Image Formats for Social Media

Every social media platform compresses your images. You can't stop that—but you can give them the best starting point. Upload the wrong format or resolution and you'll notice: muddy details, color shifts, weird artifacts around text.

The Universal Rule

JPG or PNG, at the platform's recommended dimensions. That's it. Don't upload HEIC (some platforms won't accept it). Don't upload WebP (inconsistent support). Don't upload massive files hoping they'll look better (they'll just take longer to compress).

Platform-by-Platform Guide

Instagram

Feed posts: 1080×1350 (4:5 ratio) or 1080×1080 (square)
Stories: 1080×1920 (9:16)
Format: JPG for photos, PNG for graphics with text

Instagram recompresses everything aggressively. Uploading at exactly these dimensions means Instagram doesn't have to resize, which helps quality. If you upload a 4000×6000 photo, Instagram scales it down and the extra pixels were wasted.

Facebook

Feed images: 1200×630 (link previews) or up to 2048px on the longest side for photos
Cover photos: 820×312 (desktop), 640×360 (mobile)
Format: JPG for photos, PNG for logos and graphics

Facebook's compression is lighter than Instagram's, but they still recompress. Photos under 100KB sometimes avoid recompression entirely, but don't sacrifice quality chasing that—the difference is minimal.

Twitter / X

In-stream images: 1600×900 (16:9) or 1200×1200 (square)
Header: 1500×500
Format: PNG for graphics (Twitter preserves PNG better than most platforms), JPG for photos

Twitter is unusually good with PNG. If you're posting a screenshot or graphic with text, PNG will look noticeably sharper than JPG.

Feed images: 1200×627 (1.91:1 ratio)
Profile photo: 400×400
Format: JPG or PNG

LinkedIn's compression is relatively gentle. Standard JPG at 80-90% quality works fine.

TikTok

Thumbnails: 1080×1920 (9:16)
Format: JPG

TikTok is video-first, so image requirements are simple. Match the dimensions, use JPG.

Common Mistakes

Uploading HEIC Files

Some platforms accept HEIC, some don't. Even when they accept it, they convert it to JPG anyway. Just do the conversion yourself so you control the quality. Convert HEIC to JPG

Uploading Huge Files

A 20MB photo from your camera isn't going to look better than a 2MB version resized to the platform's dimensions. The platform will resize and compress it either way. Pre-resizing gives you more control.

Using the Wrong Aspect Ratio

If you upload a 2:3 photo to a platform that wants 4:5, it'll either get cropped or letterboxed. Cropping might cut off important parts of your image. Resize to the target ratio before uploading.

Over-Compressing

Don't pre-compress your JPG to 60% quality thinking you're helping. That quality loss compounds when the platform recompresses. Upload at 85-95% quality and let the platform do its thing.

Graphics with Text

JPG compression creates visible artifacts around sharp edges—like text. If your image has text that needs to stay crisp:

Use PNG if the platform handles it well (Twitter, LinkedIn)
Use high-quality JPG (90%+) if you must use JPG (Instagram compresses either way)
Make text large enough that compression artifacts don't matter

Summary

Photos: JPG at 85-95% quality
Graphics/screenshots: PNG when possible, high-quality JPG otherwise
Dimensions: Match the platform's recommended size exactly
HEIC: Convert to JPG before uploading