If you are running a firm, whatever your business size is, a strong social media presence is crucial for your brand awareness and its accessibility. Each social media platform has its unique audience or different customer expectations.
Remember the times when there was only Facebook? It feels like a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, right? Now, we have Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google My Business.
And it looks like there are more to come.
Having a consistent brand identity and voice on these platforms is highly important for your social media strategy. But keep in mind that they all have their unique specialties, and the audience varies through these platforms.
There are also some technical requirements differing from platform to platform. One of them is the social media image sizes. And these expectations are in constant change.
By the way, want to speed up this process? We recommend checking out Circleboom Publish's richly-featured design tools. It will also help you avoid technical glitches while keeping your professional appearance on social media platforms.
If you have hard times keeping up with all the specifications of social media image sizes, we are here to put your mind at ease. Do not get lost on the internet while searching for the right dimensions for each social media platform.
Isik Onal
In this blog, we have prepared you a cheat sheet for social media image sizes for 2021.
What is the best image size for social media?
Unfortunately, there is no single answer to this question. Every platform has its unique social media image sizes.
And, it is vital to follow these specifications for various reasons. Here are a couple of benefits of using the best social media image sizes.
- It prevents pixelation and inconvenient image stretching. If you want to keep it professional, you don’t want your content to look weird, right?
- It is one of the basic optimizations for social media. You can boost your engagement as you use tailored content for each platform.
- It guarantees that your audience sees the entire content. Some of your content may be chopped off due to incorrect dimensions.
- It helps you to publish future-proof content. If the platform changes the way they showcase the content, your know-how might help you to save time and effort in the future.
If these are convincing enough for you, it is time to get into the details of recommended social media image sizes for each platform.
Instagram Image Size
Instagram is all about images. And the platform has different specifications for different types of content.
Even though square images are like the signature of Instagram, the platform also supports vertical and horizontal images.
So, you have a variety of options on Instagram. But also, this makes it a little bit harder to keep up with the dimensions. Thus, make sure that you check the guideline below while preparing your content.
Instagram Profile Photo Sizes
Make sure you submit a picture with a resolution of at least 320 × 320 pixels for your Instagram profile photo.
Although the dimensions are in square format, Instagram shows your profile picture as a circle. So, make sure that the focus of your content is centered on preventing any cut-offs.
Instagram Image Size for Feed Content
As we have mentioned before, Instagram supports various dimensions for feed content. Here is the list of all recommended social media image sizes for Instagram feed content.
- Square: 1080 x 1080 pixels
- Landscape: 1080 x 566 pixels
- Portrait: 1080 x 1350 pixels
- Supported aspect ratios: In the range of 1.91:1 and 4:5
- Recommended image size: 1080 pixels width, height between 566 and 1350 pixels (based on if the image is landscape or portrait)
The same dimensions are also recommended for Instagram Carousel images.
Pro Tips:
- If you upload an Instagram photo with a different aspect ratio, the platform will crop it to fit a supported aspect ratio.
- If you upload an image over 1080 pixels, Instagram will automatically update it with 1080 pixels.
- If it is lower than 320 pixels, Instagram will automatically change it to 320 pixels.
- If the image is in the range of 320 pixels to 1080 pixels, Instagram will keep the original resolution, if the aspect ratio is between 1.91:1 and 4:5 (566 to 1350 pixels height with a 1080 pixels width)
So, shoot for 1080 pixels wide image if you want your content to look its best on Instagram.
Do not forget to adjust your thumbnails, too! The recommended upload size for thumbnails is 1080 pixels wide, and the display size is 161 x 161 pixels.
Zeynep Morelli
Instagram Stories Image Size
The recommended image size is 1080 x 1920 pixels, which means an aspect ratio of 9:16.
If your image complies with this aspect ratio but has a smaller pixel size, it means that your Story will buffer quickly.
If you don’t follow this ratio, some of your content may be chopped off due to incorrect dimensions.
