Guides
How to schedule Instagram Reels with the cover you chose
Why Reel covers get ruined
When a scheduler publishes a Reel, it sends Instagram the video and, separately, the cover image. Two things can go wrong:
- The tool crops the cover to a feed shape (square or 4:5) before sending it. Your full-screen 9:16 design loses its top and bottom.
- The tool ignores your cover and lets Instagram pick a frame from the video.
Instagram itself accepts a full vertical cover through its API. When your cover comes out wrong, it's almost always the tool in the middle, not Instagram.
How to keep your cover exactly as designed
- Design covers at 1080 x 1920 (9:16), the same shape as the Reel.
- Keep text and faces in the middle of the frame. The grid preview on your profile shows a center crop, and Story-style top and bottom edges can be covered by interface elements.
- Use a scheduler that sends the cover untouched. Unbusied passes your full-resolution cover straight to Instagram's API, uncropped. We're a little obsessive about this, because a cropped cover is why this feature exists.
Scheduling a Reel with a custom cover in Unbusied
- Attach your vertical video in the composer.
- Pick a cover: choose a frame from the video, or upload your designed cover image.
- Select Instagram (and anywhere else the video should go), pick a time, schedule.
- The Reel publishes with your cover at full frame.
Fair questions, straight answers.
Why did my scheduled Reel cover get cropped?
The scheduling tool almost certainly re-processed or cropped the cover before sending it to Instagram. Instagram's API accepts full 9:16 covers, so a correctly built tool preserves your design edge to edge.
What size should an Instagram Reel cover be?
1080 x 1920 pixels, the same 9:16 shape as the Reel itself. Keep important text and faces centered so the square grid preview still looks right.
Does Unbusied crop Reel covers?
No. Your cover is sent to Instagram at full resolution, uncropped. Cropped covers from another tool are the specific problem that pushed Unbusied to build its own native Instagram publishing.
Can I use a custom cover when scheduling to other platforms too?
Where platforms support it, yes: YouTube takes a custom thumbnail, and vertical video covers carry to Facebook Reels. TikTok covers are chosen from video frames.