Social Media Cheat Sheet 2018: Must-Have Image Sizes!

Searching for the ultimate social media cheat sheet?

I’ve been looking forever, and can’t find one that’s completely correct. So I made my own!

Simple – but accurate! Outdated infographics are still widely posted and shared, despite their misinformation. Here are the updated social media sizes, as of April 3, 2018.

Latest updates: Newest first!

• Pinterest: NEW March 2018, Pins will be cropped in the feed if more than 2.1 times taller than wide. Fall 2017, Pin size maxes out at 564 pixels wide when clicked. Jump to Pinterest section below.
• Facebook: NEW November 2017, FB group cover photo proportion has changed. Jump to Facebook section below.
• Profile pictures are virtually all circular now! Even on a Facebook Page, the square photo you see next to your cover photo gets cropped to a circle elsewhere.
  Plan your avatar or logo accordingly! Make sure there’s nothing critical in the corners of the square.
• Twitter: NEW September 2017, with readers’ help I finally figured out the best size and shape for both tweeted images and Twitter cards. Read all the details here, or jump to Twitter section below.
• LinkedIn: NEW August 2017, LinkedIn personal profile “backgrounds” redesigned. Jump to LinkedIn section below.
• Tumblr: A reader has provided a size list. Jump to Tumblr section below.

I’ve included ALL essential sizes for Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, AND YouTube on the chart. I also added some notes about aspect ratio where there isn’t a specified maximum size.

Please leave a comment if any need to be corrected. I’ll update as quickly as possible!

How Do I Get Images to These Sizes?

Q: Do you have recommendation for how to get photos these desired image sizes? I am using iPhoto and I am not getting exact dimensions you describe.

A: You could use an online photo editor like PicMonkey or pixlr.com. Alternatively, you can use an online image creator that has lots of sizes already set up for you!

The two easiest ones I’ve found are Stencil and Snappa (shown below). Choose a size template, pick or upload a photo, and it’s automatically sized to fit. Adjust cropping as desired.

These all have a free option or free trial. If you upgrade for additional features, I may get a small commission. I only recommend what I’ve tried, and think you’ll love!

Social Media Photo Sizes Quick Reference & Links

Here’s a brief rundown of some critical social media photo sizes.

My TOP recommended size for image posts: 1200 pixels square is ideal for Facebook and Instagram posts. It also works well for Google+ and LinkedIn posts – and for Twitter, if you keep any type or other critical elements away from the top and bottom of the image.

My TOP recommended size for link posts: Facebook, Twitter and Linked in are all recommending 1200 x 628 pixels, which is 1.91:1 aspect ratio. You need to be including this shape image on every blog post and page! Multiply the width of your content area by .524 to get the image height. Since my content area is 720px wide, this comes out to 720 x 377 pixels for me.

But WHAT should you post on social media? Get ideas here!

• • • CLICK to Get your FREE Social Media Content Guide! • • •

Facebook Photo Sizes

Facebook changes 2017:

Facebook Group cover photo has changed proportion. Details and template for mobile/desktop here.

Facebook Event cover photo has changed proportion. Details here.

Slight reduction of profile picture size from 180 pixels square to 170 square. I suggest uploading at least double that size for better quality.

Facebook Page cover photo is displayed slightly smaller on desktop: 820 x 312px, down from 828×315. This is the exact same proportion, so you don’t have to change anything. However, I recommend using a larger size and shape that works for both desktop and mobile. Recommended: 1200 x 675. Get details and the mobile/desktop template here.

Recommended proportion for all Facebook cover photos: 16:9. This works perfectly on mobile. You must allow cropping top and bottom on desktop.

This proportion works out to: 1200 x 675, 1640 x 923, or 1920 x 1080. Your choice!

New in June 2017: You can use a video as your cover photo.

Tell More of Your Story

Instead of a cover photo, now you can use a video. It can be 20-90 seconds and should be at least 820 x 312 pixels.

