What are the Proper Specs and Sizes for Social Media Images?

Great visual assets drive engagement and shape brand perception, even (and especially!) on social media. A single photo can communicate the brand messaging of your post, quality of product, emotion, an understanding of your demographics, and more. Photos appear and perform very differently from platform to platform, so to help you create the right visual content, we’ve broken down formatting and sizing guidelines platform by platform to show you what you need.

Facebook

  • For photos used in posts with links, the preferred orientation of those photos is horizontal and the optimal size is 450px X 810px. The visual focus of the picture can either be in the center or be coming from one of the bottom corners.
  • The preferred orientation for Facebook cover photos is also horizontal, and the preferred size is 315px X 828px. The visual focus of the cover photo must be in the center or right hand side of the cover photo, as the profile photo can cover much of the left.
  • The profile photo to be used on your brand’s Facebook page should be a square photo, 180px X 180 px in size, and horizontal in orientation. The visual focus of the photo should be in the center, with little to no surrounding objects. Backgrounds should be light in color.
  • For standalone photos to be used on posts that do not contain a link, they should be horizontal and favorably 788px X 940px in size. The visual focus of the photo can be in the center or in one of the bottom corners of the photo.

Instagram

  • For a standard Instagram post, the preferred size is 800px X 800px square. Although the preferred orientation is square, Instagram does allow you to also post horizontal and vertical rectangles. The visual focus of the photo should be in the center, with little to no surrounding objects. Backgrounds should be light in color.

Twitter

  • The preferred size of a standard Twitter photo is 253px X 506px, and the preferred orientation is horizontal. The visual focus of the picture can either be in the center or be coming from one of the bottom corners.

Pinterest

  • For a standard Pinterest post, the preferred width is 735px and there is no preferred height. Pinterest photos can be as long as they need to be. Photos can be in any length, but the photo will appear very narrow in the feed.

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