Facebook’s design is constantly being upgraded. They have redesigned the News Feed, Timeline and Pages several times, and also introduced a couple of new types of Facebook ads. That is why we decided to create an updated guide for the most commonly used image sizes.
Last updated – August 2020
It has sure been a bumpy ride so far – Facebook changes its layout quite a lot, which also comes with changes in recommended image sizes. Basically, nothing bad will happen if you stray from their image size and type guidelines, but if you want to get the most out of your images, try to get them all to follow the same size/type chart.
FACEBOOK POST IMAGE DIMENSIONS
When uploading regular images with your statuses, Facebook recommends using ones whose size is 1200x900px, especially if you’re going to sponsor those posts. You can also use photos with a square image ratio (1200x1200px recommended), or the 4:5 ratio (960x1200px), and it will look just as good. However, if you upload pictures with different ratios, spacing will be added around them when you view them in theatre mode.
FACEBOOK PROFILE PHOTO DIMENSIONS
The dimensions of your profile photo should be at least 360x360px. It is, however, recommended to upload it in larger dimensions, to get a better quality photo when you tap to view the full photo. Don’t forget, your profile picture will be cropped to a circle shape.
FACEBOOK COVER PHOTO DIMENSIONS
According to the Facebook help guide, dimensions of cover photos for personal profiles are 851x315px, and 821x312px for business pages. Now, to get the best results after Facebook compresses your photo, I suggest you use images whose dimensions are 1630x916px, as they’ll give you the best results both on desktop and mobile.
When viewing your personal and business cover photos on a mobile phone, both will display the image in the 640×360px dimensions. For personal profile covers, Facebook will keep the original width, and use the vertical middle of the photo. For business pages, Facebook will keep the original height, but crop the photo width.
Here’s the interesting part— I got pretty bad quality on my phone when I used 1656x630px photos on a Facebook business page, and much better results when I used ones whose dimensions were 1630x916px. That’s why I recommend you use Facebook cover photos sized 1630x916px for both personal profiles and pages. On desktop, the photo will be centered, show the entire width, and about 620px of the height, and on mobile phones, the entire photo will be shown.
FACEBOOK EVENT COVER PHOTO DIMENSIONS
For Facebook event cover photos, the recommended image ratio is 1.91:1, and uploading a larger photo will give you better results. That larger size would be 1920x1008px.
FACEBOOK NOTES COVER PHOTO DIMENSIONS
When creating a note, you can upload a photo whose size is 1200x445px. It’s recommended you use an image at least 1200px wide to ensure better display quality. That goes for desktop, as well as mobile.
FACEBOOK AD IMAGE DIMENSIONS
If you’re working in a digital agency, you probably came across many different Facebook ads. I’ll list image sizes for the ones that are most commonly used in advertising campaigns.
FACEBOOK CAROUSEL AD IMAGE DIMENSIONS
These Facebook ads display several images along with a unique headline, description, and a button if you need one. Although Facebook recommends uploading 1080x1080px images, 600x600px will work just as good. There is no great mystery here, the entire photo will be seen on both your computer and your mobile phone.
FACEBOOK LINK POST AD IMAGE DIMENSIONS
These visuals are used in Facebook ads with objectives like Clicks to website and Website conversions. They used to be called Unpublished posts, then Dark posts, and finally Link posts. Currently, the Facebook help guide has them tied to their corresponding objectives. The recommended dimensions for these visuals are 1200x628px.
FACEBOOK PAGE LIKES AD IMAGE DIMENSIONS
You can use either an image or a video/slideshow in your Page likes ad. If you use an image, its dimensions should be 1080x1080px, and if you use a video or a slideshow, it’s recommended you use those with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
FACEBOOK SLIDESHOW AD IMAGE DIMENSIONS
To create a slideshow-styled Facebook ad, you can use images with a 1:1, 16:9, or 4:5 ratio.
Either use a square image or one with a 16:9 ratio. I tested a 1080x1080px image for the square slideshow ad, but the quality was pretty bad.
In my experience, you will get the best results with an image that’s at least 1.5x larger: 1620x1620px. If you want to use a 16:9 image, add images whose dimensions are 1620x910px. For a 4:5 ratio, use a 960x1200px image.
Instead of creating slideshow ads, you can also upload a video with a 1:1 aspect ratio. If you want to, you can add a custom thumbnail for your video, and I recommend you make it 1620x1620px.
FACEBOOK EVENT RESPONSE AD IMAGE DIMENSIONS
As their name says, you can use these ads to promote your event. If you don’t upload a specific ad image, Facebook will automatically use your event cover, which is not always the correct size. It’s best to create an image with link post dimensions — 1200x628px.
FACEBOOK CANVAS AD IMAGE DIMENSIONS
I saved this ad type for last because it really gives you the freedom to create a beautiful design with stunning images.
You can use various elements to create your canvas ad:
- Header – 882x66px: spacing will automatically be added around your header image, so you basically fill it completely with text and/or other elements
- Photo
- Fit to width (linkable) – this means your image will resize if it’s larger than canvas container, but a width of 1080px is recommended.
- Fit to width (tap to expand) – the image will resize to canvas width. Minimum image height is 1080px.
- Fit to height (tilt to pan) – your image will resize to canvas height. A height of 1920px is recommended. Image or video width can have up to 5 times width of the screen, but it’s recommended to make it 3 times the width of the screen. If your image is larger in width, it will be cropped initially.
- Carousel
- You can upload up to 20 images in the carousel format, choosing either the Fit to Width or the Fit to Height option. Either way, all of the photos will be cropped to match the first one.
- Button
- You can customize your button with border color, text color, and background color.
- Text block
- Add various elements of text blocks.
- Video
- Add a video.
Finally, once you’re done with your canvas, you can promote it as either a link post or as a video.
