Photo book from Instagram: your export and the originals
Use your Instagram posts to shortlist the book, then match them to camera originals. If only an exported copy remains, measure its pixels after cropping and place it at a size the file supports.
An Instagram feed is already a selection, in order, with words attached. That makes it a fair first draft of a book, as long as the pictures come from somewhere better than the app.
Treat Instagram's export as the index: what you posted and when. The camera roll, or the friend who took the photo, holds the files worth printing.
Make your photobook
Arrange your photos on A4 pages, check the proof and order a printed copy.
| Job in the book | Instagram copy | Camera original |
|---|---|---|
| A large photo | Measure the downloaded file; do not assume original resolution | Inspect the original after the intended crop |
| A small grid | Often useful if the measured crop holds up at that size | Allows a wider crop or larger placement |
| The crop people saw | Exact, filter and all | Needs cropping and editing again |
| The whole frame | May preserve only the version you posted | Can retain areas left out of the post |
| Finding it again | Dated by when you posted | Dated by when it was taken |
| A friend's photo you reposted | The only copy you hold | Theirs to send you |
Measure the copy you actually have
Do not infer print size from a post's appearance on a phone. Open the downloaded file's details and note its width and height in pixels after the crop you intend to use.
For a worked example, a crop 1080 pixels wide placed 90 mm wide is about 305 pixels per inch. That calculation describes that file, not a guaranteed size for every Instagram export.
Keep a screenshot only when the post's interface is part of what you want to record. For the photograph alone, use the largest original or downloaded image you can obtain.
Keep a copy of the posts you need
Use the export or download controls available in your own account and follow the current on-screen instructions. Choose the relevant period and media options where offered.
When the account says the export is ready, download it and check that the photos and post dates you need are present before starting the layout.
Keep the export separate from your camera originals. Neither a post date nor a download date reliably identifies the moment a photograph was taken.
Matching each post to its original
Keep a matching sheet with posting date, capture date if known, exported file and original file name. Add a separate column for the caption you personally choose to keep.
Search the camera roll a few days either side of each posting date. A photo may have gone up days or weeks after it was taken.
A photo taken by a friend lives on their phone. Ask them for the file, and keep the Instagram copy for small spaces if they cannot find it.
From a feed to pages
A year of posts is rarely one a week. Give busy months several spreads and fold quiet months together, rather than allotting every month a page.
A carousel post can take one spread, in posting order. A single post that marked a move or a birth can have a page to itself.
Square posts on an A4 page leave a band below the photo, which is room for the caption. Printed tbf scrapbook books are A4 portrait or landscape; square sizes cannot be ordered.
Decide once whether captions keep their hashtags and emoji. Check emoji on the proof, since some typefaces print them as empty boxes.
Steps
Ask for the export
Request the available account export and follow the current options shown in Instagram. Check the resulting files rather than planning around a fixed waiting period.
Shortlist from the feed
Scroll your own grid and note the posts that belong in the book. A post you would not share again today can stay out.
Build the matching list
For each selected post, record its post date, any known capture date and the original file name. Where no original exists, record the downloaded crop's pixel dimensions.
Place large originals, small copies
Divide the crop's pixel width by its placed width in inches. Compare that with your printer's advice and test the page; move a small file to a smaller space if needed.
Questions
Can I make a photo book from someone else's Instagram?
The export covers your own account. For another person's photos, ask them for the files, or for their own export, and for permission to print them.
Why is the photo in my export so small?
A downloaded post may differ from your camera file. Check its actual pixel dimensions and compare with your originals; changing a resolution tag will not restore missing detail.
What if I only have the Instagram copy?
Measure its pixels after cropping, then use the printer's target resolution to work out a placed size. Try a small grid or pair it with a larger original from the same occasion.