The sizing of images for social media platforms is a constantly moving target, and while the below suggestions are current as of 8/1/2018, but it may change at any moment :-).

The need for strong social media presence will only increase in prominence in the future. This is why you really need to keep up to speed with your business / brand / personal profiles, and to optimize them with the right images to represent you!

The suggestions below explains what the best image sizes are for each social network and the image types to use. Most of the major social media platforms are listed here so you’re up-to-date with social media platform optimization.

These graphic displays offer specific dimensions and have some quick tips and insights to help you make your mind up on what photo to use on what social media platform.  Enjoy!

 

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FACEBOOK

Cover Image: 820 x 310 pixels (a preferred maximum file size of 100 KB)
You can edit and add creative images as your cover photo that represents you or your business in the correct sense. Try to maintain a minimum size of about 399 x 150 pixels.

Profile Image: 180 x 180 pixels
Unlike the cover photo, which only appears on your Facebook page, your Facebook profile picture will be seen on your page, on posts where you comment, on the timelines of others where you post messages, in search results of

Shared Image: 1200 x 630 pixels
You can engage your friends or business followers in meaningful conversations by sharing useful images on your Facebook timeline. These will appear in the news feeds of your friends and followers. It will appear in feed at a max width of 470 pixels (will scale to a max of 1:1) and will appear on page at a max width of 504 pixels (again scaling to a max of 1:1).

Shared Link: 1200 x 627 pixels
Facebook will scale photos under the minimum dimensions. For better results, increase image resolution at the same scale as the minimum size.

Highlighted Image: 1200 x 717 pixels
While this will appear on your page at 843 x 504 pixels, choose a higher resolution at that scale for better quality.

Event Image: 1200 x 717 pixels
Facebook will scale down to minimum dimensions: 470 × 174 and will show in the feed as 470 × 174.

 

 

 

 

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INSTAGRAM

Profile Image: 110 x 110 pixels
Photo Size: 1080 x 1080 pixels (Instagram will show it as a 612px x 612px image)
Photo Thumbnails: 161 x 161 pixels
Video To Stories: 750 x 1334 pixels
Portrait: 1080 x 1350 pixels (Instagram will show it as a 600px x 749px image)
Landscape: 1080 x 566 pixels (Instagram will show it as a 600px x 400px image)
For Instagram images, you need to maintain an aspect ratio of 1:1 to fill their square box format.  You CAN do portrait and landscape images by pinching the image in the app to make it smaller.

You need to take special care with the image quality because limited text content is shared on this platform. It is more about the pictures and visuals!

 

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TWITTER

Profile Image: 400 x 400 pixels (a maximum 100 KB file size)
It is often said that the “first impression is the last impression”!
Your Twitter profile picture is your main identification mark that will be visible to everyone. It will be visible on your home page, on the Twitter stream of your followers whenever you Tweet and so on. Since it represents you or your brand, the image should be of the highest quality.

Header Image: 1500 x 500 pixels (a maximum 10 MB file size)
You can use an eye-catchy, creative image for your high-resolution header photo on your Twitter profile page. As a business, your Twitter page header photo should be in sync with your logo, tagline and brand.

In-stream Photos: 440 x 220 pixels (a maximum 5 MB file size for photos and 3 MB file size for animated gifs)

You can post up to four pictures along with your tweets on this platform. For every in-stream picture, an image link is created which takes up the Twitter character space. You simply need to maintain the 2:1 ratio of the images which can be reduced to a smaller version to effectively fit your follower’s stream.

 

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LINKEDIN

Personal Background Image: 1584 x 396
Profile Image: 400 x 400 pixels (Recommend 1200×1200 to maintain best quality)

Brand / Company Background Image: 1584 x 768
Standard Logo: 400 x 400 pixels
Business Banner Image: 646 x 220 pixels (minimum)
Hero Image: 974 x 330 pixels
Square logo: 60 x 60 pixels

 

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TUMBLR

Profile Image: 128 x 128 pixels
You can use a good looking square profile picture that visually represents you or your business on Tumblr. It will appear on your profile page, next to the button to “follow” you when someone lands on your page and as thumbnails next to your posts in your follower’s feeds.
Image Posts: 500 x 750 pixels
You can post images with up to 10 MB file sizes (except for animated gifs which should not be more than 1 MB). You can thus upload really high-quality pictures for your Tumblr posts.

