26 Feb The Ultimate Cheat Sheet for Formatting Social Media Images
When creating content there are several things that need to be taken into consideration, including the size and dimensions of the image that will later be posted to a variety of different social channels. Remembering all of the appropriate sizes for these can be a little daunting, so that’s why we created a handy cheat sheet to remember the correct sizes for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest posts.
Facebook and Twitter are the channels with the most variance, especially because sizing depends on whether or not it will be a standard wall post or an ad post. Link posts on Facebook and cards on Twitter both give you the ability to add a button to the post. Whether you want it to say Shop Now, Play Now, Learn More, etc. is completely your call. One thing that differentiates Facebook from others social platforms is their 20% text rule – if you plan on boosting a post, the image cannot have text that takes up more than 20% of the image. Images that incorporate text into the design count as well. Take this image from our client Hills Bros. Coffee as an example:
While the text is part of the actual design within the image, this would still not pass the 20% rule. Boosting this image on any other channel would be possible.
An additional part of the Sizing Sheet worth mentioning is the size differentiation between web and mobile posts on Twitter. Posting the standard size ratio will work when viewed from a computer, but when viewed on mobile, any logos that you may have on the sides of the image will be cut off. If you choose to just use the mobile dimensions of a 1.7:1 ratio, this may be a better solution than just choosing the standard dimensions. Here is the mobile view of both image sizes in the feed:
As for Instagram and Pinterest, you will find the sizing guidelines on these channels to be less complicated. Both channels give you recommended parameters, but you do have the ability to stray from the recommendation. Given that, with Pinterest especially, the sizes are designed for these particular platforms, I would not suggest veering too far from the guidelines.
As for the cheat sheet, look no further! Feel free to save the image below, as it can be a very helpful reference. It’s hard to keep track of all the dimensions, all of the time.
