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You are here: Home / Social Media / Social Media Cover Photo Templates for the Most Popular Social Networks

Social Media Cover Photo Templates for the Most Popular Social Networks

—Dustin W. Stout / 7 min read / shared 1.4K times

social media cover photo templates
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Your one-stop resource for always-updated cover photo sizes (and templates) for Facebook profiles, Facebook Pages, Facebook Groups, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube.

Social media is becoming more and more visual every day. Ever since Facebook revealed its timeline cover photo, people have really taken to it this idea of a large header and/or cover images.

It’s a lot of work though to create a good cover photo for your profile– especially when the dimensions for these cover photos are so hard to find. Well, you’re in luck! I’ve gathered the cover photo dimensions from the top social networks that incorporate them, and put them all in one place for you.

I also promise to always stay on top of social network changes, and update these templates accordingly.

Download all JPEG templates instantly by adding your email below!

The primary social networks that I have included for you to download are as follows [click to go straight to that template]:

  • Facebook Cover Photo Template (Profile)
  • Facebook Cover Photo Template (Page)
  • Facebook Group Cover Photo Template
  • Twitter Header Template
  • LinkedIn Background Image (Profile)
  • LinkedIn Background Image (Company)
  • Pinterest Cover Photo
  • YouTube Channel Art

Each template showcases the maximum display dimensions. I’ve also marked out where certain interface obstructions or cropping may occur. The grey areas are what will be seen, the dark areas are what will be covered up.

Make sense? Cool, let’s get started.

A Brief Word of Advice

One thing I tell all my clients when crafting these for them is that they should not look at it as a billboard or a marketing opportunity. It should be used to showcase the person or brand– not to sell something. It is a means of visually enriching your online story.

Too much text is unattractive and people won’t read it anyways. Trying to communicate too much ends up communicating nothing at all. So keep your cover photos high-quality and simple.

Lastly, I always recommend that you keep your cover photos consistent across all your social profiles. They don’t have to be the exact same photo, but consistency builds brand recognition and trust. Just something to keep in mind.

Facebook Cover Photo Template (Profile)

facebook profile cover photo template

Over the years there have been a lot of changes to the many Facebook image sizes. Currently, your Facebook profile cover photo is a maximum resolution of 2,048×758.

Make sure you look out for the areas that will be covered up by your profile picture, your name, and a row of action buttons. While these obstructions are annoying at times, you can also get creative and make them a part of your background if you want.

For example:

example facebook cover photo

Notice how the profile photo is seamlessly a part of the cover photo. Very creative.

Facebook Cover Photo Template (Page)

facebook page cover photo template

If you have a Facebook Page, your cover photo gives you 100% of the space to work with. The maximum display dimensions are 2,048×779.

There are no interface elements or obstructions of any kind.

Just keep in mind that your Facebook Page Cover Photo is not a flyer. It’s also not a billboard. Don’t try and put a ton of information all over it because people don’t want to sit and read through it.

Use your Cover Photo to showcase your brand as visually as you can with color, photography, and/or illustrations that show your audience what your about without using words.

Facebook Group Cover Photo Template

facebook group cover photo template

If you manage a Facebook Group, the Cover Photo is also unobstructed. You have 2,048×830 to tell the visual story of your group.

Since groups tend to get a lot more visits than a Facebook page, the group Cover is something you might consider updating frequently to showcase updates or upcoming events for the community.

Twitter Header Template

twitter header template

Since the day it was introduced, the Twitter Header has not changed it’s dimensions. It still sits at a maximum resolution of 1,500×500.

Like your Facebook profile, there is an obstruction to be aware of from your profile photo. It’s a much smaller area than Facebook’s photo obstruction, but still enough to have some fun with if you want.

LinkedIn Background Image Template (Profile)

linkedin profile background image template

If you want to pretty-up your LinkedIn Profile, the background image is a nice touch. You have a very narrow area, however, maxing out at a resolution of 1,584×396.

