Get the order right first time
How to post a split image on Instagram
Grids go up backwards. Carousels go up normally. Almost every broken puzzle feed comes from mixing those two rules up.
The rule
A profile grid fills from the top left with your newest post, so the last piece of the picture is published first. A carousel is one post and keeps the order you attach the slides in.
| Format | Posts used | Upload order |
|---|---|---|
| Profile grid (3×3, 3×2, 3×1) | One per tile | Backwards — bottom right first |
| Carousel or panorama | One, total | Normal — slide 1 first |
| X (Twitter) mosaic | One, total | Normal — left to right |
Posting a profile grid
- Have all the tiles on the device you post from, and the captions written.
- Sort the folder by file name — the names start with the posting order.
- Publish tile 1. Thats the bottom right corner of the finished picture.
- Publish 2, then 3, and so on, without posting anything else in between.
- Open your profile and check it reads correctly from the top left.
Posting a carousel
Start one post, choose the multiple-images option, select every slide in reading order. Two things to watch: every slide is cropped to match the shape of the first one, so keep them all the same shape. And selecting files on a phone sometimes picks them up in the order you tapped rather than the order they are named, so check the preview before you share.
If you got it wrong
Theres no reordering. None. Archiving removes a post from the grid rather than moving it, and editing can't change its position. So the only fix is deleting the posts that are out of place and publishing them again in the right order. If the whole set is backwards, delete all of them — its quicker than trying to patch it.
Other things that break a grid
- Posting something else halfway through. Everything after it shifts by one place.
- A Reel published in the middle. Reels appear in the grid on most accounts, so they shift it just like a photo.
- Deleting one tile later. The rest close up around the gap and the picture scrambles.
Questions
Which image do I post first for a 3x3 grid?
The bottom right one, numbered 1 on every tool here. Your newest post lands top left, so the grid fills backwards.
Can I reorder posts?
No. Theres no reordering, and archiving takes a post out of the grid rather than moving it. Fixing a grid means deleting and reposting.
Is a carousel posted backwards too?
No. A carousel is one post and the slides keep the order you attach them in. Slide 1 first, normally.
What if I post something in the middle of the set?
Everything published after it shifts one place along and the picture scrambles. You have to delete the interruption and everything after it, then repost.
Can I schedule the tiles instead of posting by hand?
You can, as long as the schedule contains nothing else and they are queued in the right order. In practice scheduling is where a lot of grids go wrong, because something else is already in the queue.
Need the tiles first?
Every one of these numbers the pieces in the order you publish them.