Louise Myers Visual Social Media

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  1. Creating a facebook group cover photo can do wonders for your page. It can provide a face or picture to associate with your business. Knowing how to do this right is very helpful. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Louise,
    First, thank you for so freely sharing this hard-won information! I’m sure it will become a much referenced resource for me. I came upon your site via a Google search for guidelines to correctly size a picture to be used as the header of a Facebook Group page (you know, the first thing anybody will see). The recommendation of 801 x 250 pixels results in a very distorted picture and I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. My group will be a very small group indeed; single purpose page providing an exchange forum for those of us ‘nerds’ who collect the Wade porcelain ‘whimsies’ given as premiums by Red Rose Tea. (See what I mean?) I still want to do a quality job and any advice you can provide would be most helpful. Thanks in advance for your time and attention.
    Sincerely,
    Kimberly Cline
    FB Page is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/532256593637602/?ref=bookmarks

    Reply

    • I haven’t been able to find any reliable info on this. It sounds to me that what people see on desktop vs mobile vs Group app (I didn’t even know there was such a thing!) varies greatly.

      My best suggestion is to start out with a larger photo for better resolution, and if you have a PNG files, that would probably give you the best result.

      Your cover photo doesn’t appear distorted to me, just low resolution.

      Good luck! I’d love to hear how it works out.

      Reply

  5. When creating group photos should we follow the same guideline for desktop/mobile viewers? It’s so frustrating for me when I create a graphic that looks great on PC only to find my information cropped off when I view it in my fb app.

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  6. I heard from Mari Smith today that the group photo size should be: 1920×1080 pixels (16:9 ratio). I haven’t tried it yet, but wanted you to be aware!

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    • Yes, that’s what works for mobile, thanks for confirming! Without the template you won’t know where the type goes or it crops on desktop. Not sure why FB has to make them different 😉

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      • I only noticed this last week that my group cover image was appearing enlarged. After several attempts to find a current size I came across your page. Because my cover consists of a photo plus a logo and text I tried at least 6 times to make a cover image that worked based on the dimensions in this article. It was either too large, couldn’t be re-positioned, or cut off part of the image on the top. The following is what finally worked: Total size: 1640 x 856. Keep a margin of at least 100 pixels at the top (no text) because that gets cut off by Facebook’s blue navigation bar. Leave bottom margin of 186 pixels blank of text and image (I left mine with a simple background color). That should work for smart phones although the FB app on my phone puts text all over the darkened cover image.

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        • Sorry, 1640 x 856. Just as Katie Williams says. Just leave that 100 pixel margin at the top if you are adding text.

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        • Interesting. I wonder if different FB accounts are seeing it differently. I have no other explanation for why some people say my template is perfect, and others say it doesn’t work!

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  7. Thank you for that! The cover photo for the group I managed changed in front of my eyes the other day. I wasted a lot of time looking for an answer and then trying to figure out what the new size is. Nothing from Facebook. They are really starting to drive me crazy, not approving ads, no response to inquiries about that etc.

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    • I added instructions to the post. But if your design program doesn’t have either layers or guidelines, just create your image to the recommended size and follow my templates for areas you need to keep clear of type or important elements.

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  9. Thanks Louise but I still can’t get the new dimensions right. it is driving me nuts. I manage a few groups and all of them are distorted and no matter what I do I can’t get the banners right at this time.

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  10. Thank you Louise for your article here, I now know that I am not alone. Nevertheless, I am at my limit here with FB’s ‘Group Banner’. I have tried 296×90, 300×150, 400×150, 450×150, 493×150, 600×200, 784×239, 800×150, 821×250, 821×334, 851×315, 1200×400,1250×400, 1640×720, 1640×856, 1640×921; and all are being over-stretched or over-sized by FB, I can only re-position it left & right, yet it is still too tall. What did FB do to my older, pristine, heavily edited, beautiful ‘Group Banner’ – HeLp !? 11/29/17

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    • FB cover photos, no matter what size or shape you use, are going to crop on one device or another. I recommend using the mobile proportions as I detailed in the post, allowing space at the bottom for the type overlay, and positioning it on desktop to cut that part off. The old cover photo size isn’t coming back.