I updated the minimum wall post size. Hopefully you are going with larger photos than minimum already! Displays have such great resolution, and low quality images don’t cut it any more. Go BIG! Up to 2048 x 2048 works for Facebook photo posts.

• Facebook Page Cover photo size: 820 x 312 desktop / 640 x 360 mobile | Optimize for both!
• Facebook Profile photo size: upload 170 x 170 | Make the best Facebook Profile Picture
• Facebook Link preview size: min. 600 x 314 | How to get a LARGE link thumbnail
• Facebook Photo post size: on the wall, 476 x varied height, larger gives better quality.
• Facebook Group Cover photo size: 1640 x 859 minimum, this post helps you optimize for mobile and desktop.
• Facebook Event Cover photo size: 1200 x 675, see the post for details: Facebook Event Cover for Desktop AND Mobile
• Facebook ad sizes: COMPLETE infographic of ALL Facebook photo sizes, including ads: Facebook sizes infographic

Twitter Photo Sizes

Twitter card image and tweeted image sizes have finally been verified. Tweeted images will still be shown in full when clicked, so you can use square for portability across social media networks – but they’ll be cropped in the feed on mobile.

• Twitter Header size: 1500 x 500 | Twitter header details and free template
• Twitter Profile size: 400 x 400 | New round Twitter profile picture
• Tweeted Image size: 1200 x 675 | Details on Twitter Images
• Twitter Card image size: 1200 x 628 | Details on Twitter Images

How about a side of FREE social media post ideas?

• • • CLICK to Get your FREE Social Media Content Guide! • • •

Pinterest Photo Sizes

Update late March 2018: Pinterest has verified that Pins taller than 2.1 times width will be cropped in the feed. They recommend 600 x 1260. Taller Pins will be seen in full when clicked.

I still recommend tall infographics! They perform for me. Read all the details on Pinterest sizes.

I updated the graphic with the recommended sizes of 600 x 600, 600 x 900, and 600 x 1260. You can still use your favorite width, and keep your Pin dimensions in these proportions:

• 1:1 or square
• 1:1.5 or slightly tall
• 1:2.1 or moderately tall
• Tall as you like, but will be cropped in feed

Update Fall 2017: Pins no longer appear at 736 pixels wide when clicked! Now they’re never seen bigger than 564 pixels wide. Pinterest is recommending 2:3 proportion as optimal (example: 600 x 900 pixels), and also saying squares are fine. I don’t see squares performing as well as taller Pins, though.

Pinterest board covers are SQUARE. I recommend 600 x 600. If you use the Showcase feature, you’ll want to make sure you make them at least 340 x 340.

• Pinterest Profile Photo size: 180 x 180 or larger
• Maximum pin width when clicked: 564
• Board cover: suggested minimum 340 x 340
• Minimum image size that can be pinned: 100 x 200 source

Instagram Photo Sizes

Instagram posts are no longer limited to square! For details, read: Instagram Photo Format Breaks Out of the Box!

• Instagram Profile Photo size: 110 x 110 minimum | Rock your IG profile photo
• Instagram photo size: minimum 1080 width for best quality | Instagram photo size tips

LinkedIn Photo Sizes

Update August 2017: Those maddening responsive background images (banner / cover photo) on personal profiles have been dumped. The new recommended size is 1584 wide by 396 high. This is exactly 4:1 proportion.

You can also crop, filter, and adjust your photo after you upload it to LinkedIn.

Tips from LinkedIn:

If your background image appears blurry or pixelated, please choose an image with a file size as close to the maximum (8 MB) as possible, as images with larger file sizes typically look better. Photos will also look better than images with logos.

LinkedIn recap: Max file size 8MB and file type must be PNG, JPEG, or GIF.

