Facebook Image Sizes Guide 2021 - Have Camera Will Travel

Recommendation: Use an image that's at least 940 pixels wide by 352 pixels tall. But if you want better quality, use an image that's at least ... Skiptocontent Menu FacebookImageSizesGuide|NewFacebookLayout HaveyouevertriedusingphotosandimagesonyourFacebookpage?Itcanbefrustrating.Sohere’sanup-to-dateguideexplainingwhat’swhat,what’swhere,andhowbig. HomeWorkflowSharingPhotosSocialMediaFacebookImageSizesGuide|NewFacebookLayout ByDavidColeman LastUpdated:October21,2021 FiledUnder:SocialMedia Topics:FacebookGuides,Featured,Featured-Top Thispostmayincludeaffiliatelinks.Readmore. Backinmid-2020,asifwedidn’thaveenoughgoingon,Facebookstartedrollingoutanewdesktoplayoutforitssite.Thedesigniscleaner,withmuchmorewhitespace,andbringsitcloserinlinewiththemobileversion.Butit’salsoquitedifferent.AndjudgingbythenumberofpeoplewhoflockedtomyguidetoswitchbacktotheClassicFacebooklayoutfromNewFacebook,anawfullotofpeopledon’tlikethechanges. Butithassincerolledouttoeveryone,likeitornot,andFacebookhasremovedtheabilitytoswitchback.Ifyouhappentostillbeusingtheoldlayout(orClassicFacebook,asthey’recallingit)throughapluginorCSSlayer,youcanfindthepreviousversionoftheFacebooksizeguidehere. SothisisarevisedversionofmyunofficialFacebookimagesizeguidetoaccountforthelatestlayout,whichthey’recallingNewFacebook(theoldversionisbeingcalledClassicFacebook).1 ImagesareanimportantpartofusingFacebook–it’soneoftheworld’smostpopularplacestosharephotos–butifyou’vecomeacrossthispage,you’venodoubtfoundoutforyourselfthatworkingoutwhatimagesizestouseonFacebookisn’taseasyasitcouldbe.Itinvolvessomewranglingtogettheresultsyouwant.Eachtypeofimageonapage,profile,andthetimelinehasitsownsizeandquirks.AndFacebookneverhasbeenverygoodaboutmakingitshelppageseasytofind. KeepingthingsevenmorefrustratinginterestingisthatFacebookchangesthingsfromtimetotime,usuallywithoutanywarning.Sometimesit’sasmall,incrementaltweak.Sometimesit’sanentireoverhaul(suchaswhentimelineswereintroducedandagainwhentheywerechangedfromtwocolumnstoonecolumn).Soit’salwaysabitofamovingtarget.Andtherealwaysseemstobeanewsystemjustaroundthecorner,justaswegetusedtotheoldone. Sowhetheryou’reusingFacebookpagesforsocialmediamarketingorsimplytryingtopostphotosforfriendsandfamily,here’smylatestversionoftheunofficialguideforthesizesofFacebookphotosonthevariouspartsofthesite. Thisisapreliminaryeffort,andthingschange.Ifyoucomeacrossdifferentdisplaybehavior,doletmeknowsoIcaninvestigateandupdateasnecessary. FacebookCoverPhotoSize2021 Recommendation:Useanimagethat’satleast940pixelswideby352pixelstall.Butifyouwantbetterquality,useanimagethat’satleast1880pixelsby704pixels. TheFacebookCoverPhotoisthelargepanoramicimagespaceatthetopofthetimeline.It’salsosometimescalledthebannerimageortheheaderphoto. Itsdisplayisresponsive.Putanotherway,thesizeit’sdisplayedon-screenvariesbythesizeofthebrowserwindowordevicescreen.Youcanseethiseffectifyouchangethesizeofyourbrowserwindowwhileviewingthepage. Withthepreviouslayout,tryingtofigureoutwhatwoulddisplaycorrectlyintheFacebookcoverphotowasabitcomplicated,becausenoteverypartoftheimagewoulddisplayatallsizes.Thereweresafezonesandstripsbeingtrimmedoffonthedesktopdisplay. Thenewversionhassimplifiedthings.Thewholeimageisdisplayedandresizesinamuchsimplerway. Thatsaid,therearesomeissuestowatchoutfor. Firstly,they’vegonebacktohavinganarrowbandofgraduatedshadingatthebottom.It’sanoverlay,whichmeansitsitsinalayerontopofyourimage.Soyouwon’twanttoincludeanyimportanttextordetailinthatbottomstrip. Secondly,it’stakingthecoloroftheoutermostpixelsfromtheimageandusingthemtocreateashadedcolorsectionontheblanksectionbehindtheimage.Here’sanexampleofwhatImean,withittakingtheredfromtheoutsideborderoftheimageandapplyingittothewhitesectionbehind.(I’vecroppedouttheprofilepicheretosimplifythings.)Brandswithaspecificcolorpalettewillwanttotakeparticularnotetoincludethedesiredcolorsattheveryedgeoftheimage. Thirdly,thebottomcornersgetslightlyrounded(orborder-radius,tobetechnical).It’snotveryaggressive,though,soitisunlikelytocauseissuesformanyusers.Butifyou’reusingastrokelinearoundyourimageorotherdetailedframing,itmightcauseproblems.It’sappliedautomatically,andthere’snowaytoturnitoff. Fourthly,theprofilepictureisnowbacktooverlayingthecoverphoto.Althoughit’sonlysubtleinthisversion,andonlyasliverobscuresthecoverphoto. ChangingYourFacebookCoverPhoto Ifyou’vejustsetupanewFacebookprofileorpageanddon’tyethaveacoverphoto,justclickonthe“AddaCover”buttonatthetopofthepagewheretheCoverPhotowillgo. Onceyou’veaddedyourphoto,youcanreplaceiteasily.Whenyou’reloggedintoyouraccountandviewingyourpage,clickontheEditbuttonatthebottomright. Clickingonthatopensadrop-downmenufromwhichyoucanchoosethesourceforthenewphoto.ThisisalsothesamemenutouseifyouwanttoremoveorrepositionanexistingphotooruseaVideoCoverorSlideshowCover. CoverPhotoTypes:SingleImages Intermsoftypesofimages,panoramasareideal.Simplecropsalsowork,althoughtheeffectivenessisobviouslygoingtovarybasedonwhatit’stheimage.Andthere’snothingstoppingyoufromassemblingmultiplephotosintoacollageinyourimagingsoftware,savingitasasingleimagefile,anduploadingthat.Likethese,forexample: CoverSlideshows:MultipleImages Untilfairlyrecently,itwasonlypossibletochooseonephototoactasyourstaticcoverphoto.Butanewfeaturehasbeenadded:slideshows.Youcannowselectupto5photosthatrotate.Accessthisfeaturethroughthesamemenuthatletsyouaddorchangethecoverphoto(i.e.,thecameraiconatthetopleftofthecoverimagesection). Whenyoucreateaslideshow,you’regiventheoptiontoselectupto5imagesthatwillbeused.Usethefilmstripatthetoptochoosetheimageseitherfromexistingimagesoruploadnewones.Youcanthenclickonthethumbnailandgetapreviewofhowitwilllookinthelargerspacebelowthethumbnails.Youcanclickanddraginthatsectiontorepositiontheimageintheviewport. YoucanalsohaveadynamicallygeneratedversionthatletsFacebookchoosethephotosbasedonwhat’sperformingwellandbasedontheactivityonyourpage.Youcanturnthisfeatureonoroffusingtheswitchatthetoprightoftheslideshoweditingscreen. Ifyou’reusingtheslideshowcover,yourvisitorscannavigatethroughtheslideshowusingthearrowsoneachside