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      • Part of the top is also not visible. I made my own template, using the 1640 x 856 size and it works well on my notebook computer.

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        • How does it look on mobile though? Remember that the vast majority of users are viewing via mobile.

          And yes, part of the top will be cut off if you don’t reposition it. Depends on how you want it to look, but the amount cut off on desktop is such a close match to where the type overlays on mobile, it almost seems intended to work the way I show in the template.

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  11. Thank you for the template! I just wanted to chime in that if you have a long FB Group title that shows up as more than one line on mobile, you’ll need to leave even more space on the bottom to account for that.

    Trial and error, as always…that’s what graphic design is all about, I suppose!

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  12. I was going nuts trying different sizes for my group cover photo after Facebook changed the dimensions. Your template did the trick first time. Thank you. Thank you.

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  13. Thank you for the template! I just wanted to chime in that if you have a long FB Group title that shows up as more than one line on mobile, you’ll need to leave even more space on the bottom to account for that.

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  15. Just remember to change the template from indexed color to RGB. Don’t know why the template is in indexed. ** sigh **

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    • I always save flat color images as PNG for better quality and smaller file size – but I hadn’t thought to alert people about the color mode. So thanks for the heads up, and you’re welcome for the template!

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  16. Thank you for the template. I try to make my Facebook Group Banners using Canva.com.
    However, I am having a problem first because their suggested size doesn’t fit well on my groups anymore. I found your template but this group, for example, doesn’t show either Group Name or sub-title under the 230 px clear for type. What am I doing wrong?
    facebook.com/groups/brasileirosdamelhoridade/

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  17. Thanks for this! I found 1920 x 1080 was perfect for FB in both mobile and desktop leaving space at the bottom to account for the group name.

    That change in dimensions is so frustrating but glad you could give some help!

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  18. Hi Folks!

    I can’t speak for older smartphones, but this approach works for my clients on Tablet, Notebook/Laptop and Desktop PC.

    1500 x 783 … 80 pixels letterbox, with 688 pixels in height, so basically showing a letterbox with a slightly deeper band at the bottom.

    As many of you say, a lot of angry people out there, as FB do this kind of thing on a whim, with no professional levels of notification. After all, with the money they make, surely they could build a simple update notification into their main website toolbar, for the entire world to see??

    All the best.

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      • You’re very welcome Louise!

        I should clarify, when I mention 80 pixels letterbox, I should have expanded in saying “80 pixels from the top, with a height of 688 pixels thereafter (all within an overall canvas dimension of 1500 x 783.

        Again, you never know when Facebook will change things, so even with “semi-guaranteed” dimensions, it’s still a good practice to place text areas (or crucial graphic elements) well within your preferred container template!

        Kind Regards.

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      • Hey Louise, thanks for the info above. I will agree with Beney – the height is somewhat off. I made my over all frame the size listed above (1640 x 921) and my “content” of image only 662 px tall, and FB was still cutting off the top. For my design, I was able just to bump it down into the whitespace, probably about 100px or so (just eyeballed but can go look) and that got it close enough to use. Seems like they’ve messed with things again.

        This was on desktop.

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  28. I appreciate all the input which people are providing here – we may as well stick together, while Facebook leaves us all out in the cold to figure things out by ourselves.

    Now, regardless of which dimensions are labelled optimal or what people are coming up with themselves, I am seeing more reference to the whole 16:9 approach, where people are going with 1920 x 1080 as the standard HD scalable ratio. So …. is it absolute madness to design a template for a Facebook Group with such a large canvas, or am I going mad completely bonkers over this end?

    Kind Regards,
    Cal 🙂

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  30. Are you insane? Your template takes up the entire page on my laptop screen!! I don’t think that is what is meant by “cover” photo. It’s not supposed to cover everything else on the screen!!

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    • No, it’s not supposed to cover your screen, you’re supposed to open it in an image editing program. Sorry you’re finding it so challenging. Perhaps rereading the instructions in the post will help shed some light on it.

