Create Instagram Stories with AI
Stories are watched quickly, on a full phone screen, usually with the sound off. If you want to create Instagram Stories with AI, you need pictures that are tall, simple and readable in a couple of seconds. This guide covers the format, how to prompt for a single frame, and how to build a short sequence.
The story format
A story is 9:16, which is 1080 x 1920. In Melon Cut Design, switch to Social and choose the story format. The safe areas are kept for you: 8% on each side and 14% at the top and bottom. The extra space at the top and bottom matters because Instagram puts your account name, the progress bar, the reply box and buttons there.
If you want to see why that margin exists, read Keep Text Inside the Safe Area of a Story.
Think in frames, not posts
A feed post is looked at. A story is tapped through. Plan it as a sequence of short frames, each with one job:
- Hook: a bold picture and a few words that make people stay.
- Detail: the thing itself, close up.
- Proof or context: where it is, who made it, how it is used.
- Next step: what to do, such as visit, reply or open the link sticker.
Each frame gets its own prompt. Keep the wording on each one under ten words.
Prompts for single frames
Be specific about where text goes. Stories have busy top and bottom edges, so ask for the text in the middle third.
A vertical Instagram Story, close-up of a hand pouring olive oil over a fresh salad, bright daylight, deep green background. Large white text in the centre: "Today's special".
A vertical story with a bold orange background and a simple illustration of a bicycle. Text in the middle: "New route every Saturday". Plenty of empty space above and below.
Keep the look consistent
When every frame in a sequence has a different style, the story feels like a pile of unrelated pictures. Name your brand with @ and the logo, colours and fonts follow its guidelines. The logo is placed the way those guidelines allow, so you do not need to describe where it goes.
If you want the same layout each time, such as a title bar and a large picture, add one finished frame to your brand as a Template, then name it with @ and give only the new content.
Add a short video frame
A story does not have to be all stills. Melon Cut can make 9:16 social videos up to 30 seconds from a prompt or from a photo, and a branded video can end with the logo. Mix one moving frame in among the pictures to break up the pace. The article on turning a photo into a video explains how.
Checklist before posting
- Is the text readable on a small phone, at arm's length?
- Is every word spelled right, and every date and price correct?
- Is anything important sitting in the top or bottom strip?
- Does the first frame make sense without sound?
- Do the frames look like they belong together?
AI can get lettering wrong, so always read the text in the picture itself, not only in your prompt.
Doing it in Melon Cut
In Melon Cut Design, choose Social, pick the story format and describe your first frame. Ask for the whole sequence in one prompt and a plan from one prompt can hold up to 30 posts, stories, pictures and videos together. Download the files and post them yourself.