Social Media Images Sizes 2019

Sizes  |  Where to Source  |  How to Edit

Increasingly I am being asked to create Social Media Image packs for my clients, but for a small or micro business on a tight budget this is not always an option. Below is a guide of how to make your Social Media Business Image look good across different platforms. I have also created a Social Media Image Sizes 2019 Cheat Sheet for you to download which contains a quick reference guide to the image sizes.

I have collated the details for the following Social Media Platforms as these are the ones I am most frequently asked about by my clients.

DOWNLOAD  Social Media Image Sizes Cheat Sheet

Where to source images & photos

First stop for many people is a photographer who will photograph you, your employees and your business, your products – job done. However, not all of us have businesses that are naturally photogenic or the budget. You can get around this by either stock photos. There are numerous paid and free options out there for you to find the perfect image/s (my favourites are iStockPhoto, Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, and for the free options Pixabay and Unsplash). Your Social Media Profiles does not need to ‘literally show’ your business, it needs to encapsulate your business and appeal to your audience.

 

Profile image recommendations

  • Personal photo
  • Logo – Top Tip: when designing your logo make sure your designer creates a version that works as a square. This is essential if you want your logo as a profile picture.

 

Cover/Header Image ideas

  • Location photo. Could be your office (inside or out) or the surrounding area. If you live in a beautiful part of the country share it!
  • Product photo. I often put up the latest project I have completed. It advertises what I have done without the hard sell.
  • Images that evoke emotion and/or sell the experience. Yoga instructor? Have an image that evokes peace, calm, tranquillity and meditation.
  • Advertising banner. You can use the header to promote a hashtag, your latest offer or promotional giveaway, or one that directs your audience to your website.
  • Abstract graphic. For a while all my headers were patterns influenced by the sewing I was doing in my spare time.

If you are stuck for ideas write down a list of 6-8 words that reflect your business and start searching the stock photos!

 

Choosing The Photos

  • Across all platforms profile photos need to be square. Make sure there is enough room around the edge of the image for it to be cropped as a circle. Most Social Media Platforms will crop your profile photos into a circle.
  • Cover and header photos need to be landscape. Make sure the essential information is in the centre. When Social Media Platforms resize images for different devices they resize from the centre and cut off the edges.

 

Editing The Photos

OK so you have found a selection of images but now what? You do not need a photo editing program anymore. There are plenty of free online photo editors to use. Here is a round up of my top 5:

 

  • Photoshop Express Editor | Advanced photo editor and my personal favourite, but it needs flash so you must open it in a browser that supports flash.
  • PixlrX | Easy to use editor with a number of advanced features including light styling filters.
  • Fotor |  Recently discovered this editor. Simply and easy to use, especially to resize images!
  • PiZap |  Simple editor, great for Social Media as you can add text, stickers, create memes etc.
  • Fotoflexer |  Simple editor with fun features such as shapes, text & frames.

Social Media Image Sizes 2019

Important Note: All images sizes are given below are in Width x Height ie. 180pixels width x 180pixels height

Facebook is the most confusing so lets get this out of the way first…

 

Facebook

1. Profile

  • Min 180 x 180px 
  • Max 2048 x 2048px
  • Will display at
    • 170 x 170px on desktop
    • 128 x 128 pixels on smartphone
    • 32 x 32px as thumbnail

TOP TIPS

  • This is your most important image. It appears on your timeline, other peoples timeline, every post,
  • Every comment and every share. This photo is you / your brand. Make sure it is a suitable representation as it will be how people get to know you. 
  • Even though you upload as a square, don’t forget it will be cropped as a circle.
  • If you have a logo make sure there is enough space around for it to crop neatly.

 

2. Cover Photos

BUSINESS PAGE

  • Min 820 x 312px
  • Max 1958 x 745px
  • Will display at
    • 820 x 312px on desktop
    • 640 x 360px on smartphone

EVENT

  • Min 480 x 270px
  • Max 1920 x 1080px
  • Will display at
    • 470 × 174px in feed 

GROUP

  • Min: 820 x 461px
  • Max: 1640 x 922px

TIPS

  • Make your cover picture fun, personable and mostly all about you or your business – don’t turn it into an advert.
  • Centre the content to make sure that it is visible on all devices.
  • On a Personal Facebook page elements cover part of the image.

 

3. Story (for Business Page)

  • Min 820 x 312px
  • Max 1958 x 745px
  • Will display at
    • 820 x 312px on desktop
    • 640 x 360px pixels on smartphone

 

IMAGES IN FEED

4. Shared images

These are the images that appear on your timeline and show up in your followers news feeds. You can upload at any size but below is the optimal size. 

  • Recommended 1200 x 630px
  • Will display at
    • 504px wide on desktop  
    • 470px wide in a feed

 

5. Shared link

When sharing a link most people use the image that automatically pops up. However, if it does not look good you can upload a relacement image.