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  31. Rob, Facebook have moved away from “fixed position images” … so that’s really what’s created all this mess. It’s still very vague, but most people are now opting for 1920×1080 (standard video HD) and it’s all about scalable ratio 16:9. So, yes, it does seem insane, but it’s about achieving a failsafe canvas which can downscale for all desktop/laptop/notebooks/tablets and smartphones … that’s the backbone to all this mess!!!

    I have since created a new template which is based on a 1920×1080 Canvas, where I am simply placing a letterbox boundary for important text/banner elements … so essentially, it’s simply the backdrop which is sized at 1920×1080, with the focus being on allowing plenty of space from edged, particularly top/bottom text margins within your banner.

    Hope this helps?

    Kind Regards,
    Cal

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  35. Bonjour Louise, bonjour à tous.
    J’ai lu et relu toutes vos instructions, mais je n’arrive toujours pas à avoir la bonne dimension de l’image de mon groupe.
    J’ai tout testé, mais je ne trouve pas. Pouvez vous m’aider, je travaille sur ordi.
    Merci beaucoup.
    L’image la mieux adaptée 1500×753 mais la hauteur est coupé en haut et en bas de l’image 🙁

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    • As far as I can see, these dimensions still work. It’s always possible that Facebook is rolling out changes to some people and not others. Nothing I can do about that.

      Be sure to look at your cover photo on desktop AND mobile. Don’t forget that most FB use is from mobile, so we have to come up with a solution that works for both. Something will be cropped on either one or the other.

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  37. This is way off. The image is way too large. Are you sure this is for a Facebook Group Cover photo? (Not a Facebook Page Cover?) 784 x 250 is what Facebook last says, and that’s entirely too large. I tried your dimensions and it’s not correct either. What are some of us missing here?

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    • There’s no such thing as a too-large image. It will be scaled to fit on different devices. It’s all about the aspect ratio. Have you seen how many people have used this and said it works? It works.

      Also, the width is what Facebook themselves say. Their height doesn’t work for mobile though. That’s what this post is about… a cover photo that works for both.

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    • Hey Brandon,

      Those sizes have been recommended by Facebook for PAGES but it does not work for groups, and it doesn’t even work well for Pages because it doesn’t work for desktop AND mobile.

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    • I’m perplexed by what you mean by “too large.” Part of it is getting cropped off on desktop that’s not as I’ve indicated on the template? It still works for me but I’d love to know where the problem is. FB is even providing a similar template now!

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  40. Hi Louise,

    Using canva.com, I created a FB Group Cover photo with dimensions 1640 x 859.

    Unfortunately even after I compressed the photo using FastStone Photo Resizer 3.8, the .jpg file ended up being 440kb, which somehow doesn’t seem to be able to upload to the Group Photo.

    I’m very new to web/graphic design, have just been running a new FB group for ME/chronic fatigue syndrome.

    The web site URL below is just the current FB group (without the new Group Cover Photo).

    Any info that you could provide would be much appreciated.

    Kind regards,
    CFS Brisbane

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  41. I have created several different size mastheads, according to all the specs I’ve read here, in Photoshop Elements, saving them as jpegs with the sizes noted in the file name. When I try to upload one to my Facebook Group cover photo, almost all of them import at exactly the same size (one imported really small). I’m so frustrated, I don’t know where to go with this.

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    • Carolyn, I’m not really sure how to help.

      You can only upload one cover photo. It will show at different sizes and croppings on different devices. This is what the template hopes to show.

      Does this explain it better? I’m not sure if you’re trying to upload different sized images. You can only have one cover photo per group.

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  42. Using your template but still having issues. I even changed my dimensions in Photoshop to what you have and every time I try to upload my image it looks bigger and looks nothing like what I saved. Even placed my picture over the template and saved it but still same problem.

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  44. I used it today and it worked well. I played around with it a bit to make sure I would have enough room on the left for mobile and my font is big. You have no idea, or maybe you do.. how important it is to have big font. I can look down at my phone and immediately be able to see and read my group page name. It’s awesome. Thank you so much.

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  46. Thank you Louise – I have just spent about 3 frustrating hours trying to get our group photo to fit and, having tried a number of different dimensions, finally found yours – which are the only ones that are correct! Much appreciated and many many thanks.

