What is the correct size for the cover photo of your Facebook page in 2021?
With Facebook changing the layout and the sizes of the cover photo, it’s a little tricky to create the perfect responsive Facebook cover photo for your business page that looks great on desktop and mobile alike.
Facebook Access By Device
According to Hootsuite, by January 2020, 98% of Facebook users are accessing Facebook via any kind of mobile device.
Therefore, we recommend to optimizing the photo for mobile first with the different desktop size in mind.
Facebook Cover Photo Size
The problem is that the cover photo has a different shape in mobile vs desktop. On mobile they are taller, while the desktop has a wider aspect ratio.
So, you can design for mobile and allow for some cropping on the top and bottom of the photo on desktop, or design for desktop and have a portion of the sides cropped off on mobile. Mobile use is on the rise, and this trend will continue to grow. Google won’t like your website if it’s not optimized for mobile – and Facebook users won’t understand your cover photo that’s designed only for desktop viewing!
Therefore, considering the high percentage of mobile users, we highly recommend designing for mobile first.
Facebook Cover Photo - Mobile vs Desktop
The image below shows an overlay of our cover photo on mobile vs desktop. This is what our cover photo looks like on both devices. We opted for the display of the entire photo on mobile (red box), while the black box shows the part that is shown on a desktop. As you can see, a portion of top and bottom are cut off and the sides are filled with a gradient.
(BELIZE STUDIO on Facebook – Mobile vs Desktop)
The challenge is that Facebook adds a gradient to both sides of the desktop cover and if you don’t have a solid color, but actually a photo, it might not look so good. Facebook is pulling a color from the top outer edges of your cover image. And if the image is different on either side, then the gradient is too.
Recommended Facebook Cover Photo Size
The trick is to make your image taller than the recommended 820 x 312 pixels. Try 461 pixels tall. The crop on desktop is now only 303 tall if you go with the 820 pixels width. This gives you 79 pixels on top and bottom that will be cropped on desktop.
So, size-wise you can go either with the lower resolution of 820 x 461 pixels, or the higher resolution of 1200 x 675 pixels, and plan for the design of your cover to also work with the pixels that will be cropped on desktop.
The ideal image size for your Facebook cover photo is 851 x 315 pixels.For best results make sure that the file format is .jpg, RGB color, and less than 100KB.
Keeping track of Facebook cover sizing requirements can be a bit overwhelming.
Feel free to CONTACT US, if you need support with designing the right Facebook cover for your business page!
