Secure server conversion
Social Media Image Resizer
Crop and resize images for social posts, stories, profile pictures and link previews. The important part is getting the ratio right — because if you do not crop your image, the platform will crop it for you, and it will not ask which part matters.
Drag & drop your image here
Up to 20 MB per file
× → ×
Drag the selection to move it, drag a corner to resize it, or drag across the image to draw a new one.
Selection: × px
Step by step
How to resize an image in 4 steps
-
Add your image
-
Choose the ratio
Choose the ratio for where it is going, then drag to frame the part you want kept.
-
Pick a pixel size, or type your own
-
Apply and download
Good to know
Resizing, resampling and resolution
The single most useful thing to understand here is that ratio matters far more than exact pixel dimensions.
Platforms display images in fixed-shape containers. Give them an image of a different shape and they will crop it — mechanically, from the centre, with no regard for where the subject is. That is why so many posted photos have heads cut off at the top or key detail sliced off the sides.
Pixel dimensions, by contrast, are mostly a quality question. Every platform re-compresses what you upload, and most will scale it to their own display size. Uploading at roughly the platform's stated size gives a sharp result; uploading something enormous just gets it scaled down; uploading something tiny gets it stretched and looks soft.
This is also why exact pixel specifications age badly. Platforms change their numbers regularly, and any page listing them as gospel is out of date within a year. Ratios change far more slowly, and cropping to the right ratio protects you even when the pixel spec moves.
The ratios that actually matter
- 1:1 square — feed posts on most platforms, and profile pictures, which are then displayed as a circle. Keep the subject well inside the middle.
- 4:5 portrait — the tallest shape most feeds allow, so it occupies the most screen space.
- 9:16 vertical — stories and short-form video. Full phone screen.
- 16:9 landscape — video thumbnails and wide feed images.
- 1.91:1 — link previews, the card shown when someone shares a URL. An oddly specific shape that catches everyone out.
Quality
Keeping the result sharp
A few things make the difference between a post that looks sharp and one that looks processed.
Crop deliberately, before uploading. This is the whole point. A centre-crop by the platform will cut whatever falls outside its container, and it will not be the part you would have chosen.
Do not go far above the recommended size. Every platform re-compresses uploads. A 6000-pixel image gets scaled down and re-encoded, so you gain nothing and sometimes lose sharpness in their resampling. Roughly the stated size, or a little above, is ideal.
Do not go below it either. An undersized image gets stretched to fill the container and looks obviously soft.
Watch out for text. Platform compression is tuned for photographs and treats fine text harshly. If your image contains words, keep them large, high-contrast and away from the edges where cropping may reach.
Circular profile pictures are square images with the corners hidden. Anything near a corner will be cut, so keep the subject centred and allow generous margins.
If a platform imposes a file size limit, meet it with the target-size tool after cropping, rather than by reducing the dimensions.
Why your image gets cropped strangely
The usual sequence: you upload a landscape photo to a feed that displays squares. The platform takes the middle square and discards the sides. Your subject was slightly off-centre, so it is now half out of frame.
Nothing has gone wrong technically — the platform did exactly what it always does. The fix is to crop to the target ratio yourself, so you decide what survives rather than an algorithm.
Link previews
The card that appears when someone shares your page uses roughly 1.91:1 — near 1200 × 630. It is worth getting right because it is often the only image a reader sees before deciding whether to click.
Two things to watch: the image is frequently displayed smaller than you designed it, so fine detail and small text disappear; and different platforms trim the edges slightly differently, so keep anything important away from the borders.
One image, several places
If the same photograph is going to a square feed, a vertical story and a link preview, crop it three times rather than uploading one shape everywhere. Start from the original each time — not from a previous crop — so every version has the full resolution available and you can choose the best framing for each shape independently.
File format
JPG is the safe default and what platforms expect. Do not bother converting to WebP or AVIF first: everything is re-encoded on upload anyway, so you gain nothing and risk a rejected file type.
Use PNG only if the image contains crisp text or graphics and you are uploading somewhere that preserves it — though most feeds will convert it to JPG regardless.
Location data is removed
Metadata is removed when the image is made, so a photo posted publicly does not carry the coordinates of where it was taken.
Privacy
What happens to your file
This tool runs on our server, so it works the same on every phone and computer. Your file is uploaded, and this is exactly what happens to it:
- Stored outside the public web root under a random name, never under your file's name.
- Processed, with the original upload deleted immediately — whether it succeeded or failed.
- The result sits behind a signed link that only you receive, which stops working after 20 minutes, and the file is deleted the moment you download it.
- Anything never collected is deleted automatically within 30 minutes.
- The image itself is never logged or kept. If a conversion fails, we record the formats involved and the error — not the file.
- Camera metadata, including any GPS coordinates recording where a photo was taken, is removed from the result. Only the rotation needed to show the image the right way up is kept.
Questions & answers
Social Sizes: frequently asked questions
Why does the platform crop my image?
Because it displays images in a fixed-shape container, and yours is a different shape. It crops from the centre with no regard for where your subject is, which is why heads get cut off. Crop to the target ratio yourself and you decide what survives.
Does the exact pixel size matter?
Far less than the ratio. Platforms re-compress and rescale everything you upload, so roughly their stated size is ideal — much larger gains nothing, much smaller looks soft. Ratio is what determines whether your image gets cropped, and ratios change far more slowly than pixel specifications do.
What size is a link preview image?
Around 1200 × 630, a ratio of about 1.91:1. It is worth getting right because it is often the only image someone sees before deciding whether to click. Keep important detail away from the edges, since platforms trim them slightly differently.
Why do these numbers differ from other guides?
Because platforms change their specifications regularly and every guide is a snapshot. That is exactly why this page emphasises ratios: 1:1, 4:5 and 9:16 have been stable for years, while the pixel numbers attached to them move.
My profile picture is cut off at the corners.
Profile pictures are square images displayed as circles, so the corners are always hidden. Keep your subject centred with generous margins — anything close to a corner will be cut.
Should I convert to WebP first for a smaller upload?
No. Everything is re-encoded on upload, so you gain nothing and risk the file type being rejected. JPG is the safe default and what platforms expect.
Keep going
Related image tools
Resize Image
Change an image to any pixel size. Keep the proportions or set both dimensions, with presets for social media. Free, no sign-up.
Crop Image
Drag to crop any image, with square and 16:9 ratio presets. Free, no sign-up, and it works the same on every phone and computer.
Compress JPG
Make JPG photos smaller, free and with no sign-up. Adjust the quality, see the saving for each photo, and download.
JPG to WebP Converter
Convert JPG photographs to WebP, free and with no sign-up. Typically 25–35% smaller at the same visible quality.