Image requirements for each social platform

When posting attachments to any social media platforms via their API (how third-party platforms like Sendible integrate with social sites), you’ll find that there are guidelines and restrictions in place that will cause your posts to fail if you don't follow them.

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: In some instances, you may find that the images appear as broken images. This can be due to the following:

If you lose connectivity during the upload and there is a timeout, the image files may fail to upload, although it still appears in the Compose Box after the upload.
If the og:image URL is invalid, and the page where the image lives cannot be located. This applies to invalid link URLs added via a CSV file and uploaded to the Bulk Importer.
If the file size of the image cannot be validated.
If the combined size of all included images exceeds 8 MB.

Important: Copyright, as outlined by national or international law, is the ownership of intellectual property. This can include images, videos, and other media that you post. It's strongly recommended that you consult each social media's community guidelines and contact 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
Must be between 4x4 and 8192 x 8192 pixels
Uploaded images will be cropped to 600px by 335px in your feed but will display full-sized once clicked

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
Multiple images on a single message to Facebook will be displayed as a montage.

Facebook Story

File type: .jpeg, .png, .gif
File size: Files can not exceed 4MB. For .png files, it's recommended that they not exceed 1MB, or the image may appear pixelated.

Instagram

Note: The following restrictions mainly apply when posting to Instagram Professional 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 GIFs to be posted through their Instagram Business API or natively.

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
Recommended: 1080 pixels wide and an aspect ratio between 4:5 and 1.91 (see https://help.instagram.com/1631821640426723)
Multiple images on a single message to Instagram direct publishing will be displayed as a carousel.

Instagram Story

Format: JPEG
File size: 8 MB maximum
Aspect ratio: A ratio of 9:16 is recommended to avoid cropping or blank space
Colour Space: sRGB. Images using other colour spaces will have their colour spaces converted to sRGB

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)
No more than nine (9) images per post
Multiple images on a single message to LinkedIn will be displayed as a montage.

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, including the content of the message and images (see their details). Use this information to help ensure that your posts publish successfully to Google My Business, and 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, use images larger than 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