Since LinkedIn is a more professional environment, I highly recommend keeping your Background Image a photo or illustration. Leave the text off of it–especially since it’s such a small area to work with.

Just like Twitter, LinkedIn also places your profile photo over top of a portion of the Background Image.

LinkedIn Background Image Template (Company)

linkedin company background image template

If you manage a LinkedIn Company Page, you also have the ability to upload a Background Image. The maximum display resolution is 1,536×768.

This maximum resolution is deceiving, however, as most of it ends up getting cropped out. There is only a very narrow sliver of the uploaded photo that will actually display.

On top of that, there is also a portion of the Background Image covered by your company profile photo. Yikes!

I have no idea why LinkedIn decided to make this so complicated. I’m hoping it changes soon so it doesn’t feel like so much of our photo is wasted.

Pinterest Cover Photo Template

pinterest cover photo template

Pinterest was one of the last big platforms to allow for a cover photo. You can upload one for yourself at a maximum resolution of 1,600×900.

Again, a small portion of the photo will be covered up by your profile photo.

If you choose not to upload a cover photo, Pinterest populates a dynamic one which displays your latest pins. I think this was a brilliant (and beautiful) move by the Pinterest team.

YouTube Channel Art Template

youtube channel art template

Now we come to the last, and most complicated of all the social media cover photos-the YouTube Channel Art.

YouTube requires you to upload a photo with a minimum resolution of 2,560×1,440. You can upload one that is larger, but it will get reduced in size (and quality).

The challenge with YouTube Channel Art is that there are 3 different display possibilities–Desktop, Mobile, and TV. Each of the 3 display environments will show your Channel Art in a different crop.

In my template above, the white area is what will be displayed on most mobile screens. The extended grey areas to the left and right of that white area is the additional space that will be seen on desktop, laptop, or some tablet devices.

Everything else is what will be seen when your YouTube channel has gotten so popular that people are browsing it from their television set. And even then… I have no idea how they would even see your channel art.

Quick Reference Infographic

In case you need a quick reference guide, I’ve put this simple infographic together so you can get all these dimensions at a glance. Simple, lite, effective, and highly sharable.

cover photo templates for popular social networks

Share this Image On Your Site

Copy the code below and paste it into your website!

<a href="https://dustinstout.com/social-covers/"><img src="https://dustinstout.com/free-resources/social-covers/social-cover-templates-reference.jpg" alt="Social Media Cover Photo Templates" width="600px" border="0"/></a><em>Image courtesy of <a href="https://dustinstout.com">dustinstout.com</a></em>

You can save each one of the photos above and use them at your leisure. Of course proper credit is appreciated, but not required. Make your cover photos beautiful, be creative, and always have fun.

What are some of the best cover photos you’ve seen online? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Social Media Cover Photo Templates for the Most Popular Social Networks
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Tweet622
Pin567
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1.4K Shares
Share234
Tweet622
Pin567
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1.4K Shares

Social Media 52 Comments

About Dustin W. Stout

A social media blogger and speaker who loves helping people tell bigger, better stories online. Founder of SoVisual.co, Co-founder of Social Warfare and an unashamed coffee addict.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dennis Walters says

    09.04.20 at 5:53 AM

    his is really helpful to me, thank you, Lana! I was just looking for a website checklist like this, where I can easily find free images for my new blog.

    Reply
  2. Domas says

    09.01.20 at 1:30 AM

    Why is the comment box underneath all comments? Tired of scrolling to it. Nice article though.

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      09.01.20 at 11:12 AM

      That’s just how the theme was designed. 🤷‍♂️

      Reply
  3. Steve says

    08.26.20 at 11:23 PM

    Marvelous.

    A debt of gratitude is in order for investing amounts of energy and sharing it.

    Reply
  4. Samantha Collier says

    08.25.20 at 6:54 AM

    Thanks for this guide. It’s been quite difficult to size my Facebook cover photo correctly to appear on mobile. Facebook loves to change things up! (Too often).

