How would I fit my comic strip onto Instagram?

[PixyByte]

I heard Instagram is good for artists, but my comic Pixy Byte is a vertical comic strip, and the format of Instagram is rectangular/square. Is there a way I could still fit my comic strip onto Instagram? How?
Thanks so much in advance

[Kayke]

Instagram isn't a really good app for comic sharing. For me I tend to just post part of a page and then tell people where to find the rest.

I've gotten a few new readers that way, and it also helps my fans know when I've updated. I usually get at least one comment from someone saying "Yay! Gonna go read now!" or something of that nature.

I have seen some people posts an entire comic in individual panels on insta, but I personally find it a little annoying since it clogs up everyone's feeds?

[PixyByte]

Yeah I definitely don't want to post each panel separately onto Instagram, but I don't really want to create an all new layout of my comic just for Instagram lol. Posting part of a page sounds like a good idea, but I'd think some people wouldn't want to have to go outside of Instagram to read the comic. I'm glad it works for you it seems like it could be very beneficial, since so many people are on Instagram, but I can see where it would be difficult for comic artists.

[Kayke]

Yeah I think a mot of people probably are not willing to leave instagram and go type the website in elsewhere and stuff... but some people are?

It also kind of stinks that instagram makes the images so small and you can't zoom in. I know if I were to post a full comic page there no one would be able to read it or see what was happening hahah

[PotooGryphon]

Back when I was trying out instagram, I actually just reformatted my panels to fit within the size limitation much like I do for reformatting pages for vertical format. However, this took a lot of time and eventually I just stopped with Instagram. I don't like how I can't upload to the site on the computer, it has to be with a mobile app or download a special software on my desktop Ugh!

[shazzbaa]

Most of the artists I know personally who use instagram a lot don't use it to share their comics -- they use it as a place to share sketches, works in progress, and other art -- a place to get to know you better as an artist. Do you draw much outside of making your comic?

[PixyByte]

That's a good point, even if I did make the comic fit in the proportions for Instagram, the text would be impossible to read!
Instagram really isn't nice to comic artists lol

[PixyByte]

Yeah I realized how much of a pain Instagram was when I couldn't do anything from my desktop. I managed to figure out how to get my art from my computer to my phone, onto Instagram, then I ran into the size problem lol. Just a big mess. The square comic looks good, but personally I wouldn't want to redo all my comics like that just to fit Instagram.

[PixyByte]

That's a really great idea. Unfortunately, no, I either just doodle or draw Pixy Byte comics.

[shaneoid77]

I uploaded a few pages of Go-Bee to generate interest. The page is 750x1031 at 150 dpi and I use a size 12 font, but that may change with your chosen font, so it displays well on a phone screen. You can see the results on instagram/hotwab

Hope it helps!

[shazzbaa]

It might be a thing to consider! And it'd be something that's helpful on all social media -- in my opinion/experience, most social media doesn't work very well if you just post your comic and that's all.

If you started doing something like, one of those sketch-a-day challenges, or a fun warm-up sketch before you started drawing your comic for the week, or something like that, it would not only be great practice art-wise, but it would also be a thing to post on tumblr/twitter/instagram/etc that's more personal than "hey my comic updated!"

If I ran into someone on social media with a comic I hadn't read, and all of their posts were "hey my comic updated, check it out!" -- I would not follow them. But if they were doing a sketch-a-day challenge and posting new sketches sort-of-daily along with their comic updates, I might follow them if I liked the kind of stuff they were drawing. And eventually I'd probably check out their comic.

[PixyByte]

Your comic is also more square than mine, mine is completely vertical, and I don't really want to completely change the layout of my comic strip just to be able to go on Instagram. Thanks though

[PixyByte]

That makes a lot of sense, thanks so much for the ideas!

one of those sketch-a-day challenges, or a fun warm-up sketch before you started drawing your comic for the week

I really like those ideas! I might try those out! Thanks again!

[Sanz]

I use instagram all the time for my comic. I've gotten some subs and followers for it too! My instagram for examples of what i mean I usually just crop the most interesting thing out of an unpublished page add a filter or text or something and with a questionable summary. and hashtag it like no tomorrow along with just promo art, random art, my dogs and my cats, etc. every time saying link in my bio which the link to tap and my fb page are all that's there. it works for me. do i save all my pages to my phone? reformat? draw something specifically for instagram? pffft no way. i just screen cap from here and crop it out. i use it as previews sort of. you could maybe do a one off a comic that fits in the parameters of Instagram.
i just can't get the hang of twitter. lmao hope it works out for you !

[Gaspode12]

I don't use instagram much but for other sites I re format my vertical strip into a more square version (as others have already said) which works quite well as below. It can ruin the comedic timing a little bit, what with having all panels visable at once but I don't think it effects it too much. Once I'm more popular I will probably change to just posting a section and a link but whilst Im trying to build a fan base this method works quite well for me.