Size matters … how to format your graphics for Social Media

Guide To Sizing Social Media Images

In an ideal world, one image would serve us across all platforms, from website to Twitter, Instagram to LinkedIn, slotting perfectly into Facebook on the way. Unfortunately, each platform comes with its own requirements, and failing to correctly size for the platform on which you are posting can cause issues for your brand.

 

How often do you see a post on Instagram that has text missing from the top? Or a preview of a post on Twitter that cuts out important details? This is caused by using an image that hasn’t been sized correctly, and the person posting it may well have crossed their fingers hoping that nobody would notice (except we did).

 

If that isn’t enough, then you can separate the platforms into sub-categories. A grid post image is not the same aspect ratio as an Instagram story image, and if you post an IGTV, you won’t be wanting to add a preview to your grid, unless you’ve correctly sized the image to fit squarely in the middle of the cover image. Anything less than perfect can result in missing text (or worse, missing heads), or cause an awkwardly stretched image that will pixelate.

 

Sounds confusing, doesn’t it? Thankfully, we are here with our 2021 guide to perfectly sized social media images.

 

Instagram

  • Profile: 320 x 320
  • Grid: 1080 x 1080
  • Stories: 1080 x 1920
  • IGTV: 1080 x 1920
  • IGTV cover: 420 x 654

 

Facebook

  • Profile: 170 x 170
  • Cover: 851 x 315
  • Timeline (landscape): 1200 x 630
  • Timeline (portrait): 630 x 1200
  • Timeline (square): 1200 x 1200
  • Stories: 1080 x 1920

 

Twitter

  • Profile: 400 x 400
  • Cover: 1500 x 1500
  • Timeline: 1024 x 512
  • Stories: 1080 x 1920

 

LinkedIn

  • Profile: 400 x 400
  • Cover: 1128 x 191
  • Timeline (landscape): 1200 x 627
  • Timeline (portrait): 627 x 1200
  • Stories: 1080 x 1920

 

As you can see, there is the potential to re-use some images across platforms; stories, for example, are the same size across the board (for now); and Facebook and LinkedIn portrait and landscape posts are close enough to work. However, platforms frequently move the goalposts with regards to image sizing, and so it’s worth keeping an eye on social media publications and news sources to make sure yours are optimised for their use across the platforms.

 

Manually resizing images can be quite time-consuming, but there are image editors that have social media-optimised templates, meaning that you can alter your image with just a mouse click. However you decide to do it, it’s worth the time investment to portray a slick and organised brand to your potential clients or customers.