(thepreviouslayouthadpositionindicatorsatthebottom,butthey’vegoneinthenewversion). ThereareafewthingsthatIfindoddaboutthewaytheslideshowscurrentlydisplaytovisitors.Thefirstisthattheslideshowdoesn’tadvanceautomatically.Sotoseemorethanoneimageintheslideshow,yourvisitorswillhavetoknowtomanuallyadvancethroughusingthearrowbuttonsatthesideoftheimage.Isuspectonlyaverysmallpercentagewilldoso.ThesecondthingisthatifyouturnofftheoptionforFacebookchoosingtheimages,itdisplaystheimagesinthesameordereverytimeratherthanrandomly.Theupshotofbothofthesethingsisthat,atleastinhowit’scurrentlyimplemented,thevastmajorityofyourpage’svisitorsarelikelytoonlyeverseethefirstimage.Thethirdoddity–atleasttome–istoaccommodatethenewshadedcolorhighlightinthebackgroundsection.Becausethat’sdrawnfromthedisplayingprofileimage,itchangesalongwiththeprofileimage.That’snotnecessarilyabadthing,butitissomethingworthknowing. CoverVideos Youcannowalsousevideofilesforyourbannerarea.Theymustbebetween20and90secondsandmeasureatleast820by312pixels.Therecommendedsizeis820by462. Ifyou’reshootingavideoclipforthisusingacamerathatletsyouchoosethevideoresolution,the720pmodewouldbeagoodplacetostartbecausethatmeasures1280by720,whichcomfortablyhasenoughresolution. IhavemoredetailedguideonFacebookvideocoversseparately. FacebookProfilePictureSize IhaveamoredetailedpostonFacebookprofilepicturesizeseparately,buthere’sthegist. DisplayType Dimensions Desktop/Laptopwebbrowser 132pixels Smartphones 128pixels FeaturePhones 36pixels TheFacebookprofilepictureisnowatthebottomleftofthecoverphoto,overlappingslightlywiththebottomofthecoverphoto.Ithasbeenshrunkslightlyfromthepreviousversions,downtoacircleof132pixelsdiameter. Ithasathinwhitelinearounditthat’sappliedautomatically—youcan’tremovethatorcontrolit. Thegoodnewsisthatyoudon’thavetouploadacircularimage,somethingthatwouldbeabitofapaintocreate.Instead,youcanuploadanyregularrectangularorsquareimage.Whatevershapetheimageisthatyouupload,itwillbecroppedtoacirclewhenitisdisplayed. FacebookProfilePictureDisplaySizes Desktop/laptopwebbrowser.InaregularPageview,suchaswhensomeoneischeckingoutyourprofile,itdisplaysinadesktop’swebbrowserasacirclewitha132pixelsdiameter. Phones.Thesizetheprofilepicturedisplaysonmobilephonesvariesbythetypeofphone.Onmodernsmartphones,itdisplaysasacirclewith128pixelsdiameter.Onolderphones,itdisplaysat36pixelsdiameter. Whenupselectaphototoaddaprofilepicture,you’llgettheoptiontomovethefocalareaaround(assumingit’snotsquare)aswellaszoominandout(solongasitexceedstheminimumresolution). Theprofileimagethatappearsnexttoyournameoncommentsandpostsinthetimelineisthesameimageandisstillacircle,butit’sautomaticallyscaleddowntoadiameterof40pixels. SizeRequirementforFacebookProfilePicture Becauseitdisplayssosmall,you’reunlikelytorunintoanissuewithimagesizes.Solongasyourimageisatleast132pixelsonitsshortestsize(whichisprettytiny),youshouldbegoodtogo. SharedLinkThumbnails