Social media image sizes and aspect ratios
Updated 2026-08-27 ยท about 8 minute read
Every platform publishes a list of recommended image dimensions, and every list is slightly out of date. The dimensions matter less than people think. The ratio matters more, and understanding why makes the whole problem manageable.
Ratio first, pixels second
An aspect ratio is the relationship between width and height, independent of size. 1920 ร 1080, 1280 ร 720 and 640 ร 360 are all 16:9 โ the same shape at different resolutions.
Platforms crop to a ratio. They do not crop to a pixel count. Upload something at the right ratio and it fits whatever the platform decides its display size is this quarter; upload the right pixel count at the wrong ratio and it gets cropped, usually through somebody's forehead.
Get the ratio right and supply enough pixels โ generally at least 1080 on the shortest side โ and you are done. The aspect ratio calculator works out the missing dimension for you and names the ratio you have.
The sizes worth knowing
| Placement | Ratio | Pixels |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram square post | 1:1 | 1080 ร 1080 |
| Instagram portrait post | 4:5 | 1080 ร 1350 |
| Stories, Reels, TikTok, Shorts | 9:16 | 1080 ร 1920 |
| YouTube video & thumbnail | 16:9 | 1280 ร 720 |
| X / Twitter in-stream image | 16:9 | 1600 ร 900 |
| X / Twitter header | 3:1 | 1500 ร 500 |
| Facebook cover | ~2.6:1 | 820 ร 312 |
| LinkedIn banner | 4:1 | 1584 ร 396 |
| Pinterest pin | 2:3 | 1000 ร 1500 |
| Open Graph link preview | 1.91:1 | 1200 ร 630 |
Two of these earn special mention. 4:5 is the tallest Instagram allows in the feed, so it occupies the most screen space of any feed format โ which is why it outperforms square for reach. And 1200 ร 630 is the Open Graph card that appears when anyone shares your link on any platform; it is the single most reused image size on the web and the one most often forgotten.
Safe areas: the invisible rule
Published dimensions describe the image. They do not describe the parts of it that will be covered by interface.
On Stories and Reels, the top roughly 250 pixels carry the profile row and the bottom roughly 320 carry captions, buttons and the send bar. Anything important in those zones is obscured. Keep text and faces in the middle 60% or so.
Profile pictures are stored square and displayed as circles, so the corners of your square are always cut off. Design for the inscribed circle โ the circle crop tool lets you preview exactly what survives.
Cover images are worse: Facebook and LinkedIn crop them differently on desktop and mobile, so the visible region is the intersection of two different crops. Keep logos and text well inside the centre.
Why your upload looks worse than your file
Every platform re-encodes what you upload. You cannot prevent it, but you can avoid making it worse.
Uploading an already-compressed JPEG means it is compressed twice, and JPEG artefacts compound โ the platform's encoder faithfully preserves the blocking from your first compression, then adds its own. Upload the highest-quality version within the size limit and let the platform do the compression once.
Choose the format for the content. JPEG for photographs. PNG for anything with text, flat colour, sharp edges or transparency โ screenshots, logos, diagrams. A screenshot saved as JPEG develops fuzzy halos around the letters that no amount of quality setting fully removes. WebP is smaller than both at the same quality and is now universally supported; the WebP converter handles conversion in both directions.
Our guide to reducing image file size covers which lever actually moves the number when you need to hit a limit.
Crop, never squash
To change an image's shape you must crop it. Scaling to a different ratio stretches faces and is instantly, viscerally obvious to viewers even when they cannot say why.
The reliable order of operations:
- Straighten if the horizon is off โ the photo straightener crops inward automatically, so this must come first.
- Crop to the target ratio with the image cropper, which has ratio presets.
- Resize to the target pixels with the image resizer.
- Compress only if you need to hit a file-size limit.
Doing it in the other order โ resizing before cropping โ throws away pixels you then need back.
A workflow that survives every platform
Shoot or design once at a generous size, then derive the rest. A 4:5 portrait at 1080 ร 1350 crops down to 1:1 cleanly, and a 9:16 vertical crops to 4:5 and 1:1 while keeping the subject centred. Working the other way โ starting square and trying to extend to vertical โ means inventing image that does not exist.
Keep the subject away from the edges. Composition that fills the frame edge to edge looks striking in one ratio and gets decapitated in every other.
And check the Open Graph card. It is the image most people will actually see, because it appears every time your link is shared anywhere, and it is almost always the one nobody made.
Pikkit has the image tools, and Images & Files collects them in one place.