Restoring Instagram photo to original size?

[Anthony T]

I have a really nice pic I took a few years ago and I uploaded it to Instagram, but I lost the original that was taken on my phone. Now all that's left is the "square" version from Instagram. I actually also deleted the original Instagram account I uploaded it too, but I still have the pic on my Facebook and saved on my computer.

Is there a way to somehow restore this pic to its original or "normal" size without distorting it, even though I don't have the original?

 

[mollyc]

No. Instagram crops the images and downsizes them.

 

[steveash]

I think what you are looking for is the CSI Zoom Enhance software. You might have to Google it. Sorry, I know that's not very helpful but I couldn't resist.

 

[Anthony T]

I think what you are looking for is the CSI Zoom Enhance software. You might have to Google it. Sorry, I know that's not very helpful but I couldn't resist.

I'm mainly looking to get my photo that was cropped for Instagram back to its standard size.

 

[akash.nu]

I'm mainly looking to get my photo that was cropped for Instagram back to its standard size.

As @mollyc said, not possible.

 

[r.harris1]

There's unfortunately no way to restore a cropped and "baked" image to its original size. There's no information contained in the JPEG to do that. Think of it like a cake that someone has taken a slice out of and eaten. There's no way to add that slice back.

 

[MacNut]

Had you posted the original to Facebook you could have retrieved an untouched copy. Once you posted it to Instagram they slice and dice it and you won't ever retrieve the original file.

 

[Anthony T]

Had you posted the original to Facebook you could have retrieved an untouched copy. Once you posted it to Instagram they slice and dice it and you won't ever retrieve the original file.

Had you posted the original to Facebook you could have retrieved an untouched copy. Once you posted it to Instagram they slice and dice it and you won't ever retrieve the original file.

I uploaded the image as my profile picture to Facebook when I took it. I can’t remember if Facebook cropped it or if the Instagram-edited version is the one I used.

 

[Dovan]

One way you can improve the quality of the image is by enlargement.
You need to download any image enlargement tools to upsize your image to improve its resolution.
You can use Photoshop to do it or any dedicated image enlargement software like Topaz Gigapixel AI.

 

[tizeye]

As most people said - no on Instagram as they use destructive cropping...whatever is lopped off for square crop is gone forever. There is no reversal. The other issue is the processing that 3rd party programs do, even the minimalist downsizing of files to enable quick web loading. Any file that starts at 4000 pixels wide and is reduced to 1500 pixels wide will not look good returned to 4000 pixels wide. Yes, some 3rd party programs claim to do it, and at times look OK, but in reality all they are doing is magnifying imperfections from the source 1500 pixel size back to 4000px.

Also, while the photo was taken with a phone, presumable the icloud copy was deleted when the phone original was, but if using dropbox or some 3rd party storage/transfer might be there. Likewise with email, if emailed the photo to friend/family may still be an attachment on the historical email. Finally, did you transfer to a Mac/PC and on either an internal or external hard drive, and if you updated a hard drive transferring the files...mount and check the old hard drive (not as a primary with OS, but mount USB as an additional drive using your current OS.)

 

[Swampbaby985]

This is why I backup all my images to Google Photos and Flickr.