The Right Image Sizes for Social Media

A reference table of image dimensions for every platform, why your posts lose quality, and how to prevent it.

You upload a high-quality image and it appears washed out or cropped. The platform is not solely to blame — your dimensions and file size did not match what it expects.

Why do your images lose quality?

Every platform re-compresses what you upload. If you upload at the wrong dimensions, two damaging operations occur: resampling, then re-compression. The result is worse than if you had uploaded at the correct size to begin with.

Golden rule: upload at the exact dimensions the platform expects, at high quality (85–90), and let it compress only once.

Dimensions table

Ratio matters more than size

If you must choose, prioritise the ratio. A correct ratio at smaller dimensions still displays properly; a wrong ratio means automatic cropping that may cut off someone's head or half your logo.

Common mistakes

• Uploading the camera file as-is: 12 megapixels at 4:3 — it will be cropped and heavily compressed.
• Text near the edge: leave a 10% safe margin on every side; interfaces cover the edges with buttons.
• Re-uploading an image downloaded from another platform: compression on top of compression — the worst possible result. Always upload from the original.
• Using PNG for a photograph: a huge file for no benefit, and some platforms convert it to a lower-quality JPG anyway.

Quick workflow

1. Pick the platform and size from the table above.
2. Resize your image to those dimensions.
3. Save as JPG at quality 85–90 (or PNG if it contains sharp text or transparency).
4. Upload — and let the platform compress just once.