 

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PINTEREST

Profile Image: 165 x 165 pixels
A Pinterest profile picture may not be as important as that of Facebook or Twitter profile pictures. However, you still need to use a nice one. After all, anyone who arrives at your board or pins through the keyword search will probably have a look at your profile too.
Board Display Image: 222 x 150 pixels
Use eye-catchy images for posting on the relevant Pinterest boards.
Pin Sizes: a width of 238 pixels (with scaled height)
Though these are the dimensions for your Pinterest pins, expanded pins will have a minimum width of 600 pixels. You can post larger images (as only the width is fixed, while the length can be scaled further up) for better engagement and more re-pins or likes.

 

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YOUTUBE

Channel Cover Image: 2560 x 1440 pixels (for desktop), 1855 x 423 pixels (for tablets), 1546 x 423 pixels (for smartphones), and 2560 x 1440 pixels (for TV)

The sizes are optimised for the different platforms as YouTube videos are often streamed using any of the above mentioned platforms. Also, the video channel cover image should tell your viewers more about the kind of videos that they will probably be able to view on your channel.

Channel Profile Image: 800 x 800 pixels (displays as 98px x 98px)

Video Uploads: 1280 x 760 pixels

Since YouTube is a video sharing site and not an image sharing one, you need to maintain this 16:9 aspect ratio for the videos that you upload.

 

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GOOGLE+

Profile Image: 250 x 250 pixels
Again, this picture will be your identity across the Google+ network. Even though the dimensions are for a square image, your Google+ profile picture appears as a circle.
So, you need to take special care of how your image looks without the important parts being cut out.
Cover Image: 1080 x 608 pixels
You can use a large picture representing your brand, logo and business tagline as your Google+ cover image.
Shared Image 1: 497 x 373 pixels
You can share images on your Google+ posts and indicate the specific “circles” with whom you want to share the image and for whom it may be more relevant. Remember, such images (along with the associated text) are likely to turn up in the Google search engine for search queries related to your posts or business.
Shared Image 2: 150 x 150 pixels
Shared Video: 496 pixels wide
You can use a large picture representing your brand, logo and business tagline as your Google+ cover image.

 

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ELLO

Banner image: 2560 x 1440 pixels
Profile image: 360 x 360 pixels

For this professional social networking platform, you should make sure that all your images are embedded with text to add more contexts. Make sure that you use creativity to showcase the most relevant things about your business and brand in the banner image as well as in your cover image.

It is bound to get you connected and engaged with more professionals. Even from a personal profile perspective, you can leverage the most out of this platform by having creative images to make professionals sit up and take notice.

 

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SNAPCHAT

Geofilter: 1080 x 1920 pixels

 

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WEIBO

Cover Image: 920 x 300 pixels
Contest Preview: 640 x 640 pixels
Profile Image: 200 x 200 pixels (displays as 100 x 100 pixels)
Banner Image: 560 x 260 pixels
Instream Image: 120 x 120 pixels

Weibo is a popular, Twitter-like social media service with millions of users in China. With more than 600 million users and around 200 million monthly active users Weibo is still one of the most popular social media platforms in China. It is an important presence for companies, celebrities and individuals who want to be seen in China.
To register an official company Weibo account you will require a company registered in China or a distributor/representative with presence in China.

 

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WE CHAT

Profile Image: 200 x 200 pixels
Article Preview Header Image: 900 x 500 pixels
Article Preview Header Thumbnail: 400 x 400 pixels (displays 200 x 200 pixels)
Article Inline Image: 400 x AnySize pixels (larger size recommended to maintain quality)

WeChat is a Chinese multi-purpose messaging, social media and mobile payment app developed by Tencent.

Graphics by the wonderful people at Make A Website Hub

Original post and a downloadable PDF of these graphics can be found HERE.

Photography credits:
Linkedin Profile Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
Linkedin Hero Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash
YouTube Image Photo by Adam Whitlock on Unsplash
SnapChat Image by behance.com/juricakoletic
WeChat Image Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Ello Photo by Thomas Kelley on Unsplash
Tumblr Photo by Jared Sluyter on Unsplash