Social Media Image Sizes
The most-used size for each major platform slot is below, with the aspect ratio it works out to. Platforms adjust their specs from time to time, so treat these as current common values — if a campaign matters, confirm against the platform's own help pages before you export a thousand files.
| Slot | Size (px) | Ratio | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube thumbnail | 1280×720 | 16:9 | The standard thumbnail canvas for long-form videos. |
| YouTube channel banner | 2560×1440 | 16:9 | Design inside the central safe area; edges are cropped on TV and mobile. |
| YouTube Shorts / TikTok video | 1080×1920 | 9:16 | Full-screen vertical. Keep captions and faces away from the bottom UI strip. |
| Instagram square post | 1080×1080 | 1:1 | The classic square. |
| Instagram portrait post | 1080×1350 | 4:5 | The tallest standard feed post — more screen height per post. |
| Instagram landscape post | 1080×566 | ≈1.91:1 (540:283) | The usual landscape feed size. |
| Instagram Story / Reel | 1080×1920 | 9:16 | Leave room at top and bottom for interface elements. |
| X (Twitter) post image | 1600×900 | 16:9 | A safe single-image size that avoids awkward feed crops. |
| Facebook / LinkedIn link image | 1200×630 | 40:21 (≈1.91:1) | The Open Graph share size most sites and feeds expect. |
| Pinterest pin | 1000×1500 | 2:3 | Tall pins take more feed space; very tall pins may be truncated. |
| Profile picture (most platforms) | 800×800 or larger | 1:1 | Upload a square; platforms display it cropped to a circle or rounded square. |
Checking a thumbnail you already published
If you need the exact file YouTube serves for a video — to check its real dimensions against the 1280×720 spec, for example — you can pull the thumbnail itself with ThumbFetch, then measure it with the image checker on our aspect ratio calculator.
One master, many crops
Designers usually keep one high-resolution master and crop per platform. Two things make that painless: shoot or design with loose edges (platforms crop differently, and the "same" slot changes), and keep text inside the middle of the frame for vertical formats so feed interfaces never cover it. The per-ratio calculators on this site — 16:9, 9:16, 4:5, 1:1 — give the exact matching height for any width you export.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Instagram crop my 16:9 photo?
Feed posts only allow ratios between about 1.91:1 (landscape) and 4:5 (portrait). A 16:9 image fits the landscape limit in shape but is usually uploaded at 1080×566, so a wider original gets scaled or cropped to the slot.
Is 1200×630 exactly 1.91:1?
Not quite — it simplifies to 40:21, which is 1.9048:1. "1.91:1" is the rounded nickname the industry uses for it. The difference is a fraction of a percent and invisible in practice.
Should I upload bigger than the listed size?
Usually yes for photos (platforms compress anyway, and a larger source survives recompression better), but design graphics with fine text are best exported at the exact slot size so nothing is resampled.