Resize an Image for Social Media
Pick a platform and placement - Instagram story, YouTube thumbnail, LinkedIn cover - and your photo is cropped and scaled to the current 2026 dimensions automatically. Presets get updated whenever networks change their specs, so you never chase blog posts. Free for unlimited exports, with all resizing done on-device.
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How it works
- Drop in the photo you want to post.
- Choose the platform, then the placement (feed, story, cover, thumbnail).
- Drag the image inside the preset frame to control what gets kept.
- Export and post - dimensions will match the spec exactly.
Worth knowing
Platforms recompress everything you upload, and the single best defense is handing them exactly the dimensions they want. Upload an odd size and the platform scales and crops it server-side with settings you cannot see, often adding a second generation of compression on top. Matching the native spec means the platform can skip resampling entirely, and your image survives with visibly more detail - text overlays and fine lines benefit the most.
The change that caught everyone out recently: Instagram moved its profile grid from squares to 3:4 previews in January 2025. Posts still publish at 4:5 (1080x1350) in the feed, but the grid now shows a 3:4 center crop, so anything critical near the top or bottom edge of a 4:5 post vanishes from your profile view. If the grid aesthetic matters to you, compose for the 1080x1440 (3:4) preset and let the feed add its sliver of extra height.
Stories and Reels share the 1080x1920 full-screen canvas, but the platform UI eats into it - profile chips at the top, reply and action stacks at the bottom and right. Keep text and faces inside the middle 1080x1420 or so, treating the outer edges as bleed. YouTube thumbnails are the opposite problem: 1280x720 sounds large, yet most impressions happen at under 200 pixels wide, so thumbnails built from one bold face or three giant words outperform detailed compositions.
Cover images are the most frequently botched placement because they render differently per device. Facebook covers display around 851x315 on desktop but crop the sides savagely on phones; LinkedIn banners (1584x396) hide their lower-left corner behind your profile photo. The presets here mark those danger zones so you can keep logos and faces in territory every device actually shows.
Since January 2025 the Instagram profile grid previews posts at 3:4, so a standard 4:5 feed post loses roughly 6 percent of its height from both top and bottom in grid view - which is why grid-first accounts now design at 1080x1440.
What this tool will not do
- It will not stop the platform from recompressing your upload - it only removes the platform excuse to also rescale it.
- It will not generate multiple placements from one export automatically; each preset is a deliberate framing choice.
- It will not keep up with a spec change on the day it happens - presets are reviewed regularly, but always sanity-check a brand-critical campaign.
Social media image dimensions, current for 2026
| Platform | Placement | Pixels | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feed portrait | 1080x1350 | 4:5 | |
| Feed square | 1080x1080 | 1:1 | |
| Story / Reel | 1080x1920 | 9:16 | |
| Grid preview | 1080x1440 | 3:4 | |
| YouTube | Thumbnail | 1280x720 | 16:9 |
| Cover photo | 851x315 | ~2.7:1 | |
| Profile cover | 1584x396 | 4:1 | |
| Post image | 1200x627 | ~1.91:1 | |
| X (Twitter) | Header | 1500x500 | 3:1 |
| X (Twitter) | Post image | 1600x900 | 16:9 |
| Standard pin | 1000x1500 | 2:3 | |
| TikTok | Video / photo | 1080x1920 | 9:16 |
Questions people ask
What size should an Instagram post be in 2026?
Portrait feed posts are 1080x1350 (4:5), squares 1080x1080, and Stories or Reels 1080x1920. If your profile grid matters, remember it previews everything at 3:4, so 1080x1440 is the grid-safe composition.
Why does my photo get cropped weirdly when I post it?
Its ratio does not match the placement, so the platform center-crops automatically - and center is often the wrong choice. Pre-cropping to the exact preset here puts the framing decision back in your hands.
Why do my images look blurry after uploading to social media?
Platforms recompress aggressively, and off-spec dimensions trigger an extra rescale that compounds the damage. Upload at exact native size, keep files reasonably light, and avoid fine one-pixel details that recompression destroys.
What is the correct YouTube thumbnail size?
1280x720, 16:9, under 2 MB. Design it to read at postage-stamp scale - most clicks happen from tiny suggested-video tiles, not the full-size player.
Can one image work across all platforms?
One source photo can, but export a separate crop per placement. A 9:16 story, a 4:1 LinkedIn banner and a 2:3 pin share almost no usable common framing, so a single compromise file fails everywhere at once.
What part of a story image is safe for text?
Roughly the central 75 percent vertically. Platform UI overlays the top ~150 px and bottom ~250-320 px of a 1920-tall story, so treat those bands as decoration-only.
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