IGTV Sizes
- Landscape: 1080 x 566 pixels
- Square: 1080 x 1080 pixels
- Minimum & maximum width: 320 – 1080 pixels
- Supported aspect ratios: Between 1.91:1 and 4:5
Twitter Image Size
Even though Twitter is more like a text-based social media platform, visuals have a vital role in engagement. According to Twitter, people are three times more likely to engage with tweets that have visuals.
So, keeping up with the best social media sizes for Twitter is highly important.
Twitter Profile Image Size
The recommended image size for profile photos is 400 x 400 pixels for Twitter. Your image should be at least 200 x 200 pixels.
Ensure that your content is not higher than 2 MB as it is the maximum file size for Twitter profile images.
Twitter Header Visual Size
The header visuals are automatically cropped to an aspect ratio of 3:1, and the recommended size is 1500 x 500 pixels.
Twitter In-Stream Visual Size
The recommended aspect ratio is between 2:1 and 1:1 on desktop; 2:1, 3:4 and 16:9 on mobile.
The recommended size is 1600 x 900 pixels, and the minimum size is 600 by 335 pixels.
You can upload visuals in GIF, JPG, and PNG formats. Make sure that your file doesn’t exceed 5 MB for photos and GIFs on mobile and 15 MB on the web.
Twitter Card Visual Size
When you include an URL in your tweets, Twitter automatically pulls the content on that URL and adds it as a summary card.
The minimum size for Twitter Card visuals is 120 x 120 pixels, and the file should not exceed 1 MB. GIF, JPG and PNG formats are supported in Twitter Cards as well.
Isik Onal
Twitter Fleet Image Size
The recommended social media image sizes for Twitter Fleet are 1080 x 1920 pixels.
Facebook Post Image Size
When you upload images to the Facebook timeline, they are automatically resized and formatted to be 500 pixels wide and meet the 1.91:1 aspect ratio.
The minimum size for Facebook post images is 600 x 315 pixels.
To avoid any pixelation or slow loading times, we suggest you follow the recommended image size, 1200 x 630 pixels.
LinkedIn Post Image Size
LinkedIn is the network of professionals. So, you need to have a professional and credible look on this platform.
The recommended image size for LinkedIn posts is 1200 x 627 pixels. This is also valid when your post includes an URL link. If this is the case, LinkedIn will automatically capture the visual and add it as a thumbnail if it is available.
After LinkedIn auto-generates the visual, you can always edit the visual by clicking the image icon below the text and upload a visual from your database. Ensure that your visual complies with a 1.91:1 ratio and above the minimum of 200 pixels wide.
Isik Onal
Bonus Tip: Auto-generate the best social media image sizes for all platforms!
Even though you have the cheat sheet for social media image sizes for the platforms, it still requires some work to manage them separately. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a tool that provides you ready-to-use templates for your content?
I am sure that your answer is YES.
If so, let us introduce you to the all-in-one social media management tool, Circleboom Publish. Via Circleboom Publish, you can manage multiple social media accounts on a single dashboard.
Also, Circleboom Publish provides you the built-in Canva API so that you can edit and enhance your posts with unlimited graphic features of Canva.
Well, there is more. While creating your visuals on Canva, you can choose the already-made templates for each social media platform with the best social media image sizes.
This way, you don’t even need to use the cheat sheet every time you create a visual. All you need to do is to choose the platform that you want to post. Circleboom Publish will provide you the right dimensions on Canva to boost your engagement.
Isik Onal
Wrapping Up
To establish a credible and professional look on social media platforms, it is important to pay attention to the unique requirements of each platform.
To optimize your visuals to boost your engagement and impression rates, it is highly recommended to follow the guidelines of each platform for social media image sizes.
You can always use our cheat sheet to check whether your image complies with the platforms’ requirements.
If you want to make this process easier, we recommend you check the built-in Canva API of Circleboom Publish. This will also help you avoid errors with technical specialties to preserve your professional appearance on social media platforms.
Zeynep Morelli
