Question 1

Why do my Instagram photos look blurry even though I took them with a high-end camera?

Accepted Answer

Your photos look blurry because you are uploading a file that is too large, triggering Instagram's aggressive compression algorithm. When you upload a 6000-pixel wide image from a professional camera, Instagram's servers forcefully crush the file down to a maximum of 1080 pixels wide to save data, destroying the sharpness in the process. To fix this, manually resize your image to exactly 1080 pixels wide in your editing software, and ensure the file size is under 1.5 megabytes before uploading.

Question 2

What is the absolute best file format for social media images?

Accepted Answer

There is no single best format; it depends entirely on the content of the image. If you are uploading a photograph with millions of colors, complex lighting, and human faces, JPEG is the best format because it compresses file size efficiently without noticeably degrading photographic quality. If you are uploading a graphic with flat colors, sharp lines, a company logo, or typography, PNG (specifically PNG-24) is the absolute best format because its lossless compression prevents the blurry "halo" artifacts that JPEG introduces around text.

Question 3

How do I bypass Twitter/X image compression to keep my art looking crisp?

Accepted Answer

X allows for relatively high-quality uploads if you follow strict parameters. First, ensure your file is saved as a PNG-24, not a JPEG. Second, ensure the exact pixel dimensions match X's native display grids (e.g., 1600 by 900 pixels). Finally, and most importantly, the file size must be strictly under 5 Megabytes. If a PNG file is under 5MB and matches standard aspect ratios, X's servers will generally pass it through to the user's feed without applying additional lossy compression.

Question 4

What size should a Facebook Event Cover Photo be?

Accepted Answer

The optimal size for a Facebook Event Cover Photo is 1920 pixels wide by 1008 pixels tall, which is roughly a 1.9:1 aspect ratio. This is entirely different from a standard Facebook Page Cover Photo or a Personal Profile Cover Photo. Because event pages are frequently viewed on both desktop monitors and mobile devices, you must keep all critical event information (dates, times, venue names) clustered in the dead center of the 1920 by 1008 canvas to prevent it from being cropped out on narrower smartphone screens.

Question 5

How do I design a logo specifically for a circular profile picture?

Accepted Answer

You must design within a square canvas but constrain your artwork to a central circular safe zone. Create a square canvas at 400 by 400 pixels. Draw a perfect circle that touches the four edges of the square (a 400-pixel diameter circle). This circle represents the platform's masking tool. You must ensure that every part of your logo, every letter of your text, and any crucial branding elements sit comfortably inside that circle, leaving the four corners of the square completely empty or filled with a solid background color.

Question 6

Does image size actually affect SEO and algorithmic reach?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but indirectly. Social media algorithms are designed to maximize user retention. If you upload a poorly sized image that is heavily pixelated or awkwardly cropped, users will scroll past it in milliseconds. The algorithm registers this lack of engagement (low dwell time, zero clicks, zero likes) and subsequently penalizes your post, hiding it from other users. Furthermore, if you embed social media images on your own website, uploading massively unoptimized, 10-megabyte files will drastically slow down your page load speed, which is a direct, heavily weighted negative ranking factor for Google SEO.

Social Media Image Sizes

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