Made Good Designs

Social Media Image Sizes Cheat Sheet (2026)

·

Editorial Team
social media image sizes — guide and examples

Social Media Image Sizes Cheat Sheet (2026)

Getting social media image sizes right is the difference between a crisp, professional post and one that gets awkwardly cropped, blurred, or zoomed past the part you cared about. This cheat sheet gives you the exact pixel dimensions every major platform expects in 2026, organized so you can find the number you need in seconds and get back to designing.

Bookmark this page. We update it as platforms change their specs, and we have flagged the dimensions that shifted most recently so you are not designing to last year’s numbers. This guide sits inside our broader social media design guide, which covers the wider workflow once you have the sizes locked.

How to Use This Cheat Sheet

A few principles save you from re-exporting everything twice. Design at the largest recommended size for each placement, then let the platform downscale: a 1080-pixel image displayed at 500 pixels always looks sharper than a 500-pixel image stretched to fill. Export as PNG for graphics with text and flat color, and JPG (quality 80 or higher) for photographs to keep file sizes reasonable.

Two numbers matter for every asset: the pixel dimensions and the aspect ratio. The ratio is what survives when a platform resizes; the pixels determine how sharp it stays. Where a platform crops to a ratio, keep critical content, faces, logos, and text, inside a safe central zone so nothing important gets cut.

Instagram Image Sizes

Instagram is the platform people get wrong most, because it supports several ratios and crops aggressively in the grid. As of 2026, design to these:

  • Square post: 1080 x 1080 px (1:1).
  • Portrait post: 1080 x 1350 px (4:5). This is the most screen-filling feed format and the one we recommend for reach.
  • Landscape post: 1080 x 566 px (1.91:1).
  • Stories and Reels: 1080 x 1920 px (9:16). Keep text and faces out of the top and bottom 250 px, where the interface overlays buttons and captions.
  • Profile picture: 320 x 320 px, displayed in a circle, so center your subject.

For a deeper breakdown of every Instagram placement and the safe zones for each, see our dedicated guide to Instagram post sizes.

Facebook Image Sizes

Facebook shares a backend with Instagram but uses different display crops, especially for the link preview and cover image.

  • Shared post (square): 1080 x 1080 px.
  • Link preview thumbnail: 1200 x 630 px (1.91:1). This is the same as the Open Graph image your website should serve.
  • Cover photo: 851 x 315 px on desktop, but it displays differently on mobile, so keep key elements centered within roughly 640 x 315 px.
  • Profile picture: 320 x 320 px (displayed as a circle on most surfaces).
  • Stories: 1080 x 1920 px (9:16).

X (Twitter) Image Sizes

X displays inline images in the timeline at a 16:9 crop by default, then expands to full size on tap. Design with that in mind.

  • In-stream image: 1600 x 900 px (16:9) is the safe modern target; the timeline preview crops taller images.
  • Card / link preview: 1200 x 628 px.
  • Header (banner): 1500 x 500 px (3:1).
  • Profile picture: 400 x 400 px, shown as a circle.

LinkedIn Image Sizes

LinkedIn is increasingly visual, and its feed favors portrait and square assets the same way Instagram does.

  • Shared image post: 1200 x 1200 px (square) or 1080 x 1350 px (portrait) for maximum feed height.
  • Link share preview: 1200 x 627 px.
  • Personal cover (banner): 1584 x 396 px (4:1).
  • Company page logo: 300 x 300 px.
  • Company page cover: 1128 x 191 px.

TikTok and Vertical Video Covers

TikTok is vertical-first, and the cover image you choose is what people see in your profile grid.

  • Video and cover: 1080 x 1920 px (9:16).
  • Profile grid safe zone: the grid crops covers to roughly 1:1.3, so keep your title text and subject centered, not at the very top or bottom.
  • Profile photo: 200 x 200 px minimum, circular crop.

YouTube Image Sizes

YouTube has three assets that matter, and the thumbnail is the one that drives clicks.

  • Thumbnail: 1280 x 720 px (16:9), under 2 MB. This is the single most important graphic on the platform.
  • Channel banner: 2560 x 1440 px, but the “safe area” visible on every device is the central 1546 x 423 px, so keep your name and key art there.
  • Channel profile picture: 800 x 800 px, displayed as a circle.

Because the thumbnail does so much work, it deserves its own treatment, our guide to YouTube thumbnail design covers composition, text, and contrast for higher click-through.

Pinterest Image Sizes

Pinterest rewards tall pins because they occupy more vertical space in the feed.

  • Standard pin: 1000 x 1500 px (2:3). Avoid ratios taller than 1:2.1, which get truncated.
  • Profile picture: 165 x 165 px.
  • Board cover: 222 x 150 px displayed, so design at 600 x 600 px and let it crop.

Quick Reference Table

Placement Pixels Ratio
Instagram portrait post 1080 x 1350 4:5
Instagram / TikTok story 1080 x 1920 9:16
Facebook link preview 1200 x 630 1.91:1
X in-stream image 1600 x 900 16:9
LinkedIn portrait post 1080 x 1350 4:5
YouTube thumbnail 1280 x 720 16:9
Pinterest standard pin 1000 x 1500 2:3

One Master File, Many Sizes

You rarely want to design seven separate files. Build one master artboard at the largest vertical size (1080 x 1920) with your core elements, then create resized variants for each ratio, repositioning rather than redrawing. If you design carousels or multi-slide posts, our walkthrough on how to design a social media carousel shows how to keep a consistent system across slides and platforms.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best image size for social media in general?

If you can only export one size, use 1080 x 1350 px (4:5 portrait). It fills the most feed space on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, downscales cleanly to square, and reads well on mobile. For stories and Reels, switch to 1080 x 1920 px (9:16).

Why do my images look blurry after uploading?

Blurriness usually comes from uploading an image smaller than the display size, forcing the platform to upscale, or from heavy compression on an oversized file. Export at the recommended pixel dimensions, use PNG for text-heavy graphics, and keep files under each platform’s size cap.

What aspect ratio is safest across all platforms?

The 1:1 square ratio crops most predictably everywhere, which is why it is a safe default for cross-posting. For more reach on feed-based apps, 4:5 portrait is better; for full-screen vertical content, 9:16 is the standard.

Should I use PNG or JPG for social media images?

Use PNG for graphics with text, logos, sharp edges, or flat color so they stay crisp. Use JPG at quality 80 or above for photographs to keep file sizes small. Avoid uploading uncompressed files larger than the platform’s cap, as they get re-compressed.

Keep Reading