Choose the place before choosing the size
A profile photo is the small picture beside your name. A banner or cover is the wide picture across the top of a page. A feed post appears among other posts; a Story fills a tall phone screen. These are different spaces, even inside the same app. Start by naming both the platform and the placement, such as 'YouTube channel banner,' not just 'social media picture.' A Facebook Page cover is not the same as a Facebook group or event cover.
Pixels, dimensions, and shape — in everyday words
Pixels (px) are the tiny dots that make up a digital image. Dimensions are written width × height: 1080 × 1920 px means 1080 pixels across and 1920 down. An aspect ratio describes the shape, not the amount of detail: 1:1 is square, 4:5 is portrait, and 9:16 is tall like a Story. Two images can have the same shape but different pixel counts. Enlarging a tiny photo does not create missing detail; start with a clear original instead of stretching a screenshot.
Quick size guide: YouTube
YouTube recommends a 2560 × 1440 px channel banner. Its official minimum is 2048 × 1152 px, with a centered 1235 × 338 px text/logo safe area at that minimum. A safe area is the part intended to remain visible through different crops. The matching central area on a 2560 × 1440 design is approximately 1544 × 423 px. Keep the channel name and important logo there, not across the whole picture. The rest is background for larger displays. Check YouTube's upload preview before saving.
YouTube channel banner
- Starting canvas (width × height)
- 2560 × 1440 px
- What to check
- Official recommended upload canvas; keep essential content in the center safe area and preview each device crop.
YouTube profile picture
- Starting canvas (width × height)
- 800 × 800 px
- What to check
- Practical square working canvas, not YouTube's minimum requirement. YouTube displays the picture at 98 × 98 px; use a clear face, icon, or initials with room for a circular crop.
Quick size guide: Instagram
These are practical Canva starting sizes, not a claim that Instagram accepts only these dimensions. Instagram supports more than one feed shape and its profile grid preview may crop a post differently from the full image. There is no wide profile banner like YouTube's. A Story is a temporary full-screen placement; a Reel is a video. A still design can be a Reel background or cover, but making a tall PNG does not make it a video.
Instagram profile picture
- Starting canvas (width × height)
- 1080 × 1080 px
- What to check
- Practical square source image. Keep the face or icon centered; avoid tiny words around the circular edge.
Instagram square post
- Starting canvas (width × height)
- 1080 × 1080 px
- What to check
- 1:1 shape; check both the full post and profile-grid crop.
Instagram portrait post
- Starting canvas (width × height)
- 1080 × 1350 px
- What to check
- 4:5 shape; a useful portrait option, not the only supported shape.
Instagram Story / Reel design
- Starting canvas (width × height)
- 1080 × 1920 px
- What to check
- 9:16 shape. Leave room for captions, buttons, and other app controls; preview the Reel cover crop separately.
Quick size guide: Facebook
Use these as working canvases, then check Facebook's actual upload preview. Cover recommendations differ between design guides and Page layouts; a wide cover can lose its sides on a phone. The 851 × 315 px size below is Adobe Express's suggested Facebook cover canvas, not a promise of a fixed visible area. Keep faces and essential words central. If it crops badly, use the current Canva Facebook cover template and adjust to the preview rather than forcing one file to fit every placement.
Facebook Page profile picture
- Starting canvas (width × height)
- 1080 × 1080 px
- What to check
- Practical square source image; the visible picture is smaller and commonly circular.
Facebook Page cover
- Starting canvas (width × height)
- 851 × 315 px
- What to check
- Wide starting canvas from Adobe Express. Preview on both phone and computer; Page, group, and event covers are different.
Facebook landscape post / shared-link artwork
- Starting canvas (width × height)
- 1200 × 630 px
- What to check
- A useful wide image canvas. A link's preview image may come from the linked website, not a separate upload.
Facebook square post
- Starting canvas (width × height)
- 1080 × 1080 px
- What to check
- Practical 1:1 starting canvas; check how it appears in the feed.
Facebook Story design
- Starting canvas (width × height)
- 1080 × 1920 px
- What to check
- Practical 9:16 canvas; keep text away from app controls.
More platforms: LinkedIn and Pinterest
LinkedIn's personal background photo is different from a company Page banner. Pinterest recommends a 2:3 image shape in its business product guidance; 1000 × 1500 px is a useful standard Pin canvas. Taller images may be cut off in the feed. Use the relevant source below when making a different placement or an advertisement.
LinkedIn personal profile photo
- Starting canvas (width × height)
- 400 × 400 px
- What to check
- A square source image within LinkedIn's official upload range. Check the circular crop.
LinkedIn personal background photo
- Starting canvas (width × height)
- 1584 × 396 px
- What to check
- Official recommended dimensions; keep key content away from the profile photo overlap and preview the phone crop.
Pinterest standard image Pin
- Starting canvas (width × height)
- 1000 × 1500 px
- What to check
- 2:3 shape, recommended in Pinterest business guidance. Keep the title readable; a Pin is not a profile photo.
