The three shapes that cover most of social media
Almost every format is one of three shapes. Vertical 9:16 (1080 × 1920) covers Instagram Stories and Reels, YouTube Shorts, Facebook Stories and WhatsApp Status — design it once and it works everywhere full-screen. Portrait 4:5 (1080 × 1350) is the best feed format on Instagram and Facebook because it takes up the most screen space as people scroll. Landscape 16:9 (1280 × 720 or 1920 × 1080) is YouTube thumbnails and video.
If you only make one image for a feed post, make it 4:5. If you make one video, make it 9:16.
Safe zones: where not to put text
Platforms draw their own interface on top of your image. On Stories and Reels the profile name sits at the top and the reply bar, caption and buttons at the bottom, so keep text and faces out of roughly the top and bottom 250 pixels. On YouTube thumbnails the video length covers the bottom-right corner. Channel banners are cropped differently on TV, desktop and phone — only the centre 1546 × 423 is visible everywhere. Profile photos are shown as circles, so keep the subject centred.
Why sizes matter
Upload an image at the wrong ratio and the platform crops it for you — often cutting off the headline or the product. Upload it too small and it's scaled up and looks soft; too large and it's re-compressed harder than necessary. Starting at the recommended size is the simplest way to make your posts look sharp. Our Image Resizer has every size on this page built in as a preset.