Let’s just assume you’re reading this post on your mobile phone or computer during working hours or on your lunch break. As you sit here scrolling through this blog post, let me quickly remind you that as a nation, we currently spend more than five years of our lives on social media
In this time, we could fly to the moon at least 32 times, or walk the Great Wall of China at least three times. I know, pretty scary right?
The reality is that so many of us spend our time glued to our social media devices, scrolling through miles of articles, news stories and status updates and we only stop scrolling once we see an article or image that captures our attention.
When it comes to posting your own content on social media, either as yourself or as a business, the visual face and identity of your company or brand is often the first thing your audience sees. It’s quite possibly the only thing they remember too, so at a glance it’s really important to get your images and concept right!
Without further ado, here is our short guide on how to resize your images appropriately and accordingly to get the most of out your social media apps
Image Sizes for Social Media
Facebook image sizes to remember
Say cheese! Your profile picture is the first thing people will see when clicking onto your page, so first impressions are everything. To save time, you could simply use social media tool Landscape,a powerful resizing tool designed to crop images to the size you need. But if you’d prefer to do it manually, keep on reading!
When it comes to Facebook, your phone or computer should automatically set the dimensions of your photos. However it’s still good to remember your photograph should be clear, sharp and measuring at least 180 x 180 pixels once uploaded.
Your cover photo is the large panoramic image at the top of the page and gives you a chance to be a bit more creative. You are allowed just one photo at a time and it must measure no more than 820 x 312 pixels. Be aware, anything smaller than this will stretch to fit the box which may cause your image to become blurry. A shared image is one of the most popular aspects on Facebook. These images will be shown on both yours and your friends news feeds if you upload or are tagged in a post. Facebook suggests that any photo upload size remains at 1,200 x 630 pixels to give you a clear visual.
Twitter image sizes to remember
Similar to Facebook, your Twitter page allows a profile picture and covering banner across the top of your page. Your profile photo should not exceed file size 2GB and should measure at least 400 x 400 pixels. The image will be the first thing that people see, so make sure your photo represents you or your company as best as it can.
The header photo is recommended at 1500 x 1500 pixels and spans across the top of the page so a high resolution image is required. This photo will give you the chance to portray your personality or company brand in the best light. If uploading from your phone or computer, remember that only JPG, GIF or PNG images types are accepted.
The great thing about Twitter is that it no longer counts images against the character limit, so you can now tweet up to four photos at any one time without your 140 characters being affected. Photographs on your timeline must be uploaded to a minimum of 440 x 220 or maximum of 1024 x 512.
Instagram image sizes to remember
Instagram is the most popular photo-sharing mobile app ever with more than 600 million users worldwide. The platform prides itself on stunning visuals and its sole purpose is to allow users to post ‘on the go’ snapshots. Every single image on Instagram is uploaded into a square box and your profile image should not exceed 110 x 110 pixels.
Instagram is designed for mobile phone use which means you are allowed to upload high resolution images at a maximum of 1080 x 1080 pixels but these will still be scaled down to 612 x 612 pixels once uploaded. The desktop version of Instagram only displays up to 640 pixel images but as we all know, it’s not intended to be used on the computer.
Pinterest image sizes to remember
Pinterest is known as the best social platform for helping to drive traffic to your website. Reason being, more than 90% of photos are external and link to other websites. Whilst many social media sites focus primarily on text, Pinterest focuses purely on imagery with added text. Now more than ever, it’s important for you to optimise your pages regularly, using proper image sizes for your boards and pins to get the most out out your content.
Your profile picture must not exceed 165 x 165 pixels and must not exceed 10 MB.
A useful aspect of Pinterest is that there’s no limit on how long an image can be, which makes the site perfect for infographics. Pins on the main page appear as 236 pixels and once expanded, have a minimum width 600 pixels (height is scaled)
Would you like us to take a look at your social accounts? Get in touch and one of our certified experts will be more than happy to help.