    Reply
  5. Dennis Walters says

    08.18.20 at 3:18 AM

    Wow, excellent post… This is really a great article and a great read for me. It’s my first visit to your blog and I have found it so useful and informative specially this article. Thank you so much…

    Reply
  6. Aadarsh Roy says

    08.06.20 at 3:00 AM

    Hey Dustin W Stout ,

    Excellent post as usual. I truly appreciate your hard-works.

    Every time you comes up with an ideas that are truly important in every aspect. You have done a fabulous work here and suggested the best social media cover photo templates for most popular social networks.

    You have presented each template very nicely and provided all the crucial information that is well enough to educate the readers and is providing better understanding as well. Using these tempates will be helpful and will also provides more appealing look and a professional touch.

    Eventually thanks for sharing your knowledge and such a wonderful post.

    Reply
  7. Priya Sharma says

    07.12.20 at 10:00 PM

    I wanted to know all the photo dimensions of Facebook and I got it from this article which is perfect. Thanks for the informative article.

    Reply
  8. TechWithLove says

    04.30.20 at 4:18 AM

    This is great stuff! Such a time saver! I shall use them for my upcoming blogs. Thanks once again!

    Reply
  9. Finanslayin says

    04.11.20 at 10:20 AM

    It was a super article. How should we export the images we prepared with Photoshop? 300 DPI as 500 DPI?

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      04.11.20 at 12:08 PM

      Never save web graphics at anything higher than 72 dpi. If it’s going to be physically printed, you can do 300 dpi. But for web graphics, you’re just making the file size unnecessarily large, and therefore anywhere you upload it there will be a lot more compression added, reducing the image quality down. No social network will display graphics at a resolution higher than 72 dpi.

      Reply
  10. Franziska says

    04.06.20 at 8:54 AM

    very good article, a cover helps a lot to make it look more high quality 🙂
    xoxo
    franziska

    Reply
  11. Rewari Haryana says

    04.04.20 at 2:27 AM

    Thanks Dustin! Brilliant and easy instructions to follow.

    Reply
  12. Sanam says

    03.01.20 at 4:18 AM

    Hola

    Thanks alot for sharing!

    Reply
  13. Media Friday says

    01.22.20 at 1:44 AM

    Awesome.
    Thanks for putting efforts and sharing it.

    Reply
  14. mehul says

    01.20.20 at 2:04 AM

    thanks for the post.

    Reply
  15. Robert Nissenbaum says

    11.18.19 at 9:37 AM

    Still the best guide out there. Thank you Dustin.

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      11.18.19 at 10:10 AM

      Thanks, Robert!

      Reply
  16. Priya Sharma says

    11.12.19 at 9:31 PM

    Thank you very much for giving best guidance for facebook image sizes, it is already being very useful for me!!! Thanks for the valuable information. Great work.

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      11.13.19 at 8:41 AM

      You’re welcome, Priya!

      Reply
  17. Murrough Foley says

    03.09.18 at 1:17 AM

    Nice resource, I’m a little surprised that you don’t have instagram in the pack though. I’ve noticed more and more companies moving on to the platform.Will you be adding it in the future?

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      03.09.18 at 11:47 AM

      Hi, Murrough! Instagram doesn’t have a “cover photo” (only profile photos and, well… posted photos) so until they do there’s nothing for me to add to this particular resource about Instagram.

      Reply
  18. Yatina Red says

    12.07.17 at 1:39 AM

    That means you create custom graphic covers for their Twitter and FB accounts. Check out “social identities” to get an idea!

    Reply
  19. Rob says

    03.19.17 at 7:19 PM

    Thanks Dustin. Been wanting to update my Facebook cover for a while so thank you for the great insights. Will promote this article to my social sites for sure!

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      03.20.17 at 8:47 AM

      Awesome Rob! Glad you found it useful.

      Reply
  20. sandeep chatterjee says

    02.26.17 at 2:46 AM

    Hi Dustin,
    Thank you for sharing the post .Really helpful post,

    Reply
  21. Sonia Pitt says

    08.29.16 at 12:56 AM

    Thanks Dustin for sharing this post, It’s helpful indeed. The problem with this is, the social sites used to change these cover picture dimensions and that creates the problems.

