share of that photo: a 3 × 3 grid gives pieces that are 1/3 of the width and 1/3 of the height, and a 1 × 3 carousel keeps the full height with 1/3 of the width. The exact pixel size for your photo is worked out with the same maths the splitter uses, and it is shown here:
Splitting never resizes anything — the pieces keep your original pixels. When the width or the height does not divide evenly, the pieces along that edge differ by 1 px. By exact pixel size is the only setting that changes the piece size, and Fit every piece to 4:5 trims the photo before the cut, which is a crop rather than a resize. On export, PNG keeps every pixel; JPG is a lossy format, so a JPG export re-compresses the image.
Posting order: profile grid vs carousel
Profile grid. Instagram shows your newest post first in the profile grid, so the pieces of a grid go up in the opposite of the order they were cut: the piece numbered last goes up first, and piece 1 goes up last. The file names carry the position — _r1c1 is the top-left piece, and the highest row and column numbers are the bottom-right — and the preview that comes with your results numbers the pieces in cut order, so reading it backwards gives you the upload order.
For a 3 × 3 grid there is a longer walkthrough on the nine-piece page: a row-by-row table of which piece goes up first, and the crop to watch on the profile thumbnails.
Carousel. The pieces are already in swipe order. Add them to one post as slides 1, 2, 3 and the picture reads left to right.
How to use this image splitter for Instagram
1 · Pick columns mode
Choose Into columns above. Columns cut your photo into vertical strips, which is exactly what a carousel needs — each strip becomes one slide.
2 · Set the number of slides
Set the column count to how many slides you want to post: 2, 3 or 4 works best. Instagram allows up to 10, but the more pieces you make, the narrower each one looks.
3 · Post them in order
Download the ZIP, then add the pieces to one carousel post left to right, in the order the files are named. Swiping through then reads as one continuous picture.
Pieces that come out at 4:5 (1080 × 1350)
A portrait post on Instagram is 4:5 — 1080 × 1350 px is that shape at full size. Turn on Fit every piece to 4:5 above and this page stops asking you to crop first: it trims the photo to the shape that makes every piece exactly 4:5, then cuts it.
1 · Pick how many pieces
Choose columns, rows or a grid and set the count. The trim is worked out from that count, so the numbers under the switch update while you type.
2 · Read what gets cut
The trim is a centre crop: whatever falls outside the 4:5 frame goes equally to the two long sides, and the exact pixel counts are listed here before you split. A 1600 × 900 photo cut into three columns, for instance, is trimmed to 1596 × 665 — 4 px off the left and right, 235 px off the top and bottom — and every piece lands on 532 × 665.
3 · Take the numbers with you
Download piece list (JSON) writes every piece with its x, y, width and height, so you can check the ratios yourself or hand them to another tool.
Nothing is stretched and nothing is uploaded — both the trim and the cut happen on a canvas in your own browser. If you would rather keep the photo exactly as it is, switch back to Keep the photo's shape; that is also the setting to use for a profile grid, where the pieces only need to tile back together.
What people split with this Instagram picture splitter
A panorama that scrolls
Shoot one wide landscape, split it into three columns and post all three at once. Instead of squeezing a panorama into a square, the viewer swipes across it.
A tall photo that fits the frame
Tall shots get cropped hard in a portrait post. Split the picture into rows instead and let people swipe down through it — nothing gets cut off.
A before-and-after reveal
Put the two versions side by side in one wide canvas, split it down the middle, and the swipe becomes the reveal.
A wide design or moodboard
Layout boards and timelines are usually much wider than they are tall. Cut them into columns so every part stays readable at full size. When the same board has to end up on paper, split the image across several pages for printing at full size.
Questions
How many pieces should I use?
For a carousel, two or three is the sweet spot: each piece gets less width the more you make, so at five or six columns a detailed photo starts to look cramped on a phone screen. For a profile grid, 3 rows × 3 columns (nine posts) is the usual choice — use the 3 × 3 Grid preset.
Will the seams line up when I post?
Yes, as long as you keep every piece. Nothing is resized or re-sampled, so the edges match exactly — that is the whole point of splitting rather than re-cropping.
What size should the original photo be?
Start with the widest version you have. A 3000 px wide photo split into three gives you three 1000 px slides, which is comfortably above what Instagram needs.
Does this work for Stories or a profile grid?
For a 3 × 3 profile grid use grid mode at 3 rows × 3 columns — the posting order section above tells you which piece goes up first. Columns mode is the other half of this page: it cuts the slides for a carousel. Stories are a different shape, and this page cuts the photo you give it rather than adding that frame for you.
Do my pieces come out at 4:5, or 1080 × 1350?
They do if you turn on Fit every piece to 4:5 in the tool. The photo is trimmed to the shape that gives every piece that exact ratio, then cut, so each file lands on 4:5 — 1080 × 1350 px is 4:5 at full size. Your own files keep whatever pixel size the trimmed photo allows; this page never upscales and never resizes to a fixed number.
What part of my photo gets cut off?
Only the two long sides, and the same amount on each. The line under the 4:5 switch names the numbers for your photo before you split — how many pixels come off the left and right, or the top and bottom — and each result card repeats them. If your photo is already the right shape, nothing is cut at all.
Can I use exact pixel sizes together with 4:5?
Not yet. 4:5 is worked out from how many pieces you ask for, so it runs on By number of pieces; while the switch is on, By exact pixel size is greyed out. Turn 4:5 off and exact pixel sizes come back.
Are my photos uploaded anywhere?
No. Your image files are processed locally in your browser and are not uploaded. They stay on your device.
Is this a grid maker, a carousel splitter, or a nine-piece splitter?
It is the first two. Grid mode cuts any rows × columns you set for a profile grid, and columns mode cuts vertical slides for a carousel — 3 × 3 Grid is one preset among the layouts it can produce, not the whole job. If nine equal squares is all you need, the nine-piece page is built for exactly that.
← Back to the full splitter — for sprite sheets, printing and every other layout.