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  48. Thank you! I was able to use your provided template as a guide and it worked well! I apprecieate your help by providing this template and the useful information!

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  49. Hi Louise, i delete & create a new FB group. I´ll use your template. Hope it fits well 🙂 By the way, FB sucks, change things and don´t answer any doubt from anyone.

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  50. Thank you so much for this! I was getting so annoyed with trying to simply upload my facebook group banner! Now I finally have it placed properly and visible on all devices! 🙂 🙂 🙂

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  51. Thank you, thank you thank you! You need the Nobel Peace rize just for saving me from pulling my hair out! I was ready to just delete all FaceBook accounts!

    SAL

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  52. Hi Louise,

    thanks for your tips. However, somehow my group header illustration keeps getting compressed by Facebook that results in a pixelated illustration. I use your suggested ratio, convert it to a .jpg with an Alpha channel under a 100kb and still, it doesn’t look nice.

    What to do about it?

    Atse

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    • I can suggest trying a LARGE PNG file size. It might work, but we unfortunately can’t control how FB decides to compress things. Would love to know if this helps though.

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  54. So you say, if I take my present Facebook Group photo and resize it to 1640 x 859 it should work then … hhhh. but it doesn’t!

    I’m trying to make it fit with picresize.com

    You can “see” my present Facebook coverphoto (which is not shown correctly anymore since obviously not fitting frame) here:

    http://www.facebook.com/groups/nobodyneedsmercury

    Thanks in advance for your assistance!

    Kind regards,
    Henrik

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  56. Dear Louise

    Hmmm sorry, don’t really now what “follow the template” means …. all I want is for the cover photo to show correct again with all photos and the complete text … isn’t there maybe an app or online program that that make this work 1:1 for me!?

    Cheers,
    Henrik

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    • I don’t think so. The online tools and apps tend to follow what FB recommends, which works on desktop only.

      “Follow the template” means to keep anything you don’t want cropped to the smallest area shown (desktop cropping).

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  57. Well, all I want it to re-use my present/current image and have it shown with all photos and all text …. I’m absolutely no buff at this … so how would I go about this, dear Louise!?

    Kindest regards and have a nice weeend,
    Henrik

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  59. I don’t know what I am doing wrong, but I have tried using these dimensions and using the pixel 1640×662 makes the image huge and when I upload it to my group it doesn’t fit at all and cuts off most of the picture. The previous dimensions that I had used on my group cover photos was 821×303. So I am not sure how it could almost double and still be able to fit in the cover photo.

    What am I not understanding here?

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    • The missing piece: Images for Facebook (and virtually all social media) need to be created to a proportion and not a specific pixel size. However if you use 1640×662 the sides WILL be cut off on mobile. I suggest you follow my template.

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  60. THANK YOU for being the ONLY one on the entire interwebs to have been able to call out the need for a compensation template to address the FB Group Photo zooming debacle. They really should be ashamed of themselves, but after all, THEY control the spin, so not addressing it is a self-preservation tactic in itself. Thank YOU for your integrity and for your service to your fellow (wo)man pulling our hair out in clumps for HOURS. *sigh* That’s billable time, as far as I’m concerned. I should send an invoice to Zuckerberg.

    Thou rocketh so hard, madam. <3

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  61. I don’t know if FB has changed it again or what. I’ve tried NINE different sizes and they’re all too large. I’ve tried 1025 x 300, 851 x 315, 1640 x 662, 1025 x 415, 820 x 428, 700 x 223, 550 x 175, 784 x 250 and 801 x 250. They all cut the sides, top and/or bottom off.

    I have owned many groups over the years and have never had a problem like this before.

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  64. We decided to leave ours oversized on all our groups rather than have to play catch up with Facebook moving the goalposts on a regular basis.
    They really need to stop trying to fix things that aren’t broken.
    Besides, the oversized group images serve as a reminder of their ineptitude.
    Thanks for the effort you made to address this issue but if the people who created it can’t be bothered then what hope is there.:)

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  65. Great Post! Quick question, do you know if it is possible to add an animated cover photo to a Group page (I know you can add it to a regular/business page). HELP. I can’t seem to figure this out and I’m seeing all these cool animated/slider-type cover photos and not sure why our group page is not able to do the same.

