Best practices: Social platforms image guidelines

When posting attachments to any social media platforms via their API (how third-party platforms like Sendible integrate to social sites), you’ll find that there are restrictions in place that will cause your posts to fail if you exceed these requirements.

This is not the case when logging in and posting directly to your social media accounts. However, all social media platforms apply restrictions for users posting via their API, and these restrictions differ from channel to channel.

This article will outline all the restrictions, and you can jump to the social site you need by clicking on the social site on the right of this article.

Caution: Copyright, as outlined by national or international law, is the ownership of intellectual property. This can include images, video and other media that you post and we strongly recommend that you consult each social media's community guidelines as well as contacting an attorney if you aren't sure if you have copyrights or may have infringed on them.

Twitter

File size: Up to 5 MB
Formats: JPG, PNG, and GIF
1200 x 1200 pixels is recommended for a 1:1 aspect ratio
1200 x 628 pixels is recommended for a 1.91:1 aspect ratio
While you can upload any size image, it will be cropped to a 600px by 335px size in your feed but will display full-sized once clicked on.

Facebook

File size: Up to 4 MB
Formats: JPG, PNG, and GIF
Desktop news feed: 1200 x 630 pixels
Up to 15 images can be uploaded per post

Caution: Posts to Facebook Group profiles can include only one image.

Instagram

Note: The following restrictions mainly apply when posting to Instagram Business Profiles through Instagram's API, as posting with an Instagram Reminder profile is manual and will still go through the Instagram mobile app natively.

Caution: Instagram doesn't allow Stories or GIFs to be posted through their Instagram Business API, so you'll need to do so using our Instagram Reminder profile with push notifications, as shown here.

File size: Up to 8 MB
Formats: JPG and PNG
Square: 1:1 aspect ratio
Aspect ratio: Must be within a 4:5 (portrait) and 1.91:1 (landscape) range
Minimum width: 320 pixels (will be scaled up to the minimum if necessary)
Maximum width: 1440 pixels (will be scaled down to the maximum if necessary)
Height: Varies, depending on width and aspect ratio

YouTube

Important: Images are not allowed

File size: Up to 10 MB
Formats: JPG, PNG, and GIF
Up to 900 width X 470 height pixels for best results when posting via Sendible
GIF images are supported up to 250 frames
Images for posts: 3162 x 3162 pixels (however, very large images will be resized to standard sizes)

Note: Images that are posted to LinkedIn will be displayed in the home feed with the standard 1.91:1 aspect ratio. So if the image posted is wider or taller than this aspect ratio, it will appear cropped to fit this standard shape but will display normally when opened.

Google My Business

Google has strict guidelines when creating or updating posts, and this information will help ensure that your post publishes successfully to Google My Business and that your images look great!

Important: Google My Business API doesn't support uploading videos or uploading multiple images.

Note: When posting images to Google My Business, the image for the Cover Page will not get updated. Also, any images uploaded will not appear in the "By Owner" photos area.

File size: Between 10 KB and 5 MB
Formats: JPG and PNG
Minimum size: 250 px tall, 250 px wide (Please note: this resolution size is intended for profile pics, and if used for post images, the image may look blurred when displayed in full rather than as a thumbnail. For best results, we recommend a minimum size of 480 x 270 pixels)
Maximum size: 2120 x 1192 pixels
Recommended size: 720 px tall, 720 px wide
Image ratio has to be 16:9 landscape - 1024 x 576 pixels (recommended)

WordPress

Up to 5 MB