Facebook image cheat sheet: maximum photo sizes for your branded page and ads

Our previously published guide to Facebook image sizes is well over two years-old and therefore long overdue for an update, and SO much has happened to the world’s most popular social network (for now) since then…

However, as Larry Kim taught us this week in his post on how to improve organic Facebook reach, it is still possible to find your audience without having to break the bank.

This guide is designed to ensure that when Facebook users do see and interact with your brand, that you’re all scrubbed up and as presentable as you possibly can be.

These are the correct dimensions, resolutions and features you need for optimising your Facebook channel, without the need of an overzealous parent spitting in a handkerchief and scrubbing your face till it’s red.

In order to do this as accurately and up-to-date as possible (seeing as Facebook only just recently changed the layout of branded pages again) I’ll be using examples from the FB Pages Sizes and Dimensions page from Yoconda. It’s worth giving them a like to keep up-to-date. And I’ll be using the helpful advice from Miranda Miller in her original guide.

Facebook page

The top of your Facebook page as of July 2016 will now look something like this…

Let’s break down the measurements…

Facebook header image

The optimal image size for your header image is 851 x 315 pixels. Any less and you’ll lose resolution. Start with a canvas of double that size – 1702 x 630 – for sharp, crisp images; Facebook will resize it and you’ll have the right dimensions.

The mobile safe area is 563 x 315 pixels.

Follow these dos and don’ts of header images:

Do use a unique image to represent your page.
Do experiment with different images to see which gets (Read more...) best response.
Do change up your image to highlight special events, seasonal trends, or other types of campaigns.
Don’t include any content that may be deceptive, misleading, infringe on anyone else’s copyright, or violate Facebook’s Pages Terms.
Don’t encourage people to upload your cover image to their personal Timeline.
Don’t make more than 20% of your cover image text.
To get the fastest load times for your Page, upload an sRGB JPG file that’s less than 100 kilobytes.
For images with your logo or text content, you may get a higher quality result by using a PNG file.

Facebook profile picture

Your profile picture will be displayed at 160 x 160 pixels but must be at least 180 x 180 pixels to upload.

Pictures of different dimensions can be cropped upon uploading.

Also note that the profile picture no longer partially obscures the header image like it used to, so you can no longer do those ‘fun and amusing’ combinations

Your profile picture appears around Facebook wherever you interact with users and in their Newsfeed at 90 x 90 pixels so your profile picture must be legible at this resolution.

Shared link image

The image that’s automatically pulled in from a link you’ve shared, or the one you’v uploaded an alternative image from your desktop will appear on your timeline and in the Newsfeed as 476 x 249 pixels.

Facebook ads

According to the Facebook business help page, different ad objectives recommend different Facebook ad sizes. If you’d like your Facebook ads to be eligible to show in all of the different formats, including desktop News Feed, mobile News Feed and the right column, then you should use the recommended ad image sizes:

Also note that if your image is larger or smaller than the dimensions specified it willl be automatically resized to fit in the ad. Animated or flash images aren’t supported.

Facebook Ads images also have their own set of rules:

Must be relevant and appropriate to the advertised product.
May not exploit political, sexual or other sensitive issues.
May not be overly sexual, imply nudity, show excessive amounts of skin or cleavage, or focus unnecessarily on body parts.
May not portray nonexistent functionality, including but not limited to play buttons that suggest video capability and close buttons that do not close.
May not contain QR codes.
May not use Facebook brand images without permission, including but not limited to logos, icons and alert notification graphics.
Images targeted to users under 18 must be appropriate for that age group.
May not include images made up of more than 20% text, including logos and slogans. Note: this does not apply to pictures of products that include text on the actual product. Photos of products in real situations or photos of products with a background are acceptable. Images that are zoomed in on logos or images with text overlay are not allowed.