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      08.29.16 at 7:50 AM

      You’re welcome. And that’s exactly why I keep this post updated every time a social network makes a change. 😉

      Reply
  22. Rhonda Swan says

    04.04.16 at 7:59 PM

    These are great resources for social covers. Thanks for offering them.

    Keep up the great work and live unstoppable!

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      04.06.16 at 7:36 AM

      Thanks Rhonda! Glad you like them! 😀

      Reply
  23. Brandon Dean says

    01.14.16 at 12:39 PM

    Thank you so much for this! My brother, Justin, told me about you.

    One suggestion: could you update the standalone FB template to include the darker boxes that show where the buttons and descriptive text go? I noticed the infographic has those boxes, but the template does not.

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      01.14.16 at 10:08 PM

      Hmm… I must have an old file linked. Thanks for letting me know Brandon!

      Reply
  24. zulfakar says

    06.08.14 at 6:32 PM

    Thanks nice infromation.

    Reply
  25. Jinia says

    05.26.14 at 5:50 PM

    Thanks for the very timely and useful post! Pinned, shared ect..

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      05.31.14 at 11:56 AM

      Thanks so much Jinia! Great name BTW!

      Reply
  26. Chankey Pathak says

    05.20.14 at 1:29 AM

    I always had to google for this, I’ll bookmark this one, please update it if any of mentioned site changes their cover photo’s dimension. Like twitter did some time ago.

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      05.21.14 at 1:59 AM

      I updated it as frequently as needed. 😀

      Reply
  27. Phil Olson says

    01.28.14 at 3:14 AM

    Wow, great article and infographic Dustin! I’ve promoted it on my site with full links back to you – such a useful resource!!

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      01.28.14 at 8:07 AM

      Thanks so much Phil!

      Reply
      • Enya Mastini says

        05.15.14 at 5:33 PM

        Thanks +Dustin W. Stout nice info !!!

  28. Steve says

    01.07.14 at 6:38 AM

    I may have missed later posts on this topic, but I was updating my own G+ cover last night and the new layout, while the same aspect ratio it would appear, is much different than before.

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      01.07.14 at 7:44 AM

      It is much different Steve. It still recommends the same sizing though. 😀

      Reply
  29. Jonny Kirk says

    12.16.13 at 1:19 AM

    sweet, I really need to think about updating everything, so little time.. thanks for the helpful info.

    Have you put together (or are aware of) any stats specific to how Google+ appears to handle different sized images in peoples streams, always feel like that is something I should be aware of but lack the time (or more likely talent) to research it.

    Thanks again

    JK

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      12.16.13 at 7:23 AM

      That’s a good question Johnny. I haven’t put anything together like that. Since there’s so many different screen sizes (especially factoring in mobile) that would be a tough one to figure out.

      Reply
  30. Danny De los Reyes says

    11.08.13 at 9:52 PM

    Thanks Dustin! It prompted me to update some of my social media covers. Great info on sizes and philosophy behind it.

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      11.09.13 at 10:54 AM

      I’m glad you found it so helpful Danny!

      Reply
  31. @PamelaMKramer - A Renaissance Woman says

    11.07.13 at 6:20 AM

    You are so very clever! How can I chat with you? I have a question about this post.

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      11.07.13 at 6:37 AM

      Best way is through my contact page here.

      Reply
  32. August says

    11.07.13 at 2:17 AM

    Thanks for the reference guide. 🙂

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      11.07.13 at 6:34 AM

      You’re welcome! BTW August, have you considered getting a Gravatar?

      Reply
  33. virginia says

    10.29.13 at 5:57 AM

    great stuff buddy, loving some of your posts and sharing and caring information….shared this one for you…

    Reply
    • Dustin W. Stout says

      10.29.13 at 6:03 AM

      Thanks Virginia! Much appreciated. 😀

      Reply

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