Should I upload at the highest resolution possible?

Upload comfortably above the recommendation, but there is no benefit to enormous files — the platform recompresses regardless, and very large uploads sometimes get worse treatment, not better.

Why does my link preview image look different from my post image?

Because it is a different image. Link previews come from the Open Graph tags on the destination page, not from anything you attach to the post.

Aspect ratios and safe zones

Five ratios cover everything. Getting the ratio right stops the crop; getting the safe zone right stops the interface eating your text.

Last reviewed 31 August 2026

Ratio is the spec, pixels are a floor

Aspect ratio is what a platform enforces. Upload something outside the accepted range and it gets cropped or letterboxed, and the crop is usually from the centre, which is exactly where you put the important thing.

Pixel dimensions matter far less, because every platform recompresses on upload. The useful rule is to upload comfortably above the recommended resolution at the correct ratio and let the platform downscale — downscaling looks fine, upscaling does not.

The five ratios that cover everything

Collapse the per-platform tables and there are only five shapes worth producing. Most content plans need three of them.

9:16 — full-screen vertical. Stories, Reels, TikTok, Shorts.
4:5 — the tallest a feed will show uncropped. Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn.
1:1 — the safe default when one asset must work in several places, and the shape of profile grids.
1.91:1 — link previews, which come from the destination page's Open Graph image rather than from your post.
16:9 — YouTube thumbnails and X in-stream. The only landscape ratio still worth making.

Safe zones: where the interface covers your work

On full-screen vertical, a meaningful band at the top and bottom is occupied by the platform's own controls — profile, caption, buttons, progress bars — and on some platforms the right edge as well. Anything you put there is either hidden or fighting for attention with a button.

The practical version: design 9:16 with the important content in the middle, and keep text out of roughly the top and bottom sixth. It costs nothing at design time and is unfixable afterwards.

The same trap in a different form: a 4:5 portrait post is centre-cropped to a square in the Instagram profile grid. A composition that only works at 4:5 will look broken to anyone browsing your profile.

One asset, several places

If you are producing once and posting everywhere, produce at 9:16 and 1:1 and accept that neither is optimal anywhere. If you can produce twice, make 9:16 for vertical video surfaces and 4:5 for feeds — that pair covers the large majority of placements without compromise.

Questions

Should I upload at the highest resolution possible?: Upload comfortably above the recommendation, but there is no benefit to enormous files — the platform recompresses regardless, and very large uploads sometimes get worse treatment, not better.
Why does my link preview image look different from my post image?: Because it is a different image. Link previews come from the Open Graph tags on the destination page, not from anything you attach to the post.