    Thank you,
    Lori, Ziglar Family

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  66. Hi Louise!

    What size/compression do you recommend exporting as? I’ve designed my file to your template, but every time I try to upload it to Facebook it comes out SUPER pixelated and messy. I’ve googled and tried everything I can think of, but nothing seems to help.

    I see companies with crystal clear images as their Facebook cover photo and am wondering HOW? Any help would be greatly appreciated! 🙂

    Thank you so much!

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    • Sorry, I really don’t know. Part of the compression issues have to do with colors (reds and magentas suffer most) and just what the image is. Sharp edges get a lot of artifacts. On photos it’s less noticeable.

      I’ve tried PNG 24 and sometimes that helps, but not always.

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  67. Please!! I need help. :'( I have several facebook groups and all my cover photos are now too high or too wide. There are so many different recommended sizes to see. Non of them works. There’s always a big part cut away. I tried also YOUR sizes shown on this page: 1640×856 pixel, 1640×859, 1640×662 and 1640×923. Non of them works. 🙁

    WHY?? Why facebook must change always everything? I’m already so frustrated. Has anybody an idea about an actually size for watching the group’s photo on a computer?

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    • I think you’re misunderstanding the post. There isn’t, and has never been, one size that looks the same across all devices. You need to create the larger size and allow for cropping on desktop.

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  68. Hi Louise. I am having a hard time understanding your template. I made a cover image 1640 x 630 and it’s getting cut off on the sides. Are you saying we should make our image 1640 x 859 to have it not get cut off on mobile but it will be a tad cut off on desktop?

    Thanks so much!

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  69. Thank you for this! You wrote, “Facebook is even providing a similar template now!” Just out of curiosity, where do you find those?

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  70. Thank you! No matter what I tried I could not get our group photo to show up right. Your template saved my sanity!!

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  71. Thanks for posting this – it was helpful. There’s one problem still. High saturated red/pink tones get distorted. I find this frustrating as I commonly do branding with these colours. Do you have a solution?

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    • No, this is a known problem, unfortunately no solution (other than using different colors).

      Flat colors and hard edges will always show more artifacts, and colors with a lot of red most of all.

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  73. No matter what I try, no matter how large or small I make a photo, no matter which online tool I use, it always posts as the SAME size. It is way too big. I have tried widths ranging from 1859px to 600px. Neither side can be seen unless it is re-positioned, and then it is only one or the other; not both. The top and bottom cannot be seen or revealed even by re-positioning.

    HELP!!!!

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    • You cannot get around the fact that there WILL be cropping on either mobile or desktop. That’s why I wrote the article. You have to plan for the cropping. Making a different size in the same shape won’t make a difference.

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  74. I made a graphic design for the group cover photo in 300 ppi, I used the same dimensions that you mentioned (1640 x 859px) but then when I tried to upload it to the group, the photo became low res 🙁

    Help I do not know what to do. 🙁

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    • I doubt there’s anything you can do. We can’t maintain a PPI on the web, as it’s device-dependent. Also FB will compress any uploads. You could try a different file type, like PNG if you used JPG. Or compress it more / less before uploading.

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  75. Thank you so much! I have literally been working on this silly group cover photo all day! After reading this article, I started over completely with a canvas size of 1,640px by 859px and apparently that was the trick! It worked the first time. What a silly process! Anyway, just wanted to pop in the comments to say thanks. This solved my issue! 🙂

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  77. What is the image size ratio when creating a doc inside the group?
    Facebook now allows to add a header image to docs created within groups. I was wondering what is the cropping for that one

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  78. I would like to put a border around a group cover photo. If I use the ratio of 1.91×1, and then place a stroke on the photo, upload it to the FB page, the only part of the stroke that shows is both ends. I know FB crops the top and bottom. Is there away around this, in sizing?

