06 Sep A Cheat Sheet To Social Media Dimensions

When you’re selecting cover photos, shared images, and other social media assets, it is vital to understand basic image dimensions. However, with each form of social media requiring different dimensions it can be challenging to constantly be in the know. But it is crucial knowledge because sharing your brand’s message on social is essentially a consumer’s first impression of your brand.

Sizing images correctly for a social media platform is no simple task. It is important for brands to meet the standard dimensions for each platform (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more) so your followers can properly experience your brand.

With 1.18 billion monthly users on Facebook, it is the world’s largest social network. When you are sizing images for Facebook, it is important to remember there is a difference between how things will display on your personal timeline and how things will display in a user’s newsfeed. Make sure you are choosing dimensions based on where you want the majority of viewers looking at:

• Profile Picture: 180 x 180 (Displays 160 x 160 on Desktop)
• Photos will appear as 160 x 160 pixels on desktop, 140 x 140 on smartphones, and 50 x 50 on most feature phones
• Profile pictures are located 16 pixels from the left and 176 pixels from the top of your cover photo on desktop
• Profile pictures are located 24 pixels from the left, 24 pixels from the bottom and 196 pixels from the top of your cover photo on smartphones
• Photo thumbnail will appear throughout Facebook at 32 x 32 pixels

• Business Page Profile Picture: 180 x 180 (Displays 160 x 160 on Desktop)
• Photos will appear as 170 x 170 pixels on desktop, 128 x 128 on smartphones, and 36 x 36 on most feature phones
• Photo thumbnail will appear throughout Facebook at 32 x 32 pixels
• Business Page images will be cropped to fit a square

• Cover Photo: 820 x 312
• Minimum size of 399 x 150 pixels
• Displays at 820 x 312 pixels on desktop and 640 x 360 pixels on smartphones
• Images with a logo or text may be best as a PNG file

Twitter has 313 million monthly active users growing daily and is one of the social media networks that your customers will most often use to discuss your brand:

• Profile Photo: 400 x 400 (Displays 200 x 200)
• Maximum file size of 2 MB
• Image types include: JPG, GIF or PNG

• Header Photo: 1,500 x 500
• Maximum file size of 5 MB
• Image types include: JPG, GIF or PNG

• In-Stream Photo: Minimum 440 x 220 (2:1 Ratio)
• Can tweet up to 4 images at a time
• Can edit images if tweeting from Twitter iOS or Android app
• Maximum to appear expanded 1024 x 512 pixels
• Appears in stream collapsed at 506 x 253 pixels on desktop
• Maximum file size of 5 MB for photos and 5 MB for animated GIFs on mobile and 15 MB on web

Instagram is one of the most popular photo-sharing social networks today. It is undoubtedly the best place to showcase your brand’s creativity:

• Profile Picture: 110 x 110
• Square photo: make sure to maintain an aspect ratio of 1:1

• Photo Thumbnails: 161 x 161
• Square photo: make sure to maintain an aspect ratio of 1:1

• Photo Size: 1080 x 1080
• Instagram still scales photos down to 612 x 612 pixels
• Appears in feed at 510 x 510 pixels
• Square or rectangle photos: make sure to maintain an aspect ratio between 1.91:1 and 4:5 ratio
• Smaller featured headed images appear as 204 x 204 pixels, and larger featured header images appear as 409 x 409 pixels

These are basic dimension guidelines for the three most utilized social media channels today. For more information on social media dimensions, contact us at info@milksono.com