Grid maker
Split a photo across your grid.
Cut one image into tiles that reassemble into a single picture on your Instagram profile. Choose a layout, split, download. Free, and your photo never leaves your device.
JPG, PNG or WebP. Nothing is uploaded — the split happens inside your browser.
How to make an Instagram grid
- Pick a photo. Wide, detailed images work best — a landscape, a portrait with room around it, or artwork. Very busy photos lose their subject once they are cut up.
- Choose a layout. 3×3 is the classic nine-tile block. 3×1 is a single banner row. 3×5 fills most of a phone screen when someone opens your profile.
- Choose a tile shape. Square 1:1 is the safe default. Portrait 4:5 makes each tile taller in the feed, which gives your posts more screen height as people scroll.
- Split and download. You get a numbered ZIP. The numbers are the posting order.
- Post in order, and do not re-crop. Upload number 1 first. If Instagram offers a crop, keep the original shape or the seams will drift.
Which layout should you use?
3 × 1 — the banner
Three tiles in a single row. The cheapest grid to maintain, because it only takes three posts to replace and it never leaves your profile looking half-finished.
3 × 3 — the classic
Nine tiles, one full screen of profile. This is the layout most people mean by “an Instagram grid”. It reads as a deliberate statement piece, which is why photographers use it for a single hero image.
3 × 5 — the takeover
Fifteen tiles. It dominates the profile, but it also takes fifteen posts before it is complete, and it looks unfinished the whole way there. Post it in one sitting.
2 × 2 — off-grid
Four tiles. It deliberately does not align to Instagram's three-column profile, so it is for carousels, Pinterest and print rather than a feed takeover.
The catch nobody mentions
A grid is a commitment. Every new post pushes it one square along, so the picture breaks the moment you post anything else. Plan for it: post the grid last thing before a quiet stretch, or accept that it will scroll away. A 3×1 banner is far more forgiving than a 3×5.
Questions
What order do I post the tiles in?
Post them in reverse. Instagram puts your newest post at the top-left and pushes everything right and down, so the bottom-right tile has to go up first and the top-left tile last. Tilo Grid numbers every tile with its posting order and names the downloaded files to match, so you can just work through them 1, 2, 3.
Will the seams line up on my profile?
Yes, as long as you do not crop the tiles again when you upload. Each tile is cut to an exact 1:1 or 4:5 shape, which is what Instagram displays without re-cropping. If Instagram offers you a crop step, choose the original shape.
Are my photos uploaded to a server?
No. The split runs entirely inside your browser using the Canvas API. Your photo never leaves your device, there is no account, and nothing is stored. You can disconnect from the internet after the page loads and it still works.
What size are the tiles?
Each tile is rendered at 1080px on its long edge, which is the size Instagram displays a post at. Going larger only costs upload time and gets resized anyway.
Why is part of my photo missing?
A grid has a fixed shape, so the photo is centre-cropped to fit before it is cut. A 3×3 square grid needs a square photo, and a 3×5 grid needs a tall one. Pick a layout closer to your photo's shape if the crop is taking too much.
How many tiles can I make?
From 2 tiles up to 15. The layouts are 3×1, 3×2, 3×3, 3×4, 3×5 and 2×2, in either square or 4:5 portrait tiles.
More tools
Compress a photo before uploading, or see everything Tilo Grid does in the app — collages, carousels, panorama slicing and filters.