Common Image Sizes for Web and Social Media
Every platform has its own preferred dimensions, and images that don’t match get cropped or stretched by the platform — rarely well. The fix is resizing to the target before uploading.
The sizes that come up constantly
| Use | Dimensions (px) | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Profile photo (square) | 400 × 400 | 1:1 |
| Video thumbnail | 1280 × 720 | 16:9 |
| Wide banner / cover | 1500 × 500 | 3:1 |
| Link preview card (Open Graph) | 1200 × 630 | 1.91:1 |
| Story / vertical video | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 |
| Full-width web image | 1600 wide | varies |
| Email header | 600 wide | varies |
Anything larger than the slot is wasted bandwidth; anything smaller gets upscaled and goes soft. After resizing, run the result through a compressor if kilobytes matter — dimensions and file size are separate dials.
The one rule: lock the aspect ratio
Stretching happens when width and height are changed independently. Keep the aspect ratio locked so height follows width automatically, and your image keeps its proportions. Only unlock it when the target slot is genuinely a different shape — and then crop, don’t stretch, if faces or products are involved.
Upscaling: know the limit
Downsizing keeps images sharp — you’re discarding pixels. Enlarging invents pixels, and it shows: a 400px logo scaled to 1600px looks soft. If you need bigger, go back to the original source rather than upscaling a small copy.
Pixels, not “size”
File size (KB) and dimensions (px) are different things. Platforms care about dimensions; email caps care about kilobytes. Resize for the former, compress for the latter — often you’ll do both.
Questions people ask
Why does my image look blurry after upload?
Either it was smaller than the slot and got upscaled, or the platform re-compressed it. Upload at exactly the target size to minimize both.
Should I resize or crop?
Resize when the shape already matches; crop when the target is a different shape and stretching would distort faces or products.