Image Tools guide
Social Media Image Sizes, and When to Crop or Fit Instead
· 5 min read
Every social network has a preferred shape for each kind of image, and when your picture doesn't match, the platform crops it for you, often through a face or a line of text. The fix is to resize to the exact size before uploading and choose for yourself what stays visible. The main decision is whether to crop (fill the frame and lose some edges) or fit (keep the whole picture and fill the leftover space with a background).
This guide covers both: the sizes, then how to choose.
Social media image sizes at a glance
These are the presets built into the Social Media Image Resizer, in pixels:
| Platform | Image | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Post, portrait 4:5 | 1080 × 1350 | |
| Post, square 1:1 | 1080 × 1080 | |
| Post, landscape 1.91:1 | 1080 × 566 | |
| Story / Reel 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 | |
| Profile picture | 320 × 320 | |
| Feed post / link image | 1200 × 630 | |
| Square post | 1080 × 1080 | |
| Page cover | 851 × 315 | |
| Event cover | 1920 × 1005 | |
| Story | 1080 × 1920 | |
| Profile picture | 720 × 720 | |
| X (Twitter) | Post image 16:9 | 1600 × 900 |
| X (Twitter) | Post image 1:1 | 1080 × 1080 |
| X (Twitter) | Header | 1500 × 500 |
| X (Twitter) | Profile picture | 400 × 400 |
| Post / link image | 1200 × 627 | |
| Square post | 1080 × 1080 | |
| Profile background | 1584 × 396 | |
| Company page cover | 1128 × 191 | |
| Profile picture | 400 × 400 | |
| YouTube | Video thumbnail | 1280 × 720 |
| YouTube | Channel banner | 2560 × 1440 |
| YouTube | Channel icon | 800 × 800 |
| YouTube | Shorts cover 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 |
| Standard pin 2:3 | 1000 × 1500 | |
| Square pin | 1000 × 1000 | |
| TikTok | Video / photo 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 |
| TikTok | Profile picture | 200 × 200 |
Networks adjust their layouts from time to time, so if a platform's help pages say something different, trust them. Some platforms also have their own page with only their sizes: Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Crop or fit: how much of your photo survives?
The answer depends on how far apart the two shapes are. Take a typical 4000 × 3000 phone photo (4:3, landscape):
| Target | Crop keeps | Fit leaves |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube thumbnail, 1280 × 720 | 4000 × 2250 (75% of the height) | the photo at 960 × 720, bars on the sides |
| Instagram portrait, 1080 × 1350 | 2400 × 3000 (60% of the width) | the photo at 1080 × 810, bands above and below |
| Instagram story, 1080 × 1920 | 1688 × 3000 (42% of the width) | the photo at 1080 × 810, 555 px bands above and below |
| LinkedIn background, 1584 × 396 | 4000 × 1000 (a third of the height) | the photo at 528 × 396 in the middle |
The pattern: when the shapes are close, cropping costs little and looks best. When they're far apart, cropping throws away most of the picture, and fitting shrinks it to a small island in the middle.
Which mode should you choose?
The How to fit setting has three options:
- Crop to fill (drag to position). The image covers the whole frame. Drag it to choose which part shows, and use Zoom (100% to 400%) to crop in tighter. Best when the shapes are similar, or when the subject is compact, such as a face or a product.
- Fit whole image, blurred background. The full picture sits in the middle on a soft, slightly darkened, enlarged copy of itself. Best for stories and Shorts made from landscape photos: the frame feels full, and nothing important is cut off.
- Fit whole image, solid background. The same, but on a plain color you pick under Background. Best for graphics, screenshots, charts and quotes, where a clean border looks deliberate and a blur would look odd.
A rough rule: if cropping would keep more than about two-thirds of the image, crop. If it would keep less than half, fit. In between, look at where the subject sits and decide.
How to resize step by step
- Open the Social Media Image Resizer and pick a Platform (the single-network pages skip this step), then a Size.
- Choose your image.
- Pick a How to fit mode. In crop mode, drag the preview or use the arrow keys, and set Zoom.
- Click Download with the size shown, for example Download 1080 × 1920.
- Or click the "All … sizes (ZIP)" button to export every size for that platform at once.
Files are named after the platform, size and dimensions, such as photo-instagram-ig-story-1080x1920.jpg. PNG uploads are saved as PNG; everything else as JPG at 92% quality. The work happens in your browser, so the photo stays on your device.
Watch out for these
- "All sizes" uses one focus point. In crop mode, the ZIP applies the same position and zoom to every size. Check the extreme shapes, like a header or banner, separately.
- Small images are scaled up. A 600-pixel image resized to 1080 wide will be enlarged and look soft. Start from the original photo, not a screenshot of it.
- Banners hide behind profile photos. On profile headers and backgrounds, keep faces and text away from the edges where profile pictures and buttons tend to overlap.
FAQ
Should I upload exactly these sizes, or larger?
Exactly these sizes are a safe choice. A larger image of the same shape usually works too, but uploading at the platform's own size means one less resize on their end.
Can I make a profile picture round here?
The profile presets produce a square image, and networks apply the circle themselves. To crop into a circle and add a colored or gradient border, use the Profile Picture Maker.
Pick your platform and resize in the Social Media Image Resizer.