Article · Brandon Warrell

Social media image sizes for small businesses: Instagram, Facebook and Google Business Profile

By Brandon Warrell ·November 3, 2026

For most social media images, build feed graphics at 1080 × 1440 px (3:4), the tallest photo shape Instagram's help page allows, and keep your text inside the center 1080 × 1080 px so it survives square and 4:5 crops. Make a separate 9:16 version for Stories. Facebook recommends 320 × 320 px for Page profile pictures, and Google Business Profile recommends 720 × 720 px photos. The platforms don't publish every size, and the table says where they don't.

What size should social media images be?

These numbers come from the platforms' own pages, checked 2026-11-03, and each section below links its sources. "Meta ad spec" means an ad size, the only pixel size I found from Meta for that placement. Specs change, so recheck on the day you post.

Paid display ads use their own banner ad sizes, and print has its own poster sizes.

What are the current Instagram sizes, and how does the profile grid crop them?

Instagram's resolution page says photos go up to 1080 px wide, in shapes between 1.91:1 and 3:4. A larger photo is sized down to 1080 wide, and an unsupported shape gets cropped to fit.

One catch: Meta's publishing API limits feed images to 4:5 through 1.91:1, so a scheduling tool built on it may refuse a 3:4 file. If yours does, export the 4:5 crop.

• File types: jpg, png and heic/heif when you upload from a computer.
• Carousels: up to 20 items, all in the one orientation you choose. Separate posts can use different shapes.
• Reels: the help page gives video shapes from 1.91:1 to 9:16 and recommends a 420 × 654 px cover, which you can't edit after uploading.
• Stories: the published size is an ad spec, 9:16 at 1440 × 2560 px.

The profile grid is harder to pin down. The Instagram help pages I checked don't give its ratio. In January 2025, Engadget reported that Instagram was changing the square grid to a rectangular layout, with photos expanding to normal size when opened. Check your profile after you post.

My Cirque de Paris design test (spec work, May 2026) set three Instagram posts as portrait graphics, each with one job: awareness, ticket sales and a family four-pack. As published on my site, one is 3:4 and two are 4:5, the two portrait shapes above. The set is on the social media graphics page.

What sizes does Facebook use?

Facebook's help gives no pixel size for an ordinary Facebook post. Its photo help page only recommends JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF or TIFF files under 15 MB.

The numbers people quote come from ads: the Feed spec is 4:5 at 1440 × 1800 px, and the Stories spec is 9:16 at 1440 × 2560 px. They're a reasonable target for a regular post, not a rule for one.

Facebook's Page help does give Page sizes:

• Profile picture: 320 × 320 px recommended, shown at 176 × 176 on computers and 196 × 196 on phones.
• Cover: at least 400 × 150 px. Facebook says it loads fastest as an sRGB JPG at 851 × 315 px and under 100 KB.

Keep cover text and logos near the middle, then check the live Page on a computer and a phone.

What does Google Business Profile accept for photos and posts?

Google's photo guidelines ask for JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB, with a recommended 720 × 720 px and a minimum of 250 × 250 px. Photos should be in focus and well lit, without heavy filters. In Google's words, "the image should represent reality."

The posts page says posts can show text, photos or videos, and states no image size, so I'd start from the photo guidelines. Make a square version from your master and preview it after uploading.

How do you design one graphic that survives the feed crops?

Start with the tallest shape you'll post and work inward. These crop figures are my arithmetic, not a platform spec.

1. Build at 1080 × 1440 px. That contains the 4:5 and square feed shapes as center crops. If you also want Meta's 1440 × 1800 px Facebook size, build at 1440 × 1920 px and scale the figures below to match. A 1.91:1 landscape post needs its own layout.
2. Treat the top and bottom as disposable. A 4:5 crop removes 45 px from each. A square crop removes 180 px from each.
3. Keep text and logos in the center 1080 × 1080 px, with a margin on the left and right. Run background art through the rest. Since the grid is no longer square, a square post may lose some of its sides there.
4. Make a separate 9:16 file for Stories. Meta's ad guide suggests leaving about 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% of each side free of text and logos, so the profile icon and call-to-action don't cover them. Treat that as a cautious target for regular Stories. On 1440 × 2560 px, it leaves about 1267 × 1306 px, sitting above the middle.

Starting from a square is harder. Echoes of Tomorrow, my Typography coursework at State College of Florida (SCF), Fall 2025, is a 4000 × 4000 px square made as a cover for streaming sites, not a social post. A square like that suits a square post once it's sized down, but a portrait version would need extra art above and below. Streaming specs are in the album cover size guide.

How should a logo or profile picture fit a circle crop?

Facebook crops Page profile pictures to a circle and shows them under 200 px wide. A circle cuts the corners, so a wide wordmark has to shrink until it fits, and small type goes first.

A short mark gives you more to work with. My BW monogram (SCF Typography coursework, Fall 2025) pairs a brush-script B with a ribbon-stroke W in two colors. Two letters leave less to shrink than a full name would, so a mark like that should hold up better in a circle than a long wordmark. It's still wider than tall, with thin ribbon strokes, so I'd test it at actual size.

Center the mark on a square file with room on all sides, then view it at actual size. The logo file types guide covers which file to start from.

PNG or JPG for social posts?

All three platforms accept both. Use PNG for logos and type-heavy graphics, and JPG for photos.

Facebook's Page help backs the first half: a PNG may give a better result for profile pictures and covers with a logo or text. JPG for photos is general practice, not a platform rule. Watch file weight, since Facebook warns that PNG files over 1 MB may appear pixelated, and Google caps photos at 5 MB.

Need social graphics made?

I design social media graphics from $35, and you get PNG or JPG files sized for each platform. The social media graphics page shows how I plan a set, and the FAQ covers pricing, revisions and file types.