Every platform has its own preferred shapes, and they change a little every year or two. What doesn’t change is the basic idea: the aspect ratio matters more than the exact pixel count. If your image has the right shape, the app will scale it neatly. If it has the wrong shape, the app will crop it however it likes, and that’s usually through someone’s head.
Below are the sizes most creators use in 2026. They’re the widely recommended values; platforms accept other sizes too, but these give you sharp results with no surprises.
| Format | Recommended size | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Square post | 1080 × 1080 | 1:1 |
| Portrait post | 1080 × 1350 | 4:5 |
| Landscape post | 1080 × 566 | 1.91:1 |
| Story | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 |
| Reel | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 |
| Profile photo | 320 × 320 (shown as a circle) | 1:1 |
Portrait 4:5 takes up the most room in the feed, which is why many creators prefer it for posts. For Reels, keep captions and faces away from the bottom and right edges, where the buttons sit.
YouTube
| Format | Recommended size | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Thumbnail | 1280 × 720 | 16:9 |
| Shorts | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 |
| Standard video | 1920 × 1080 | 16:9 |
| Channel banner | 2560 × 1440 (keep key content in the central 1546 × 423) | 16:9 |
| Profile photo | 800 × 800 | 1:1 |
The banner is the tricky one. It’s displayed very differently on TV, desktop and phone, so put your name and logo only in the central safe area.
| Format | Recommended size | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Feed image | 1080 × 1350 or 1080 × 1080 | 4:5 or 1:1 |
| Link preview image | 1200 × 630 | 1.91:1 |
| Story / Reel | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 |
| Page cover | 1640 × 624 (desktop and mobile crop differently) | about 2.6:1 |
X (Twitter)
| Format | Recommended size | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| In-feed image | 1200 × 675 | 16:9 |
| Header | 1500 × 500 | 3:1 |
| Profile photo | 400 × 400 | 1:1 |
| Format | Recommended size | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Feed image | 1200 × 627, or 1080 × 1080 square | 1.91:1 or 1:1 |
| Personal banner | 1584 × 396 | 4:1 |
| Profile photo | 400 × 400 | 1:1 |
| Format | Recommended size | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Profile photo (DP) | 500 × 500 or larger, shown as a circle | 1:1 |
| Status image or video | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 |
WhatsApp compresses heavily, so start with a clean, sharp file. If your DP keeps losing the top of someone’s head, use the circle crop tool to preview exactly how it will look.
| Format | Recommended size | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Standard pin | 1000 × 1500 | 2:3 |
| Video pin | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 |
How to resize without stretching
Stretching happens when you force an image into a new shape by changing width and height independently. Faces get wide, circles become ovals, and everyone notices. There are two right ways to change size.
Changing size, same shape: resize
If your photo is already 4:5 and you just need it smaller, use the resize tool with the aspect ratio locked. Type the new width and the height follows automatically.
Changing shape: crop first
If you need to go from a landscape photo to a 9:16 Story, you have to remove some of the picture. Open the crop tool, pick the target ratio, slide the frame over the most important part, then resize if needed.
- Pick the platform and format from the tables above.
- Crop to that ratio, keeping faces and text well inside the frame.
- Resize to the recommended pixel size.
- If the file is large, run it through the compressor before uploading.
All of these tools run entirely in your browser. Your images aren’t uploaded anywhere, which is handy for client work and family photos.
Plan the shape before you create
For AI images and videos, it’s much easier to pick the right frame at the start than to fix it later. If a clip is meant for Reels, Shorts or WhatsApp status, choose vertical before generating in the AI Image Generator or text to video. Cropping a landscape clip down to vertical throws away more than half the frame.
Safe zones for vertical video
Reels, Shorts, TikTok and WhatsApp status all lay buttons, captions and usernames over your video. The exact positions vary, but the pattern is the same everywhere: the top strip holds the account name, the bottom fifth holds the caption and music line, and the right edge holds the like, comment and share buttons.
A simple habit keeps you out of trouble. Imagine a box in the middle of the frame, leaving roughly 250 pixels clear at the top, 350 at the bottom and 120 on the right of a 1080 × 1920 video. Keep faces, product shots and any text inside that box. Backgrounds can run to the edges, so the frame still feels full.
Common mistakes
- Uploading a screenshot of a post. It carries the old app’s borders and gets cropped again. Always use the original image.
- Using one image everywhere. A 16:9 banner made for YouTube will look tiny in an Instagram feed. Make a crop for each platform from the same master file.
- Tiny text on thumbnails. Most people see YouTube thumbnails at phone size. Three or four big words beat a full sentence.
- Forgetting the circle. Profile photos on almost every platform display as circles, so corners get cut. Centre the face with space around it.
- Upscaling small images. Stretching a 400-pixel photo to 1080 pixels makes it soft. Start from the largest original you have.
Quick rules of thumb
- 9:16 at 1080 × 1920 covers Stories, Reels, Shorts, TikTok and WhatsApp status.
- 4:5 at 1080 × 1350 is the best all-round feed post.
- 16:9 at 1280 × 720 or larger covers thumbnails and landscape video.
- Keep important things away from the edges. Every app overlays something somewhere.
Bookmark this page and check it when a platform announces a redesign. Ratios rarely change, but safe areas and cover sizes sometimes do.