Thethumbnailsforsharedlinksdisplayinawebbrowserat500pixelswideand261pixelstall. Forawhile,itwaspossibletochooseadifferentsharedlinkimage,butthatfeaturehasbeenremoved.Fornow,atleast,thereisaworkaroundifyousharethelinksusingasocialmediamanagementservicesuchasBuffer,butyoucan’tchooseadifferentimagetousefromwithinFacebookanymore. Ifyou’resharinglinksfromyourownsite,itispossibletospecifywhichimageyouwanttouseastheimagethumbnail,butthat’ssomethingthatyou’llneedtosetuponyoursiteandisbeyondthescopeofthispost.Butifyou’relookingforwhattermstoGoogleonthis,whatyou’retryingtodoissetthe“og:image”propertyinthepage’sOpenGraphmetadata.Here’sFacebook’sdocumentation,andifyou’reusingaCMSlikeWordPressforyoursite,therearepluginsthatcanhandleitforyou. Whatyoucanstilldoisaddmorethumbnailsthatareinadditiontotheoriginal(notinplace).Whenyougotosharealink,usethebottomsectionofthepopuptoaddmoreimages.Butyoucan’tdeselecttheoriginalimageanymorelikeyouusedtobeableto. PhotosontheTimeline Thesizeandlayoutsofthumbnailsonthetimelinevaryaccordingtohowmanyimagesyou’resharinginthesamepost,aswellaswhatorientation-specificimageshave. Here’showvariouscombinationsdisplay.Allimagesgeta1pixwhitestrokearoundtheborder. SinglePhotoontheTimeline Whenyouuploadanimagetothetimeline,athumbnailisgeneratedautomaticallytofitwithinaboxthatis500pxwideandupto750pxtall.Soifyouwanttousethemaximumspaceavailable,uploadanimageinportraitorientation(vertical)thatisintheratioof3:2.Thisisanexampleofusingthemaximumavailablespace: Ifyouuploadalandscape(horizontal)image,itwillbescaledto500pxwideandretainitsshape.Thefullareaoftheimageappearswithoutanycropping. Thisisanotherrectangleinlandscapeorientation,butit’samuchnarroweraspectratiolikeabannerorpanorama.Thewidthisagain500px,andtheimageisscaledsothattheentireimageareaappears. Ifyouuploadthatsameimagerotated90degrees,sothatit’stallratherthanwide,itwillbecroppedtothemaximumavailableareaof500pxby750px. Andifyouuploadasquare,thewholeimagewillbedisplayed,withthewidthat500px. PostingMultipleImagesatOncetoaPage’sTimeline Youcanuploadmultiplephotosatoncetothetimeline.Howthey’redisplayeddependsonhowmanyimagesyou’reuploadingandtheorientationofwhatIwillcalltheprimaryimage. TheprimaryimageiswhatI’mcallingtheonethatdisplaysfirstintheuploadingpopup,anditalsodisplayslargerinsomeofthelayouts.SofarasIknow,there’snotanofficialnameforit,butI’mgoingtogoaheadanduse“primaryimage.”Sothat’swhatI’mreferringtointhesectionbelow. Aswellasdisplayingfirst,theprimaryimagehasanotherimportantrole.Itdeterminesthelayoutyouget.Ifyouuploadthreeimageswithasquareprimaryimage,you’llendupwithadifferentlayoutthanifyouuploadthreeimageswitharectangularprimaryimage. Theeasiestwaytoselectwhichimageservesastheprimaryimageistodragittotheleftintheuploaddialog. Here’sanexampleofwhatImean.Inthisone,I’muploadingtwoimages,anorangesquareandagreenverticalrectangle.Iftheorangesquareisinthefirstpositionintheuploaddialog,likethis: itpostslikethis: Uploadingexactlythesametwoimagesbutreversingthem,sothattheverticalrectangleisfirst,likethis: displayslikethis: Thesameprincipleappliesifyou’reuploadingtwo,three,orfourimages–thelayoutwillalwaystakeitscuefromtheprimaryimage. 