Cheat Sheet for Social Media Image Optimization

As a digital marketing communications firm, it is essential we are up-to-date with social media specifications, especially considering these platforms reconfigure their page layouts frequently throughout the year to make them more appealing and user friendly. We realize it’s difficult to know the right image dimension for social and we'd like to share our expertise so that social images are never pixelated, awkwardly cropped or reflect negatively on your brand or products. That’s why we have created the MZ Cheat Sheet for Social Media Image Optimization on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Profile photos

1:1 aspect ratio
Minimum: 400 px × 400 px
Recommended: 1500 px × 1500 px

General Post Dimensions

Most social media platforms will accommodate a variety of image sizes, though certain platforms tend to lead the way in setting the standard for common aspect ratios. Portrait orientation is quickly becoming the norm across all platforms, while square is still a very solid choice, especially for ads, benefitting from extra visibility for the call-to-action.

If you've got a landscape photo (for example, a large employee group shot), don't feel that you must format it to portrait orientation in order for it to work. Let your style guide lead the way and make exceptions when necessary.

Square: 1:1 aspect ratio
Minimum: 1080 px × 1080 px
Recommended: 1920 px × 1920 px

Portrait: 4:5 aspect ratio
Minimum: 1080 px × 1350 px
Recommended: 1536 px × 1920 px

Landscape: 16:9 aspect ratio
Minimum: 1200 px × 675 px
Recommended: 1920 px × 1080 px