  • Recommended 1200 x 628px
  • Will display at
    • 474 x 294px on desktop 
    • 560 x 292px on a smartphone

 

6. Highlighted Image

These are the images that appear to mark milestones in your business. It sits on your timeline and is bigger than the Shared images.

  • Recommended 1200 x 717px
  • Will display at
    • 843 x 504px on desktop 

 

7. Video

  • Max width 600px
  • Ratio 9:16 portrait to 16:9 landscape
  • Upload the highest-resolution video available that meets file size and ratio limits
  • File size 4 GB max
  • Min length 1 second
  • Max length 240 minutes

 

Facebook Adverts

This is a whole blog article in itself. Visit https://www.facebook.com/business/ads-guide/ for the different sizes

 

Twitter 

1. Profile

  • Recommended 400 x 400px
  • Displays on desktop at 200 x 200px
  • Max size 2MB

TOP TIPS

  • It will appear in your stream next to every Tweet.
  • Don’t forget – your profile image will be saved as a square but it will be cropped as a circle on Twitter. Pease leave enough space around the edge.

 

2. Header 

  • Recommended 1500 x 500px 
  • Max size 5MB

TOP TIPS

  • The Header is seen by everyone who visits your page.
  • It is much larger than your profile picture so make sure it is high resolution.

 

3. In-Stream Images

  • Min 440 x 220 px
  • Max 1024 x 512px
  • Max size Photos 5MB, Gifs 5MB on mobile & 15MB on desktop

TOPS TIPS

  • Will display at 506 x 253px on desktop
  • Can tweet up to 4 images at one time

 

LinkedIn

 

1. Personal Profile

  • Min 200 x 200 px
  • Recomended 400 x 400px
  • Max size 10MB

TOP TIP

  • Don’t forget – your profile image will be saved as a square but it will be cropped as a circle. Pease leave enough space around the edge. 
  • It will appear in your stream next to every post.

 

2. Personal Header

  • Recommended 1584 x 396px
  • Max size 4MB

 TOP TIPS

  • It is much larger than your profile picture so make sure it is high resolution.

 

3. Image links

  • Recommended 1200 x 628px

 TOP TIP

  • It is the same size as Facebook.

 

4. Image uploads

  • You can have any height but there is a recommended width of 1200px 

 TOP TIP

  • The height is ratio to the width on a desktop but images are cropped to horizontal on a mobile feed. The image link size works best. 

 

5. Company Logo 

  • Min 300 x 300px
  • Max 4MB

 

6. Company Cover Image

  • Recommended 1536 x 768px
  • Max size 4MB

 TOP TIPS

  • On a desktop displayed at 1400 x 425px (this is very narrow) so choose an image that looks good both as a strip and as a landscape photo on a mobile.
  • It is much larger than your profile picture so make sure it is high resolution.
  • I have not included Company details for paid LinkedIn accounts. For more information on this please visit https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/70781

 

Instagram

 

1. Profile

  • Recommended 110 x 110px

TOP TIPS

  • It will appear in your stream next to every post.
  • Don’t forget – your profile image will be saved as a square but it will be cropped as a circle. Pease leave enough space around the edge.

 

 

PHOTOS

2. Square 

  • Recommended 1080 x 1080px

 

3. Landscape 

  • Recommended 1080 x 566px

 

4. Portrait 

  • Recommended 1080 x 1350px

 

5. Thumbnail

  • Will display at 161 x 161px. Instagram rezises this for you.

 TOP TIPS

  • Will display at 510px wide in feed
  • Remember Instragram is a photo-sharing website. It is essential that your images are high resolution.

 

6. Instagram stories photos

 

Pinterest 

 

1. Profile

  • Recommended 165 x 165px
  • Max size 10MB

 TOP TIPS

  • Don’t forget – your profile image will be saved as a square but it will be cropped as a circle. Pease leave enough space around the edge. 
  • It will appear in your stream next to every post.
  • Displays at 165 x 165 px on your homepage.
  • Displays at 32 x 32 px on the rest of Pinterest.

 

2. Board Display

  • Recommended 222 x 150px (large thumbnail)
  • Recommended 55 x 55px (smaller thumbnail) 

 

3. Pins

  • Max width on home page & board 236px
  • Max width when the pin is expanded 600px
  • Recommended ratio 2:3 to 1:3.5

TOP TIPS

  • Pinterest has a limit on the width of your pin, but not the length.
  • 90% of of Pinterest Pages are external links . Use it as a tool to drive traffic to your website.
Tags:
Branding Graphic Design Marketing Photography Print Social Media Social Media Image Sizes Start-ups Website Design

< Back to #designtips

Back to #designtips