Method
How to make an Instagram top nine
Five steps. Two export sizes. One rule: the nine must come from what you published.
Step 1 — Pick the metric before anything else
Likes for reach, saves for usefulness, comments for conversation. Changing the metric later means rebuilding the entire card.
Step 2 — Work from published posts
Automatic ranking needs a Creator or Business account, because those are the accounts whose per-post counters Instagram exposes. A personal account can still use the design tools, but not the ranking.
Step 3 — Check the geometry
Nine tiles at 3:4, three-pixel gaps, the year discreet. Preview the grid before exporting: a card that looks fine alone can look wrong in the feed.
Step 4 — Export both sizes
| Usage | Size | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Story / Reels cover | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 |
| Feed post | 1080 × 1350 | 4:5 |
| Each tile | — | 3:4, 3 px gap |
Step 5 — Post at the right moment
Late December, ideally between the 27th and the 31st. Publish the Story when the feed is busy; keep the post on the profile into January.
Show it as unknown. Never as zero — a zero changes the ranking and cannot be detected afterwards.
What size is the top nine image?
1080x1920 for a Story, 1080x1350 for a feed post.
Can I make one for free?
Yes if you assemble it yourself, but you will be picking the nine by hand — that is a collage, not a ranking.
When should I post it?
Between 27 December and the first week of January.
Keep reading
The app builds this card from your published posts.
Prevz reads your Instagram account (optional, read-only), ranks your nine by likes, saves or comments, and exports a Story at 1080 × 1920 or a Post at 1080 × 1350.
Open Prevz for iPhone