Guides
Practical notes on image sizes and social specs, and what to match to what.
Every Instagram image size: feed, Stories, Reels, profile
There are only five sizes that matter. Which one to use for each placement, and what the profile grid trims off afterwards.
Updated 2026-09-10ID and passport photo sizes, with the pixel conversions
Two sizes cover nearly every case: 3x4cm and 3.5x4.5cm. Here they are in pixels at 300dpi, with the background and head-size rules.
Updated 2026-09-10YouTube thumbnail size and how to make one
1280x720, under 2MB. The spec is simple; the craft is that it will be seen at 200 pixels wide.
Updated 2026-09-10Vertical video sizes: Reels, Shorts, TikTok
All three use 1080x1920. What differs is where the interface covers the frame, and that decides the composition.
Updated 2026-09-10Pixels, resolution, DPI: sizing a photo for print
A screen only has pixels; DPI only means something on paper. One formula and one table cover every size you will meet.
Updated 2026-09-10Aspect ratios explained: where 1:1, 4:5, 3:2, 16:9 and 9:16 belong
A ratio is a shape, not a size. What gets cut when the ratio your camera shoots differs from the one a platform wants, in numbers.
Updated 2026-09-10Crop versus resize: why photos come out squashed
Cropping discards pixels, resizing changes the count, filling adds them. Combine the three and any spec can be met without distortion.
Updated 2026-09-10Matching a size without losing quality
Scaling up costs detail. Filling a background does not. Quality is lost at exactly three points, and all three are avoidable.
Updated 2026-09-10PNG, JPG, WebP: which format to save in, and when
Photos as JPG, text and transparency as PNG, the web as WebP. Three lines of rules, plus the exceptions that keep you out of trouble.
Updated 2026-09-10Making a link preview (OG) image
The image that appears when a link is pasted into a chat or a post. One 1200x630 covers every service, but each crops it differently, so it needs a safe area.
Updated 2026-09-10Channel art, cover, and banner sizes: YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, X
Banners are cropped to a different width on every device. What matters more than the spec is the safe area that survives all of them.
Updated 2026-09-10Why profile pictures crop badly
You upload a square and the service masks it into a circle. Plan for the corners, and check the size it is actually shown at first.
Updated 2026-09-10Why a photo shows up sideways: EXIF orientation
Phones save the photo lying down and attach a note that says "rotate me." Software that ignores the note shows it sideways, and the fix is simple.
Updated 2026-09-10When an iPhone HEIC photo will not open
Most browsers cannot read HEIC. One setting on the iPhone stops it happening again, and photos you already took have a way out too.
Updated 2026-09-10Combining several photos into one
Choose a layout, a gap, and a background. Each photo can be repositioned inside its own cell, and the output size follows where it is going.
Updated 2026-09-10