How to Avoid Losing Your Message in Facebook Graphics

With photos and graphics being the No. 1 shared piece of content in social media, we get a lot of questions about them. For instance, have you ever seen a graphic with what you think is going to be a clever comment or funny joke only to find the punchline "cut-off"? This is due to the way the photo was automatically cropped by Facebook. This means that viewers have to click on the image in order to see the entire graphic and understand the message. No one wants "another click" to see the message. And you certainly do not want to make it harder for your audience to see your messaging.

Here’s how to size your Facebook graphics to make sure you don’t lose your message or impact—and save your fans a click!

What Dimension Should I Use?

It’s hip to be square! We recently suggested vertical images since the width was limited, leaving more room for height, therefore getting more real estate in the news feed...

However, the images, whether horizontal or vertical, will be cropped to a square from the top and center on the page preview. This means when someone visits your page, they will only see the top and center of the image you posted, unless it’s a square—in which case, you will see the entire photo or image. You don’t want to crop out the message, so it makes sense to use square images until Facebook makes another change. 

Facebook recommends uploading graphics in square format. As they state below, they support several different sizes, but as long as it’s square, you will be fine with any size that is reasonably large. The square image in our example is 1458 x 1458.

Example of Page Preview based on Dimension:

How Do I Display My Facebook Graphics in the Highest Possible Quality?

Here are some tips straight from Facebook:

1. Upload High-Resolution Photos

The photo that Facebook uses below demonstrates the difference between how your photos will display based on resolution. Higher resolution images will allow for a larger display.

2. Resize Your Photo

• For regular photos: 720 px, 960 px, 2048 px, they recommend selecting the High Quality option when uploading a 2048 px image.

• For cover photos: use 851 px by 315 px, and if you don’t want the software to automatically compress your photo, keep the file size below 100 KB.

We’re not suggesting that you resize all of your photos before posting on Facebook, but you should consider square format when posting Facebook graphics or images with text, to make sure your message isn’t getting lost by Facebook’s automatic preview resizing. Do you have any Facebook image or photo tips to share? Please share them with us in the comments!

Photo credits: Mematic.net, Kuno Creative, Facebook