Twitter Image Size Guide 2026: Perfect Dimensions & Specs

Every number below is checked against X's published limits or labelled as a convention. That matters more than it sounds, because three specs in the standard version of this article are wrong, and one of them is a rule from a different platform that was scrapped nearly six years ago.

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Quick Reference: X/Twitter Image Sizes

Image type	Recommended	Aspect ratio	Max file size
Post image	1200 x 675px	16:9	5MB (GIF: 15MB)
Header	1500 x 500px	3:1	2MB
Profile picture	400 x 400px	1:1	2MB
Card, large image	1200 x 628px	2:1	5MB
Card, summary	400 x 400px	1:1	5MB

Two hard limits worth knowing. X displays images at a maximum of 4096 x 4096 pixels, so there is no benefit to uploading beyond that. And the 5MB still-image cap is the one people actually hit, usually by exporting a photograph as a PNG when a JPG would do.

Need to resize something quickly? Our Twitter photo resizer handles the common sizes, and the X card validator shows how a shared link will render before you post it.

Three Specs Most Guides Get Wrong

1. The "20% text rule" is not an X rule, and it is not a rule anywhere

You will see this on nearly every Twitter image guide, usually attached to ads: keep text under 20% of the image area.

X has never had that rule. It was Facebook's, it applied to Facebook ads, and Meta removed it in September 2020, saying it would no longer penalise ads with higher amounts of image text in auctions and delivery. The text-overlay checking tool Meta provided for it was retired at the same time.

So it is a rule from the wrong platform that has also been dead for years. Ignore the 20% figure entirely. Text on an image should be limited by legibility, not by a percentage, which in practice means large enough to read in a feed on a phone.

2. Summary cards are square, not 1.91:1

Guides routinely list the small summary card as 800 x 418px at 1.91:1. That is the large-image card's shape applied to the wrong card type.

summary_large_image: 2:1, use 1200 x 628px
summary: 1:1, minimum 144 x 144px, use 400 x 400px so it stays sharp on retina screens

Both accept a minimum of 300 x 157px, a maximum of 4096 x 4096px, and must be under 5MB. Feed a square image to a large-image card, or a wide one to a summary card, and X crops it, usually right through wherever the logo sits.

3. Nobody publishes per-slot dimensions for multi-image posts

The 700 x 800 / 400 x 700 / 700 x 400 numbers quoted for two, three and four-image posts are legacy figures from an older Twitter layout. X composes the grid itself and does not publish per-slot dimensions, and the crop varies by client and viewport.

What actually works is in the multi-image section below, and it is a design rule rather than a pixel count.

Post Images

Recommended: 1200 x 675px, 16:9.

Formats: JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF
File size: 5MB for still images, 15MB for GIFs
Display cap: 4096 x 4096px
Minimum: aim for at least 600px wide, below that it looks soft on desktop

On cropping. 16:9 is the safe ratio because it survives feed display without an aggressive crop. Taller images are not rejected, but the further your ratio departs from the feed's preferred shape, the more likely a client crops the preview, so keep anything that must be legible, logos, faces, key text, away from the outer edges.

Format choice, in one line: JPG for photographs, PNG only when you need transparency or hard edges on flat graphics, WebP if your tooling supports it and you are near the 5MB ceiling.

Header Image

Exact size: 1500 x 500px, 3:1, under 2MB.

This is the spec most often designed badly, because it gets designed as a rectangle and then displayed with things on top of it:

Your profile picture overlaps the lower left. Anything you put there is hidden.
The crop differs between mobile and desktop. The vertical centre band is the only part reliably visible everywhere.
Keep text and logos in the middle third, horizontally and vertically.

Design it, then look at it on a phone before you commit. That one check catches most header problems.

Profile Picture

Upload: 400 x 400px, square, under 2MB.

It renders small, often around 48px in a feed, so the practical constraint is recognisability at thumbnail scale rather than resolution. A cropped face or a single letterform survives; a full logo with a tagline does not. X displays it as a circle, so keep the subject centred and expect the corners to be cut.

Card Images

Cards are the preview that appears when someone shares a link to your site. The image comes from your page's meta tags, not from the post.

Card type	Meta value	Size	Ratio
Large image	`summary_large_image`	1200 x 628px	2:1
Summary	`summary`	400 x 400px	1:1

Both: minimum 300 x 157px, maximum 4096 x 4096px, under 5MB.

A note on 1200x628 versus 1200x600. X's stated ratio for the large card is 2:1, which is 1200 x 600. The 1200 x 628 figure is the Open Graph convention Facebook and LinkedIn use, and it works on X as well, which is why most people ship one image at 1200 x 628 for all three. That is a reasonable trade, but it is a convention, not X's spec.

Check the result rather than assuming: the X card validator renders the card from your live meta tags.

Multiple Images in One Post

X allows up to four images per post and builds the layout itself.

The design rule, since per-slot sizes are not published:

Two images: each shown in a tall half. Portrait or square sources survive best.
Three images: one tall on the left, two stacked on the right. The two on the right take the most aggressive crop, so put the least detailed images there.
Four images: a 2x2 grid of landscape-ish tiles.