What about banners on your own website?
There is no one correct banner size for every website. A theme may use a wide crop on a computer and a tall crop on a phone. Check the theme's image instructions or ask the person building the site for the display shape, target pixel dimensions, and file-size limit. Keep the subject away from edges that may be cropped. If possible, place the heading and button as real website text rather than baking them into the photo; that helps readability, accessibility, and phone layouts. Product photos, shop icons, and home-page banners can all need different sizes.
When to use inches — and why pixels do not have one inch size
Use pixels for social apps and websites. Use inches or millimeters when a printer specifies a physical paper size. A pixel file has no single size in inches unless you choose a print resolution. PPI means pixels per inch: at 300 PPI, divide each pixel dimension by 300 to find the print size. A 1080 × 1080 px image would be 3.6 × 3.6 inches at 300 PPI, but 7.2 × 7.2 inches at 150 PPI, with fewer pixels in each printed inch. Changing that number does not add image detail. DPI describes a printer's ink dots; it is related but not the same thing.
Square image
- Physical size
- 3.6 × 3.6 inches
- Pixels at 300 PPI
- 1080 × 1080 px
Small flyer
- Physical size
- 5 × 7 inches
- Pixels at 300 PPI
- 1500 × 2100 px
US Letter flyer
- Physical size
- 8.5 × 11 inches
- Pixels at 300 PPI
- 2550 × 3300 px
Set the size in Canva, then keep a separate master for each use
Start a new design using the exact placement name or Custom size. For a social image, choose px and enter width first, height second. For a printed flyer, choose inches and use the printer's measurements. Check the actual design dimensions even when starting from a template. Add your approved logo or photo without stretching it, apply your brand colors and fonts, and give the file a useful name such as second-shelf-instagram-portrait. Canva's resize tools and some download options depend on plan. If resizing is unavailable, open a new design at the needed size, copy your elements across, and rearrange them; do not just squeeze the old layout.
Download and preview before posting
For a still graphic with text or a logo, PNG is a useful choice; JPG often makes a smaller file for photos. Transparent PNG downloads may require a paid plan, but uploading a transparent original you already have is a different task. For a finished Reel video, use a supported video export such as MP4, not JPG. Open the downloaded file and check its actual dimensions. Platforms have file-size and format limits too: the right width and height alone do not guarantee acceptance. Try the upload preview, check the circular profile crop and banner crops, and look at the post on a phone. Leave generous space around essential text instead of trusting one fixed safe margin for every app.
Keep your size notes useful over time
Sizes, crops, Canva templates, and app screens change. This guide separates official recommendations from practical starting canvases; neither is a guarantee of what every person will see. Keep the placement name, pixel dimensions, source link, and the date you checked them beside each master design. Recheck the linked guidance and upload preview before a new campaign, paid advertisement, or large print order. You do not need to publish a practice design just to learn the process.
A real-world example
Fictional example: Second Shelf Dolls uses an icon-only logo in a 1080 × 1080 px Instagram profile file, keeping it clear inside a circle. For one product post, the owner makes a 1080 × 1350 px portrait design with an honest doll photo and a short heading. She makes a separate 1080 × 1920 px Story layout, moving the words away from the top and bottom controls rather than stretching the post. For YouTube, she creates a 2560 × 1440 px banner with the shop name centered in the safe area. A printed 5 × 7 inch flyer is a separate design; its photos need about 1500 × 2100 pixels to cover the full page at 300 PPI before any bleed the printer requests.
Steps to take
- Name the platform and exact placement you want to make.
- Choose a starting pixel size from the guide and check its source and current upload requirements.
- In Canva, select the matching format or enter width and height in Custom size using px.
- Place a clear original photo or approved logo; keep important content away from crop edges and controls.
- Download in a suitable format and check the file's dimensions.
- Preview on a phone and computer, adjust any crop, and keep a clearly named master.
- For print, ask for the physical size, required resolution, and bleed before making a separate design.
Image size check
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Go deeper in related modules
Not sure what a word means? Check Business Words Made Simple.
Official guidance
Use these official sources for current rules and details. They do not replace advice for your particular business.
- YouTube Help: channel branding (opens in a new tab)
Official banner recommendation, minimum-size safe area, profile display size, and upload rules.
- Canva: Instagram size guide (opens in a new tab)
Canva's practical post and Story canvases; check Instagram's current preview for your placement.
- Canva: Facebook size guide (opens in a new tab)
Canva's suggested formats. Cover canvases and display crops differ; check the placement rather than treating every number as an upload requirement.
- Adobe Express: Facebook image sizes (opens in a new tab)
Source for the 851 × 315 px starting cover canvas and phone/computer cropping guidance.
- LinkedIn Help: profile and background photos (opens in a new tab)
Official upload guidance and recommended personal background dimensions.
- Pinterest Business Help: product specifications (opens in a new tab)
Official 2:3 image recommendation and placement-specific business specifications.
- Canva Help Center (opens in a new tab)
Official how-to articles; search for the exact task you are stuck on.