Examples
What a good top nine looks like
Most recaps fail for the same three reasons. Fixing them takes an afternoon and changes the entire result.
The three details that decide everything
- Real counters. If the card shows a number, it should come from the posts. “3,304 likes across my nine” is a claim someone can check; “your year in numbers” is decoration.
- Real proportions. Nine tiles at 3:4 with a three-pixel gap, the same as the feed. A collage with margins and shadows reads as a flyer, not a recap.
- One line. A single serif sentence — “That was a year.” — says more than four bullet points, and gives the grid a voice.
Three weak recaps, and the fix
| Weak | Why it fails | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Nine near-identical sunset photos | The grid amplifies repetition | Alternate light and dark, people and places |
| Nine best-of photos, no numbers | It is a mood board, not a recap | Add one metric and show it |
| Nine posts, four metrics mixed | The ranking disappears | One metric per grid |
What people actually save
Recaps that get saved tend to share one property: they explain a choice. “Ranked by saves” or “the nine I almost didn’t post” gives the reader a reason to look twice — and to come back next year.
Good recap: one idea, nine frames, a number that belongs to them.
How many photos in a top nine?
Nine — that is the entire point. Top 1 and top 5 are variants of the same idea, not the ritual itself.
Should I include Reels?
If they were published to the feed and carry counters, yes — a Reel is a post like any other.
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