Create Instagram Posts with AI

If you want to create Instagram posts with AI, the quickest route is to treat the prompt like a short brief to a designer. This article shows what to put in that brief, which format to choose, and how to check the result before you post it.

Start with the format

Most feed posts work best as a portrait 4:5 picture at 1080 x 1350. It takes up more of the screen than a square while staying inside what the feed shows. Use the square 1:1 at 1080 x 1080 when your subject is centred and balanced, such as a logo, a plate from above, or a product on a plain surface. Use tall 3:4 if you want something close to portrait with slightly different proportions.

In Melon Cut Design, switch to Social and pick the format before you write anything. The safe areas are then kept for you: for a post, 13% on each side and 12% at the top and bottom. Anything important, like a headline, stays clear of the edges.

Describe one idea per post

A post that tries to say three things says none of them. Decide the single message first: a new item, an offer, a quote, a behind-the-scenes moment. Then describe the picture around it.

A useful prompt has four parts:

  • Subject: what is in the picture.
  • Setting: where it is and what surrounds it.
  • Mood: light, colour and feeling.
  • Text: any words that must appear, written exactly.

A portrait Instagram post of a hand holding a ceramic mug of tea on a windowsill, soft morning light, pale green wall behind. Headline at the top: "Slow mornings start here".

A square post, flat lay of a notebook, pencil and a small plant on a pale wooden desk, calm and tidy, lots of empty space on the left for a short caption.

Make a set that looks like one account

Instagram profiles are seen as a grid, so posts need to look related. Reuse the same colours, the same type of lighting and the same position for text. Name your brand with @ in the prompt and its guidelines are followed: logo, colours, fonts and voice. That is what keeps post twelve looking like it belongs with post one.

If a character, product or place must look the same each time, add it to the brand as a Model and name it with @. If you have a layout you like, save it as a Template and name that too, then change only the content.

Use up to four pictures per prompt

One prompt can make up to 4 pictures. Treat them as options rather than a finished set. Compare them, pick the strongest, and write a follow-up prompt that adjusts what you did not like, such as "same picture, but warmer light and the headline larger".

Check before you post

Look closely at any text in the picture. Spelling, prices, dates and opening hours must be right, and health or legal claims need your own judgement. AI output can be wrong, and it is your name on the post.

Then write the caption. Melon Cut can draft captions for social posts, but read them aloud and change anything that does not sound like you. For help deciding what to say, see What to Post on Social Media When You Run a Small Business.

Plan a batch

When you need a week or more of content, ask for a plan instead of one post at a time. A plan from one prompt can hold up to 30 posts, stories, pictures and videos together. The article on creating many social media posts from one prompt walks through it.

Doing it in Melon Cut

Open the chat in Melon Cut Design, switch to Social, choose the post format and write your prompt. Name your brand with @ so the logo, colours and fonts are followed. Pictures cost credits, and plans and top-ups are on the pricing page. Melon Cut makes the files; you post them yourself.