2ImagesWithHorizontal(Landscape)PrimaryImage Thefullwidthbecomes500px.Thetopimageis250pxhigh;thebottomis249pxhigh.There’sa2pxwhitelinebetweenthem. 2ImagesWithVertical(Portrait)PrimaryImage 2ImagesWithSquarePrimaryImage 3ImagesWithHorizontal(Landscape)PrimaryImage Becausethelayouttakesitscuefromtheprimaryimage,youcanmixandmatchtheorientationsofthenon-primaryimages–they’llstilldisplaythesame. 3ImagesWithVertical(Portrait)PrimaryImage 3ImagesWithSquarePrimaryImage 4ImageswithaHorizontal(Landscape)PrimaryImage Youcanmixandmatchtheorientationsofthenon-primaryimages–they’llstilldisplaythesame. 4ImageswithaVertical(Portrait)PrimaryImage 4ImageswithaSquarePrimaryImage 5orMoreImageswithaHorizontal(Portrait)PrimaryImage Itwilldisplaythefirstfiveimagesinakindofmosaicpattern,likethis.Ifyouincludemorethanfiveimages,you’llgetasmallbuttonoverlayplussymboltodisplaytheothers. 5orMoreImageswithaSquareorVertical(Portrait)PrimaryImage You’llgetthesamedisplaywhethertheprimaryimageisasquareoraverticalrectangle. Full-WidthPhotosonFacebook’sTimeline Yes,theywerecool.Theimagespannedbothcolumns.ButFacebookdidawaywiththemintheirredesigninmid-2014.Yourupdatesnowonlyshowinasinglecolumn,andthere’snowaytomakephotoswiderthanthatcolumn. EventHeaderImages Nomatterwhatshapeimageyouuploadasaheaderimageforaneventpost,it’llbecroppedtoanaspectratioof16:9.Forbestresults,uploadanimagethat’s1920by1080pixels.Butsomethingtowatchoutforisthatinthemaineventview,it’sscaled-downquitealot,sodon’tusefontsthataretoosmall(peoplecanclickontheimagetoopenalargerversion,butnoteveryoneisgoingtodothat). Whenit’sdisplayedonthemaineventpageit’sscaledto500by262pixels,likethis: FacebookImageQualityIssues SomethingtobeawareofisthatFacebookcompressessomeimagesprettyaggressivelywhenyouuploadanddisplaythem. Itmakessense–naturally,theywanttospeedpageloadsandreducebandwidthbyapplyingasmuchcompressionastheycangetawaywith.I’mnottheonlyonetowishthey’dbelessaggressivewiththeircompression,buthownoticeableitiswilldependonwhetherthingsliketherangeofcolorsinyourimageandtheamountofdetailinyourphoto. Intheexamplesabove,theJPGcompressionisfarmorenoticeableinthemontageversionthanintheSydneyHarbourBridgeversion.Isetthequalityandsharpeningsettingsthesameforeachintheoriginalsbeforetheywereuploaded.Someusershavereportedthatimageswithlotsofredsandorangesseemtoshowtheeffectsofthecompressionmorethanoneswithbluesandgreens,butitdependsontheactualimage. Italsoseemstodependonwhatkindofimageyou’redisplaying.Photogalleryimagesseemtohavelesscompressionappliedindisplayingthandodesignelementslikethecoverphotoandprofilepicture. Therearesomethingsyoucandoinpreppingtheimagesbeforeuploadingthatcanhelpreducethechancesthatyourimagewillcomeoutlookingcrappy. Uploadimagesthatare99KBorlessinfilesize.Facebookshouldleaveimageslessthanthatuntouched,whichgivesyoucontroloverhowthecompressionisapplied. Uploadimagesthatdon’thavealotofcompressionalreadyapplied.ForJPGs,forexample,trykeepingthequalitysettingat80orabove–Facebookisgoingtocompressitagainanyway.Ifyou’reusingsoftwarethatfactorsincolorspace(likeLightroomorPhotoshop),usesRGBcolorspace.Anduploadingimagesthatarealreadyresizedtoclosetooratthetargetdisplaysizeandnotoverlysharpenedseemstoworkwell. Ifnoneofthesework,takealookatmypostonhowtogetsharptextonFacebookimages. GettingFuzzyText,Logos,orWatermarksonImages? Ifyou’reincludingtext,alogo,orwatermarkandfindingthatit’sendingupfuzzyandunclearduetotheJPGartifacts,I’vegotaseparatepostdetailinghowtofixit:HowtogetsharptextonFacebookimages. ImageMetadataonFacebook