Social media image size cheat sheet

Social media platforms are constantly evolving their algorithms and interfaces. Content creators and marketers need to be proactive and stay updated with the latest information.

Though a small element of the entire user experience, image sizes matter a lot on social media. The wrong image dimensions can result in ill-fitting or cropped content. Worse still, the target platform might reject your carefully-edited images if they’re not optimized for size.

Best Image Sizes for Social Media

Facebook

• Profile image: 170 x 170 pixels
• Cover photo: 830 x 312 pixels
• In-feed images: 1,200 x 628 pixels
• Stories: 1,080 x 1,920 pixels
• Link thumbnails: 1,200 x 628 pixels

Instagram

• Profile image: 180 x 180 pixels
• In-feed posts: 1,080 x 1,080 pixels
• Stories: 1,080 x 1,920 pixels
• Reels: 1,080 x 1,920 pixels
• Highlights: 180 x 180 pixels

X

• Profile image: 400 x 400 pixels
• Header image: 1,500 x 500 pixels
• Tweet images: 1,200 x 675 pixels
• Link thumbnails: 800 x 418 pixels

LinkedIn

• Profile image: 400 x 400 pixels
• Background photo: 1,584 x 396 pixels
• Post images: 1,104 x 736 pixels
• Link thumbnails: 1,200 x 628 pixels

YouTube

• Profile image: 250 x 250 pixels
• Channel art: 2,500 x 1,440 pixels
• Video thumbnails: 1,280 x 720 pixels
• End cards: 1,280 x 720 pixels
• Watermarks: 150 x 150 pixels
• Posts: 500 x 500 pixels
• Stories: 1,080 x 1920 pixels

Different types of social media graphics you will make

On various social networks, you can create a smorgasbord of posts. Here’s a list of visuals you can make and publish on different networks:

Facebook

Profile image

The profile image displays at 170 x 170 pixels. You need to upload a square, but the final image will appear as a circle. (This seems to be the case across the board for each social media channel in this post.) You can upload images up to 2048 x 2048 pixels for higher quality. It’s best to use a headshot or logo here.

Cover Photo

The cover photo measures 820 x 312 pixels. You can also upload videos.

In-feed images

These are images that appear in the Facebook newsfeed. The recommended size is 1,200 x 628 pixels. But Facebook will resize them in the feed to have a maximum width of 680 pixels, and the height adjusts according to the width. Users can view a larger version if they click on the image. Uploading a larger image improves the sharpness, even though Facebook reduces the size.

Stories

Facebook Stories are a popular format. They measure 1,080 x 1,920 pixels and take up the entire mobile screen. Stories are popular for two reasons. One is that they appear at the top of the feed and people see them as soon as they log in. While the other is that they only last 24 hours and people want to get a peek before they disappear forever. The FOMO is real.

Link thumbnails

The ideal thumbnail size is 1200 x 628 pixels. The minimum size is 560 x 292 pixels, and the aspect ratio is 1.91:1. Using images of this size will ensure that the large thumbnail appears when you share a link.

Instagram

You can only publish images and videos on Instagram. This is why it’s imperative to create the best images. But you won’t magically get powerful results just because you publish beautiful images.  Your success hinges on how well your images educate or entertain the Instagram crowd.

Profile picture

It displays at 180 x 180 pixels. You will need to upload a square image, but it shows as a circle.

In-feed posts

Ideal sizes vary for square, portrait, and landscape images.

Square image size: 1,080 x 1,080 pixels.

Portrait image size: 1,080 x 1,350 pixels.

Landscape image size: 1,080 x 566 pixels

The dimensions you choose should depend on the image you are making. I find that square images work best most of the time because they’re perfectly sized for Instagram’s grid gallery format. However, this study from Dash Hudson found that portrait images may actually do best.  Square images came in second and landscape images came in last. The differences aren’t monumental, but they can add up over time.

Stories

Instagram stories are 1,080 x 1,920 pixels, and they take up the whole screen on mobile. Just like Facebook stories, they vanish in 24 hours.

You can also overlay interactive stickers, such as questions, polls, countdown timers, and quizzes.

Highlights: 

Instagram stories last for just 24 hours. After that, they’ll appear in your archive. You can restore them any time and place them under your bio as highlights with a cover photo.

Cover photos are circle-shaped, but you need to upload a square image. It should be 180 x 180 pixels, just like the profile image. But you can upload a larger image for better quality. Because the bio is limited to very few characters, you can use highlights to inform people about your business.