When you want to share a really great photo on various platforms, one standard size may not cut it. Sizing images correctly for social media is an important factor in making an aesthetically pleasing feed - you don't want certain parts of your cover photo being obstructed by your profile photo on Facebook. We’ve put together this infographic for you to keep on hand for the next time you are creating any visual content for your social media platforms. One of the most common things for social media users to do is to share photos, therefore we have put together a short infographic to show you the optimum sizes for your social media photo posts for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Of course, social media platforms are being updated all of the time therefore this will not be a ‘forever’ reference photo, however this is the most recent version for 2017.
One of the most common forms of sharing on Facebook is a shared image. Facebook recommends an upload size of 1200 x 630 pixels, and this will appear in your feed at a maximum width of 470 pixels, as Facebook scales the image 1:1. The sizes are similar if you are sharing a link; Facebook recommends an upload size of 1200 x 627. Facebook scales your images to their minimum dimensions, therefore for higher quality photos, we recommend increasing your image resolution to the same scale as the minimum size.
With Twitter, it is possible to tweet up to 4 images at one time, however you cannot go over 5MB. This size is decreased for animated GIFs with a maximum file size of 3MB. The minimum size for a shared image on Twitter should be 440 x 220 pixels, as these appear expanded at a maximum of 1024 x 512 pixels, and collapsed at 506 x 253 pixels in the Twitter stream.
Instagram is all about images. These posted images appear square in your feed - the size of Instagram images is currently 1080 x 1080 pixels. These photos are then scaled down by Instagram to 612 x 612 pixels, and appear in your Instagram feed at 510 x 510 pixels. A shared video width should also be 1080 and these can be between 3 and 60 seconds in length.
We hope this helps you next time you create visual content for your social media channels!