Whilenotspecificallyrelatedtoimagesizes,itisworthknowingthatFacebookstripsoutallmetadatafromyourimages.ThatincludesallGPS,cameratype,andotherdatathatyourcameramightembed,aswellasanythinglikekeywordsorcopyrightinformationyoumighthaveadded.(Anexceptionisifyou’reinGermany). FacebookPhotosCheatSheet Width Height Notes **CoverPhoto/CoverSlideshow** 820px 360px **ProfilePictureinHeader** 172px 172px Mustbeatleast180pxby180px **ProfilePictureonTimeline** 40px 40px SameimageasmainProfilePicture,automaticallydownscaled **SharedLinkThumbnail** 500px 261px Onlyforsinglethumbnails.Multiplethumbnailsarecropped. **UploadedTimelinePhotoThumbnail** 500pxmax 750pxmax Seeexceptionsaboveformultipleimages. **EventHeaderImage** 500px 262px 16:9aspectratioonly.Forbestresults,upload1920x1080pximage. MarkZuckerberghadoriginallyannouncedtheupdatebackinApril2019,buttheytooktheirtimerollingitout.Changesliketheseareoftenrolledoutincrementally,andnoteveryonesawtheupdateatthesametime. ↩ FacebookProfilePictureSizeGuide HowToSwitchBacktoOldFacebookfromNewFacebook HowtoGetSharp(er)FacebookCoverPhotos HowtoUnpublishorPublishaPageinFacebook FacebookVideoCovers-Size,AspectRatio,Duration,andOptions HowtoCustomizetheThumbnailsforSharedLinksinFacebook byDavidColeman I'mafreelancetravelphotographerbasedinWashingtonDC.Sevencontinents,upmountains,underwater,andabunchofplacesinbetween.Myimageshaveappearedinnumerouspublications,andyoucancheckoutsomeofmytravelphotographyhere.More» OnThisPage FacebookCoverPhotoSize2021ChangingYourFacebookCoverPhotoCoverPhotoTypes:SingleImagesCoverSlideshows:MultipleImagesCoverVideosFacebookProfilePictureSizeFacebookProfilePictureDisplaySizesSizeRequirementforFacebookProfilePictureSharedLinkThumbnailsPhotosontheTimelineSinglePhotoontheTimelinePostingMultipleImagesatOncetoaPage’sTimeline2ImagesWithHorizontal(Landscape)PrimaryImage2ImagesWithVertical(Portrait)PrimaryImage2ImagesWithSquarePrimaryImage3ImagesWithHorizontal(Landscape)PrimaryImage3ImagesWithVertical(Portrait)PrimaryImage3ImagesWithSquarePrimaryImage4ImageswithaHorizontal(Landscape)PrimaryImage4ImageswithaVertical(Portrait)PrimaryImage4ImageswithaSquarePrimaryImage5orMoreImageswithaHorizontal(Portrait)PrimaryImage5orMoreImageswithaSquareorVertical(Portrait)PrimaryImageFull-WidthPhotosonFacebook’sTimelineEventHeaderImagesFacebookImageQualityIssuesGettingFuzzyText,Logos,orWatermarksonImages?ImageMetadataonFacebookFacebookPhotosCheatSheet Itakephotosandtravel.Idoitforaliving.Sevencontinents.Dozensofcountries.Upmountains.Underwater.Andabunchofplacesinbetween.BasedinWashingtonDC. 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