You upload an image to a social network and it gets cropped, cut off at the edges, or looks soft. The reason is almost always the same: the pixel size of your image doesn't match what the platform expects. This guide lists the sizes each platform wants and shows how to resize a picture to fit them without losing quality.
Why does the size matter so much?
Social networks automatically crop and rescale whatever you upload to fit their frames. That automatic step is out of your hands: your text can end up outside the frame, faces can be cut off, and an oversized file can be compressed so aggressively that detail falls apart. Resize before you upload and you decide both the framing and the sharpness.
2026 social media image sizes
- Instagram post (square): 1080 × 1080 px
- Instagram post (portrait, 4:5): 1080 × 1350 px — the tallest ratio the feed allows
- Instagram story and Reels: 1080 × 1920 px (9:16)
- Facebook shared image: 1200 × 630 px
- Facebook cover photo: 851 × 315 px
- X (Twitter) in-stream image: 1600 × 900 px — header: 1500 × 500 px
- LinkedIn post (square): 1200 × 1200 px — company cover: 1128 × 191 px
- YouTube thumbnail: 1280 × 720 px — channel banner: 2560 × 1440 px
- Link preview image (OG image): 1200 × 630 px
Publishing one image across several platforms? Start from 1080 × 1350 (4:5): it crops cleanly to both square and 9:16.
Three ways to fit a size: Fill, Fit, Stretch
If your image's aspect ratio doesn't match the target, you have to make a choice. There are three options:
- Fill (crop): Fills the size exactly; overflowing edges are cropped from the centre. The natural choice for photos.
- Fit (add padding): The whole image stays visible and the gaps are filled with a colour you choose. Best for product shots, logos and posters where nothing may be cut.
- Stretch: Pulls the image to the exact size, ignoring the ratio. Avoid it for faces and text — everything looks squashed.
How is quality preserved?
Resizing is really resampling, and the filter decides the result. A browser's built-in scaling is fast but crude: thin lines get jagged and text goes soft. The PDF Platform Resize Image tool uses the mks2013 filter from the Lanczos family instead — it scales and sharpens in one pass, so fine detail survives.
- The larger your source, the better the downscale — crop first, then resize.
- Enlarging cannot create detail. Blowing a 600 px wide image up to 1920 px won't sharpen it; the tool warns you when that happens.
- Use JPEG or WebP for photos, and PNG or WebP for logos that need transparency. WebP usually gives the smallest file at the same quality.
Step by step: resize an image to any size
- Add your image: Drop in a JPG, PNG or WebP file. It never leaves your device.
- Choose the size: Pick a ready-made social size or type a width and height yourself. With Keep aspect ratio on, one side is enough.
- Pick how it fits: Fill, Fit or Stretch. In Fit mode you can also choose the padding colour.
- Resize and download: Set the format and quality, click Resize, and the result downloads instantly.
Resize Image — Upload an image — get it at exactly the pixel size you need, sharp.
Resizing or compressing?
These are two different jobs that often get mixed up. Resizing changes the pixel dimensions of an image (like 1920 × 1080); compressing keeps the dimensions and reduces the file size in MB. Getting the dimensions right usually cuts the file size a lot on its own — if it's still too big, run it through the compressor next.
Compress Image — Keep the dimensions, shrink the file size.
A note on privacy
Resizing runs entirely in your browser. Your image is never uploaded and never reaches the internet — the work happens on your computer or phone.