Instagram Story Template Maker

About this tool

Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat stories all use the 9:16 vertical aspect ratio at 1080×1920 px (verified May 2026). On Instagram, the platform overlays UI on the top and bottom of every story: a header band of about 250 px showing your handle, profile photo, and progress bar, and a bottom reply bar of about 210 px containing the message field. Content placed inside those zones gets visually obscured. This tool gives you a live 1080×1920 canvas, title and subtitle fields with auto-wrapping, three background modes (color / gradient / image), independent text controls, and a safe-zone overlay marking both the IG header and reply-bar regions. Pick brand colors and export a PNG sized exactly for stories. Useful for sale promos, product drops, event countdowns, recurring content templates, and anyone whose story design currently bleeds under the IG UI.

Why use it

• Exact 1080×1920 px Output — 9:16 Vertical: The output matches the universal vertical-story spec used by IG, TikTok, and Snapchat. The PNG hits native resolution on every modern phone.

• IG Header + Reply-Bar Safe Zones: The overlay marks both zones platform UI obscures: the top ~250 px (handle, profile pic, progress bar) and bottom ~210 px (reply bar). Place key content inside the central safe area.

• Three Background Modes — Color, Gradient, Image: Solid for typography-led stories (sales, promos), two-stop gradient for vibrant brand-aligned looks, image upload for product photos and lifestyle backgrounds.

• Auto-Wrapping Title and Subtitle: Long copy wraps inside the canvas instead of overflowing — the renderer measures widths and breaks at word boundaries automatically.

• Browser-Only — Nothing Uploaded: All image processing happens locally via FileReader and Canvas; PNG export uses canvas.toBlob. UtilityKit never sees your story.

• Free, Unlimited, No Watermark: Iterate on a story design as many times as needed. No quota, no upsell, no UtilityKit logo on the output.

How to use

1. Type your headline into the Title field — short copy reads best on a 9:16 canvas, and it auto-wraps if needed.
2. Add a CTA, code, or subtitle in the Subtitle field — also auto-wraps.
3. Switch Background mode between solid color, gradient, or upload — uploaded photos cover-crop to 9:16.
4. Pick title and subtitle colors — high contrast against the background is essential at small phone sizes.
5. Toggle the safe-zone overlay to see the IG header (top) and reply-bar (bottom) regions you should avoid.
6. Click Download PNG to export a clean 1080×1920 PNG ready for IG, TikTok, or Snapchat upload.

When it helps

• When announcing a sale and you need a quick story template with the discount code and end date.
• When dropping a new product and you want a story with the product name, price, and link-in-bio call.
• When running an event countdown across the week leading up to launch — same template, different day-of count.
• When creating a recurring content template (e.g. weekly Q&A, monthly recap) and you want to standardize the layout.
• When prepping TikTok or Snapchat content alongside Instagram and you want a single 9:16 design across all three.
• When iterating between two color palettes for a brand refresh and you want to test how each reads at story scale.

Examples

Tips

• Sizes verified May 2026. Check platform docs if you're seeing display issues — IG, TikTok, and Snapchat have all standardized on 9:16 for years.
• Keep titles under 30 characters where possible — long copy wraps but readability drops at story scale on smaller phones.
• The IG header overlay is ~250 px and the reply bar is ~210 px — together they cover ~24% of the canvas, so the central ~76% (1080×1460) is your real working area.
• Use a high-contrast title color against your background — gradient backgrounds with mid-tone colors hurt legibility on small screens.
• PNG export is 9:16 compatible with IG, TikTok, and Snapchat upload — the same file works for all three platforms.

Frequently Asked Questions

Glossary

Safe zone

The central area of a vertical story not covered by platform UI. On Instagram, the safe zone is roughly the central 1080×1460 region — outside the top header (~250 px) and bottom reply bar (~210 px).

Aspect ratio

The width-to-height ratio of an image. Stories on IG, TikTok, and Snapchat are all 9:16 vertical (1080:1920). Mismatched ratios get cropped or letterboxed on upload.

DPI vs px

Story platforms ignore DPI metadata and render based on pixel dimensions. A 1080×1920 PNG at 72 DPI displays identically to one at 300 DPI on every story platform.

Transparent zone

Story pixels overlaid by platform UI — the IG header (top) and reply bar (bottom). Place text or graphics there and viewers won't see them clearly.

9:16 vertical

The aspect ratio convention for vertical-video and story content across IG, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube Shorts. 1080×1920 px is the universal source resolution.

Cover-fit scaling

An image-scaling strategy that fills the canvas while preserving aspect ratio, cropping overflow. Used here for uploaded photo backgrounds that don't already match 9:16.