How to post horizontal reels on Instagram

Instagram was designed mainly for vertical videos — this approach fits well with the idea that smartphone owners will use it. But it created some problems, especially for those who post videos on different platforms as well, for example, bloggers who run a YouTube channel and are used to filming horizontal videos. They either had to shoot a new vertical video, abandon using the platform altogether, or convert the portrait video to a landscape one.

When Instagram introduced landscape mode, it partially solved the problem. It became possible to add videos in landscape format, but empty areas appeared above and below them. This in itself isn’t a problem, but many creators would like to ensure that these areas are not distracting or that they blend harmoniously into the video.

If you also love sharing such videos and would like to improve them, why not try our editing tool to do so? With its help, you can make your video fit perfectly into the Instagram landscape size, as well as provide visual variety to parts above and below it. All of that takes just a few steps:

Add a video

Open Clideo’s Online Instagram Video Maker and click "Get started".

Then "+" to add your video from your device or use one of the buttons to upload from a cloud storage or record the video right in your browser.
Edit the video

First, resize the clip in the "Canvas" tab — the perfect pick to fit into the Instagram reel format is 9:16. Here you can also change the background color by selecting one of the options present. Or, you can apply any custom color and make it solid or gradient.

If you want to make use of additional space instead, there are a few ways to do it. Additional clips or pictures can be placed using built-in libraries in "Videos" and "Images" tabs.

You can also look for suitable GIFs or stickers in the "Elements" tab. Placing them is easy — click the thumbnail, and the element will appear at the same time point where the playhead is located. After that, you can manually adjust its position in the preview window.

It's also possible to edit each file separately; click any image or clip on the timeline and make any changes you need using the options in the tab above. For example, you can flip the video, make it more or less saturated, apply blur, change its speed, etc.

When you made all the necessary changes, click "Export" and choose the option you like.
Save the result

Take a look at how the video looks after editing. If all is good, click "Download" to save it to your device or cloud storage. Otherwise, click "Edit" to make changes.