One of the common frustrations with social media is blurry header and profile pictures. You can spend hours perfecting your profile images, only to find they look pixelated and lacklustre when you upload them to the site.
In this quick tip, I reveal the secret to banishing blurry Twitter header photos and making them look crisp and sharp. You won’t believe how easy it is to do once you know how!
Looking for social media images to adorn your profile? Discover amazing landscape-orientation photos, which will suit header image proportions.
Twitter Header Photo Sizes & Recommendations
Twitter’s support page recommends sizing your header pictures to 1500 x 500 pixels, and keeping the file size to under 2 MB. Twitter also points out:
Here are some additional tips for updating your profile:
- Photos can be in any of the following formats: JPG, GIF, or PNG. (Twitter does not support animated GIFs for profile or header images.)
Let’s experiment with uploading a header image in each of these formats and check out the result (note: only one of these formats will upload as an unblurred picture).
Experiment 1: Uploading the Photo as a PNG
Step 1
I’m using Adobe Photoshop to resize my Twitter images. To create the Profile photo, I create a new document 400 by 400 pixels in size. I File > Place my image, and then go to File > Save for Web (go to File > Export > Save For Web (Legacy) in Photoshop CC), saving the image as a PNG file.
When I go to upload my Profile photo to Twitter I have no problem with the resolution of the image—it comes out crisp and clear.
Step 2
To set up the Header image I create a new document 1500 by 500 pixels in size.
I File > Place my image, then File > Save for Web and save as a PNG file.
Step 3
But when I go to upload the PNG it looks a little…
…well, blurry.
Don’t panic, let’s soldier on…
Experiment 2: Uploading the Photo as a JPEG
Step 1
I repeat the steps, preparing my image in Photoshop, then going to File > Save for Web. This time I save the file as a Maximum Compression Quality JPEG file.
Step 2
Unfortunately, I’m still not totally happy with the uploaded result—there’s still quite a bit of visible blur on the image.
I have just one final resort…
Experiment 3: Uploading the Photo as a GIF
Step 1
I head back to the Photoshop image, and this time choose GIF from the file format options.
Step 2
When I go to upload the image to Twitter, the result is noticeably better, without any of the more visible blurring you have with PNG or JPEG images. Success!
The Verdict
Our trio of experiments lead to one definite conclusion—uploading your Header photo as a GIF file, rather than the more common PNG or JPEG formats, is the best way of minimizing blurring and keeping your images looking crisp and sharp.
Do you have any more tips for getting the most out of your social media images? We’d love to hear about them. Share your tips and tricks in the comments below.
Looking for social media image inspiration? Browse thousands of cool landscape-orientation photos, which are easily adaptable to Twitter’s header picture proportions.
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