What is the best image size for Instagram posts?

For feed posts, 1080 × 1350 px (4:5 portrait ratio) gives the most screen real estate in the feed. Square posts at 1080 × 1080 px also work well. Avoid landscape if engagement matters — portrait posts take up more space and typically get more interaction. For Stories and Reels, always use 1080 × 1920 px.

What size is a LinkedIn banner?

The LinkedIn personal profile banner is 1584 × 396 px. Company page covers are 1128 × 191 px. Note that LinkedIn crops banners on mobile — keep key content centered horizontally to avoid it being cut off on smaller screens.

What resolution should YouTube thumbnails be?

YouTube recommends 1280 × 720 px at 16:9 ratio, with a maximum file size of 2MB. This is the dimension displayed on desktop and large screens. The minimum accepted is 640 × 360 px, but thumbnails at that size appear blurry on large displays. Always upload at 1280 × 720 px.

Why do my images look blurry after uploading to social media?

Blurry images after upload usually have one of three causes: the image was uploaded at a smaller size than the display size (upscaling adds blur); the platform re-compressed a JPG that was already compressed (double compression); or the image was saved at low quality. Fix: upload at the exact recommended resolution, use JPG quality 85%+ or PNG, and avoid re-saving JPGs multiple times.

Do all social media platforms resize my images automatically?

Yes, all major platforms resize and recompress images on their servers. That's why uploading at the recommended dimensions matters — you're giving the platform's algorithm the best possible source to work from. Uploading smaller and letting it upscale always produces worse results than uploading at the correct target size.

Complete Image Size Guide for Every Social Media Platform (2026)

Why image sizes matter on social media

Every social platform renders images differently. Upload the wrong size and you get cropped thumbnails, blurry previews, or banners that look broken on mobile. Each platform has a specific display size (what users see) and a recommended upload size (what you should submit for best results).

The rule of thumb: always upload at the highest recommended resolution, even if the display is smaller. Platforms downsample automatically, and uploading a too-small image gets upscaled — which adds blur. The dimensions below are the upload targets you should aim for.

Instagram image sizes

Instagram is ratio-first: the platform forces images into specific aspect ratios depending on the content type.

Profile photo: 320 × 320 px (displayed as a circle, upload square) Square post: 1080 × 1080 px (1:1) Portrait post: 1080 × 1350 px (4:5) — takes up the most screen space in the feed, generally performs best Landscape post: 1080 × 566 px (1.91:1) Story / Reel cover: 1080 × 1920 px (9:16) — keep key content in the center 1080 × 1420 px safe zone to avoid UI overlays Carousel post: same as single post sizes; each slide should match the ratio of the first slide

For video thumbnails (Reels cover images), use 1080 × 1920 px and expect top/bottom cropping in grid view — center your subject.

LinkedIn image sizes

LinkedIn is used mostly on desktop, so banner images get more screen real estate here than on other platforms.

Profile photo: 400 × 400 px minimum, recommended 800 × 800 px Banner / Cover image (personal): 1584 × 396 px (4:1 ratio) Company page logo: 300 × 300 px Company page cover: 1128 × 191 px Blog post link preview: 1200 × 627 px Single image post: 1200 × 628 px (landscape) or 1080 × 1080 px (square) — LinkedIn supports both Document / carousel post: 1080 × 1080 px per slide

LinkedIn banner images are cropped differently on mobile — the left and right edges are cut. Keep text and important elements within the center 60% of the banner width.

Facebook image sizes

Facebook is used across a huge range of devices, so their recommended sizes account for both mobile and desktop rendering.

Profile photo: 170 × 170 px (desktop) / 128 × 128 px (mobile) — upload at least 170 × 170 px Cover photo (personal): 851 × 315 px (desktop) / 640 × 360 px (mobile) — use 820 × 312 px as a safe target that works on both Page cover photo: 820 × 312 px Shared image / post: 1200 × 630 px Stories: 1080 × 1920 px Event cover: 1920 × 1005 px Link preview image: 1200 × 628 px

Facebook compresses images aggressively. Save your images as PNG for graphics and logos, and as JPG at 85%+ quality for photos, to minimize compression artifacts after upload.

Twitter / X image sizes

Twitter (now X) crops images in the feed but shows them in full on click — design with both states in mind.

Profile photo: 400 × 400 px minimum Header / banner: 1500 × 500 px In-feed image (single): 1600 × 900 px (16:9) recommended — Twitter crops to roughly 2:1 in feed, shows full image when tapped In-feed image (multiple): 1200 × 675 px per image Shared link preview: 800 × 418 px

For header images, the profile photo overlaps the bottom-left corner on desktop. Keep important content in the top 80% and the right 70% of the banner to avoid overlap on both desktop and mobile.

YouTube image sizes

YouTube thumbnails are one of the highest-leverage images in social media — a good thumbnail directly affects click-through rate.

Thumbnail: 1280 × 720 px (16:9, minimum 640 × 360 px) — JPG or PNG under 2MB Channel profile photo: 800 × 800 px Channel banner / art: 2560 × 1440 px — YouTube crops for different devices: safe zone for all screens is the center 1546 × 423 px; TV screens show the full 2560 × 1440 px Community post image: 1080 × 1080 px

YouTube is aggressive about banner cropping. Use the PixelTools resize tool with the YouTube preset to see exactly which areas are visible on desktop, mobile, and TV.

TikTok, Pinterest, and others

Profile photo: 200 × 200 px
Video thumbnail / cover: 1080 × 1920 px (9:16)
Spark Ads image: 1080 × 1920 px

Profile photo: 165 × 165 px
Standard pin: 1000 × 1500 px (2:3) — the platform's native ratio, shown full-size in feeds
Square pin: 1000 × 1000 px
Long pin: up to 1000 × 2100 px (anything taller gets cut off in the feed)
Board cover: 800 × 450 px

Story / Snap Ad: 1080 × 1920 px

Server icon: 512 × 512 px
Server banner: 960 × 540 px
Invite splash: 1920 × 1080 px

Profile photo: 500 × 500 px
Status image: 1080 × 1920 px

Practical tips for every platform

A few rules that apply across all platforms:

Design at 2x then export at 1x. Create assets at double the target size (e.g., 2000 × 2000 px for a 1000 × 1000 px post) and export at the final size. This ensures crisp rendering on high-DPI (Retina) displays.

Use JPG for photos, PNG for graphics. Photos with no transparency compress well as JPG at 85% quality. Logos, screenshots, and graphics with text or transparency should stay PNG. Uploading a PNG photo is not wrong, but the file size is larger than necessary.

Keep safe zones. Most platforms crop previews — profile overlaps banners, UI elements cover story edges, feed view crops wide images. Design your key message and subject in the center 70–80% of any image.

Check mobile. Most social media is consumed on mobile. Preview your images at phone screen size before publishing, especially banners and cover photos.