How an Instagram puzzle grid works
A grid (or "puzzle feed") is one large image sliced into tiles and posted as separate, consecutive posts. On your profile, Instagram arranges posts three per row, newest first — so the tiles reassemble into the full picture. Brands use it for launches and album drops; creators use it to make a profile feel designed rather than assembled. This tool does the slicing: upload once, pick a layout, download tiles at exactly 1080 × 1080 (or 1080 × 1350).
Why you post the last tile first
Instagram puts your newest post at the top-left of the grid. For the picture to assemble correctly, the bottom-right tile has to go up first and the top-left tile last. Every tile here is numbered in that posting order — follow the numbers from "post 1st" to the end and the image lines up. One caveat: anything you post afterwards shifts the whole grid by one slot, so puzzle grids work best on profiles styled in rows of three or timed around a campaign.
The 2025 grid change: previews are 3:4 now
Since early 2025, the profile grid previews posts in 3:4 instead of squares. A 1:1 tile loses about 12.5% on each side in the grid view; a 4:5 tile loses ~3%. Toggle "Show 3:4 grid crop" above to shade exactly what gets hidden — if a face or text sits in the shaded strip, recrop before you post. For grids designed today, 1080 × 1350 portrait tiles survive the preview crop with almost no loss.
Grid split vs. carousel split
A grid split turns tiles into separate posts that live on your profile. A carousel split puts the slices into a single swipeable post — a panorama that flows seamlessly from slide to slide as people swipe. Carousels don't depend on posting order tricks and don't break when you post something new, which makes them the lower-risk option; the Carousel ×2 and ×3 layouts above slice for exactly that.