What Size Image to Use on Twitter?

In 2021, Twitter has updated its image sizes again. This is quite common and it’s important to stay up to date to get the best rendering quality. This is because incorrect dimensions can result in poorly fitting, cropped, or even rejected content.

In this article, we have put together a memo of image sizes for Twitter to manage your posts.

Profile, Header and Tweet Image Sizes

Since 2017, Twitter has moved from square profile pictures to round profile pictures. Now, the standard 2:1 aspect ratio is no longer acceptable on Twitter. Your avatar should now follow a 1:1 aspect ratio. The recommended size is still 400 px X 400 px and the allowed formats are JPG, PNG and GIF. The maximum file size is 2 MB.

Pro tip: To be recognizable, try to keep your profile picture consistent across all your social accounts to improve brand recognition. Avoid using logos or quotes in your avatar. It’s best to use a full-face photo with a clean background. Put your best face forward and experiment with different angles to get the most flattering headshot. Check out some good and bad examples of profile pictures below.

If you represent a company, a logo may be acceptable. Influencers, entrepreneurs and coaches/consultants should show their face to add a human touch.

For the cover photo also called banners, Twitter recommends an aspect ratio of 3:1, a size of 1,500 px X 500 px and a maximum file size of 5 MB.

Your banner image can be changed on desktop or mobile devices, but the theme colors can only be updated on the Twitter website. Images can be in JPG, PNG or GIF format, but not animated GIF.

For tweeted images, optimize your images for mobile first. Twitter is mobile-first without a doubt! The ideal image size and aspect ratio are 1200 px X 675 px and 16:9 respectively. The maximum file size is 5MB for photos and animated GIFs. You can go up to 15MB if you are posting via their website but this is not ideal. Twitter may shrink your image to fit in the feed. Be sure to highlight important content so it doesn’t get cut off. You can tweet up to four images per post. Two images will appear stacked side by side, both with a 7:8 aspect ratio. Four images will be arranged in a 2X2 grid. Each image will have a 2:1 aspect ratio.

Twitter generates a Twitter Card when you post a link with a featured image at the top. A compressed form of the image is embedded in the tweet. You can adjust the positioning of the image so that the captions are not cut off when the post appears in the feed. Cards must be 1.91:1 or 1200 px X 628 px.

Note that you cannot choose to create a Twitter Card. They are generated automatically if you publish from a website that has enabled the “twitter:card” property in their HTML code.

Image Size of Twitter Sponsored Ads

Twitter obviously has the sponsored content feature to highlight products and services. In the wine industry, this is not used much and in general, not really useful considering the targeted audience. But for all practical purposes, here are the recommendations.

Lead generation cards contain an offer, an image, a call to action and an option to collect users’ names and email addresses. The recommended image size is 800 px X 200 px. You can customize the call to action according to your needs.

If your goal is to increase traffic to your website, website cards are a great solution. They include the banner image, description and direct link to a website. You can also choose from a set of predefined call-to-actions to add to your ad. Twitter prescribes a size of 800 px X 320 px for website ad images.

Twitter Moments

Just like Instagram Highlights, Twitter allows you to store your favorite tweets as Twitter Moments. You can create a collection of customer reviews, product collections, vacation photos and event launches as Moments.

Currently, Twitter has not defined image sizes for Moments. This means you can include images, videos, and GIFs of various sizes in an instant. But in our opinion, the 9:16 vertical aspect ratio seems best.