Quick Social Media Cover Image Sizes

There is no shortage of services and independent designers who will create cover photos for your social accounts. They'll likely come up with something creative based on your input and feedback, and provide the correct sizes you need. All at a fair price.

But what if you just want something simple that will get your profiles done quickly so you can move on to more important activities?

This is often the case for me. I like to get new Pages up quickly so I can start posting content and growing the followers. I needed a table I could glance at and know what images I need and what their sizes should be. A barebones list of images and dimensions that can be used to guide cropping and resizing. I can always upgrade the cover photos later if I want. Plus I think it’s a good idea anyway to change cover images from time to time to keep the Page fresh.

So I came up with a social media profile and cover image size table below, which quickly gives me exactly what I need.

Profile images, or “avatars” as some social sites call them, are usually square. In the table I didn't specify maximum sizes for Facebook and Google+ profiles because I’m not sure what they are. I couldn't find anything in their support pages. Being curious, I uploaded some very large image files to each social network. No problem! Of course, I was asked to crop the images since they were so big, and then they were reduced further when saved.

The following image size information was compiled by reading the specs on each social network's support pages and reviewing advice posted by graphic designers. The dimensions are up to date at the time this article was posted. For best results use the largest sizes listed if you can. All image dimensions are in pixels, with width first followed by height.

Social Network	Profile Min	Profile Max	Cover Image Min	Cover Image Max	Background Image
Facebook	180 x 180	n/a	851 x 315
Twitter	240 x 240	500 x 500	520 x 260	1252 x 626	1600 x 900
Google+	250 x 250	n/a	480 x 270	2120 x 1192	1920 x 1080
LinkedIn	200 x 200	500 x 500	640 x 220
YouTube	200 x 200	1600 x 1600			2560 x 1440
Pinterest	165 x 165	600 x 600
Gravatar	80 x 80	420 x 420
Tumblr	64 x 64	n/a
Foursquare	128 x 128	100KB	860 x 130 (brand pages)

 

I like to use this table by looking up the social media accounts I need cover images for, and then start with the largest.

For example, according to the table the YouTube background is the largest image. But let’s say I just need to create cover images for a new Google+ Page and a Facebook Page. Since Google+ it’s the biggest of the two I need that's where I start. And because I started with the biggest image I need, I may be able to use the same cover and crop and resize it down to Facebook size. It’s all about being efficient.

However, some of you may want to use an image template instead that shows where the profile image and other content is placed over the cover image. That way the content can be accounted for and designed around.

The content can also be creatively merged into the design if you want, such as this classic example from the Ford Motor Company's Facebook Page:



Note how the profile image of the Mustang emblem on the car's grill was incorporated into the overall cover image design. If this is something you want to design into your images it’s helpful to have templates that show where other content is positioned on top of the cover image.

Here are some diagrams with downloadable Photoshop templates: http://www.siliconbeachtraining.co.uk/blog/social-media-cover-photo-templates/ This is one of the more up to date references I found.

The social networks seemingly frequent changing of cover sizes has been a source of frustration by many social media users (especially the ones who paid for custom designs). You get your YouTube channel or Facebook Page looking slick and then they go and change the sizes on you. And if you don’t update your Pages look outdated.

However, it seems like these sizes are stable now and may be around for a while. The trend over the years had been larger cover images, but how much bigger can they get? That’s why I think these sizes might be stable. But Facebook is the wildcard since their cover images are relatively small. Given they are the biggest and with the other networks chasing them, hopefully they won’t feel the need to make any "improvements" for a while. One can hope.