• LinkedIn profile cover photo: 1584 wide by 396 high. This is exactly 4:1 proportion.
• Linked in profile picture: Per LI, upload any size between 400 x 400 pixels and 20,000 x 20,000 px.
• LinkedIn blog post link shares match Facebook’s! 1200 x 628 px.
• LinkedIn photo share: 1200 x 1200 square looks best on desktop, but gets cropped to horizontal in the mobile feed. The link share size works best there¹.
• LinkedIn Company cover photo size: 1536 x 768 px².
• LinkedIn logo size: 300 x 300 square. No more horizontal.
• More company and career page image sizes on LinkedIn here.

¹LinkedIn photo post size seems difficult to determine. It appears to be a slightly taller shape than previously, but no one seems to agree on the size (see this discussion). If you find someone who makes picture quotes specifically to a LinkedIn size, won’t you let us know?

One woman suggested 792 x 528px. I checked and it did look the same on desktop and mobile. However, when you click on desktop, it gets so much bigger. I’d double those dimensions for best clarity.

²There’s some question as to how that company cover photo works. The height is greatly cropped. I suspect that the cover image proportions work for mobile. Just as with Facebook and Twitter, the height gets cropped on desktop – although much more severely. Unfortunately, you’ll have to create something and test it on different devices if it has critical elements that need to show. Or else think of it as more of a “background” image that doesn’t have faces, type, or other elements that would look bad when cropped on different devices.

Here’s a LinkedIn company cover photo template from Breanna Tillman that a reader shared: Download the LI company cover.

The proportions don’t seem correct, but I’ll let you mess with that if you want. Personally, with these responsive headers, I recommend uploading an appropriate photo background and letting the cropping fall where it may. With different crops on different devices, LinkedIn company page headers have become too difficult to place text on.

Now that you’ve got the sizes – what images should you post?

• • • CLICK to Get your FREE Social Media Content Guide! • • •

YouTube Photo Sizes

• YouTube Channel Art size: 2560 x 1440 | Right click to download template
• Be sure to check the template as cropping varies widely from TV to mobile to desktop
• Video thumbnail: 1280 x 720
• Channel icon: 800 x 800

Google+ Photo Sizes

• Google+ Cover photo size: 1080 by 608 (this is also 16:9, so reuse your FB cover
• Google+ Profile photo size: 250 x 250

Tumblr Photo Sizes

It’s hard to find image sizes for this platform, and one reason may be that it’s pretty freeform. Different themes can vary greatly.

I don’t use Tumblr and decided not to add it to the cheat sheet, since I won’t know if things change.

April 2017: Here’s an excellent Tumblr sizes overview offered by reader Morgana Johnson:

Although all themes are different, the most common sizes still display 500 and 400 width posts (and most “photography” themes either display everything with a width of 1280, or even the highest resolution available).

However, anything on the dashboard feed is shown at and resized to 540. Size limitations have also risen to 10MB for pictures, and supposedly 3MB for animated .gif images (However animated gifs are just buggy on tumblr, it’s best to “aim” between 1-3MB.)

Anyone using tumblr as a portfolio would have the best experience, and largest variety of themes to choose from, if they create images with a width of 500 or 400. However, those who plan to market themselves and gain a following on tumblr should create images meant to be displayed at 540. Those particular users should also pay close attention to the following new feature:

Tumblr has implemented a “dashboard pop-over” with a header, which works both as a mobile theme and allows desktop users to have a quick glance at a blog without leaving the dashboard. The header displays at “various sizes” with an aspect ratio of 16:9. Generally, it displays at 1240 x 700 for desktop browsers, but is optimized at 640 × 360 for mobile.

(It can also display animated gif images with the same size restrictions as posts. From my personal experience, however, I can’t get any header to animate if it’s larger than 1.5MB.)

It’s also worth noting that users whom choose to keep the default theme show the same header at 3000 x 1055 on their blog, and displays posts with a width of 540. ~MJ

Social Media Cheat Sheet 2018: Must-Have Image Sizes

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