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  79. This is great – and my question may be obvious but when I am setting up my template (using gimp) do I use 1640 x 923 OR 1640 x 859?
    TIA

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  82. You are awesome! I found this in a google search trying to find the correct dimensions of a FB cover since even when I use the correct dimensions, it is ALWAYS off. Your explanation as to why explained it all! As a new blogger, I will be a new subscriber for you too. Thank you!

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  84. OMG! I paid someone $50 yesterday to recreate my design of my fb group cover, because I couldn’t get it to fit. Well, HE COULDN’T EITHER (so that was money down the drain!) I googled “What the hell is the right size for fb groups covers” and landed here! Couldn’t download the template so I snipped it; pasted my image on top, resized it to height and width of the LIGHT PURPLE part of the template; grouped the two images; copied into Paint, resized to 1640×859 and — VIOLA — a PERFECT, CRYSTAL FB GROUP COVER! Where do I send my check?

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  85. Is it still possible to have the cover just display the members? Before, if I didn’t have an image uploaded, it would show the members up top. It seems NOT to be doing that any more.

    Do you know?

    Thanks!
    Lia

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  86. FACEBOOK IS F’ed up. Totally. I downloaded your templates, downloaded Facebook’s template and NONE OF THEM WORK. I’m a graphic artist, not a newbie. What is going on? I HATE Facebook. I hope Zuckerburg gets early onset dementia. How hard is it to actually provide a template that works?

    Reply

    • Every now and then I hear from someone that this template just doesn’t work. I’m not sure if you’re seeing a different format for some reason. This still works on my computer, iPhone, and iPad.

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      • Same here, I’ve tried everything. Also a designer. I can’t figure out what the issue is, but no matter what i do the image uploads too large every single time. I’ve even shrunk the image down tiny within the dimensions just to see if it would change, nope. Facebook uploads the same thing every time. This is a frustrating problem to something that should be so simple. Convinced it’s a facebook issue. Thank you for your time in trying to help all of us.

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  89. Hi Louise

    Maybe you can’t tell a book by it’s cover.

    But you should be able to learn an awful lot about Facebook groups from their cover images.

    That’s why the resources and training you’ve shared here is so invaluable.

    -Donna

    Reply

  90. Hi Louise!

    Its still working on february 2019? I see on other site is different about this size, can You Explain this?

    Regards,
    JasaSitus

    Reply

    • I think I’ve explained everything pretty thoroughly! I don’t know which site you refer to or what they say, so I can’t say if it’s right or wrong, only that mine has been tested to be correct.

      Reply

  92. Louise! Facebook is using face recognition software to autocrop the circle where the face is! I specifically created my cover to have the center text be the circle thumbnail. How disappointing! Want to update your article to include this now? Thanks for all your great cropping info, you are always my go-to.

    Reply

  93. Hi Louise,
    I uploaded a 1640×859 cover group image, but facebook is NOT using the center part of my image for the thumbnail, it’s using the right side. I can’t figure it out, I tried different heights, still the same result. I’m perplexed. Can you help?

    Reply

    • I can take a look. I believe they also use some type of visual recognition to determine what’s the best part to feature. I haven’t seen this personally but others have said similar.

      Reply

  94. i am on a laptop. at this point pretty angry they have made it so hard.
    i even paid someone, and THEY CAN NOT get it right either!
    i have the 4 major sizes.
    of course even though the same laptop, it will not take the same as the last banner image.
    I have 1640×856 to the 150 size..
    for gods sake.. on a laptop anyone has a clue!
    I have compressed… you name it. cleared browser.
    the closest one still cuts off the last line i need to show.
    just going crazy here after DAYS of trying.
    and saying “too big” is not good enough after all these post… LMAO… lol clearly everyone posting comments knows what that means. hehehe

    Reply

    • I suppose if they actually did, they’d figure it out then.

      As far as “everyone,” most commenters say this template worked for them. I can’t say whether sometimes FB just freaks out and does something weird. It’s been known to happen. #FaceBug

      I agree Facebook is frustrating, nothing I can do about that. It sounds like you’re not allowing for the cropping though. Sorry but it’s impossible to know exactly what you mean. That’s why “too big” isn’t enough for me to help.

      Reply

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