What replaces the pixel counts: every image should still read when centre-cropped to a square. If it does, it works in all three layouts. Use the same aspect ratio for every image in a post, because mixed ratios are what produce the uneven grids.

Tapping any image opens it at full size, so no detail is lost. Only the preview is cropped.

X's ad formats carry their own requirements and change more often than organic specs, so treat these as a starting point and confirm in Ads Manager:

Image ads: 1200 x 628px, 2:1, under 5MB, JPG or PNG
Square variant: 1200 x 1200px, 1:1, useful where the placement is not known
No text-percentage limit applies. See above.

File Preparation

Do:

Compress to comfortably under the 5MB cap rather than right at it
Export in sRGB, which is what browsers assume
Test the actual file at actual display size before posting

Skip the advice about DPI. "Export at 72 DPI" appears in most guides on this topic and means nothing here. DPI is metadata for print sizing. Pixel dimensions are the only thing that affects how an image displays on screen, and a 1200 x 675 image is identical at 72 or 300 DPI.

Accessibility

Add alt text to every image. X supports it on upload, and it is the difference between your image existing and not existing for anyone using a screen reader. Describe what matters in the image rather than restating the post text.

Do not rely on colour alone to carry meaning in a chart or graphic, and keep contrast high enough to survive both light and dark mode, which X users are split across.

Tools

Free design tools: Canva, Adobe Express, PicMonkey (now part of Shutterstock), Figma.

A correction worth making: most guides still list Over as a mobile design app. GoDaddy acquired Over in January 2020 and renamed it GoDaddy Studio, and in February 2026 GoDaddy Studio was folded into the main GoDaddy app. The name has been wrong for six years and is now wrong twice over.

Professional: Photoshop, Illustrator, Sketch, and Affinity (free since October 2025).

Ours: the Twitter photo resizer for the common sizes, the card validator for link previews, and the wider X tools suite.

Common Mistakes

Designing the header as a plain rectangle. The profile picture covers the lower left and the crop shifts between devices.
Chasing the 20% text rule. It is not X's, and it has not been Meta's since 2020.
Uploading beyond 4096px. X will not display it, so you are only spending file budget.
Mixing aspect ratios inside a four-image post, which produces an uneven grid.
PNG for photographs. It is how most people hit the 5MB ceiling for no visual gain.
Skipping alt text. It costs seconds and it is the main accessibility control X gives you here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best X/Twitter image size?

1200 x 675 pixels at a 16:9 aspect ratio. That ratio survives feed display without an aggressive crop across clients. The file must be under 5MB for a still image, or 15MB for a GIF, and X displays images at a maximum of 4096 x 4096 pixels, so there is no benefit to uploading larger.

What size should my X/Twitter header be?

1500 x 500 pixels, a 3:1 ratio, under 2MB. Design for the fact that it is not shown as a plain rectangle: your profile picture overlaps the lower left, and the crop differs between mobile and desktop. Keep text and logos in the middle third both horizontally and vertically, then check it on a phone before committing.

Do X/Twitter images have a 20% text limit?

No, and they never have. The 20% text rule was Facebook's, it applied to Facebook ads, and Meta removed it in September 2020, stating it would no longer penalise ads with more image text in auctions and delivery. It appears on most Twitter image guides because it has been copied between them for years. Limit text by legibility instead: large enough to read in a feed on a phone.

What is the maximum image file size on X/Twitter?

5MB for still images in JPG, PNG or WebP, and 15MB for GIFs. Separately, X displays images at a maximum of 4096 x 4096 pixels regardless of what you upload. The 5MB cap is the one people hit in practice, and it is usually the result of exporting a photograph as a PNG when a JPG would look identical at a fraction of the size.

What size should a Twitter card image be?

It depends on the card type, and most guides conflate them. A summary_large_image card is 2:1, so use 1200 x 628 pixels. A plain summary card is 1:1, minimum 144 x 144 pixels, and 400 x 400 is a better target for retina screens. Both accept a minimum of 300 x 157, a maximum of 4096 x 4096, and must be under 5MB. Note that X's stated ratio for the large card is 2:1, meaning 1200 x 600, while 1200 x 628 is the Open Graph convention that also works.

What are the exact dimensions for two, three or four image posts?

X does not publish per-slot dimensions and composes the grid itself, so the 700x800 and 700x400 figures you will see quoted are legacy numbers from an older layout. Design to a rule instead: every image should still read when centre-cropped to a square, and every image in the same post should use the same aspect ratio, because mixed ratios produce uneven grids. In a three-image post the two stacked on the right take the heaviest crop, so put the least detailed images there.

What size is the X/Twitter profile picture?

Upload 400 x 400 pixels, square, under 2MB. It renders small, often around 48 pixels in a feed, and X displays it as a circle. The real constraint is recognisability at thumbnail scale rather than resolution: a cropped face or a single letterform works, a full logo with a tagline does not. Keep the subject centred because the corners are cut off.

Should I export images at 72 DPI for X/Twitter?

It makes no difference. DPI is metadata used for print sizing and has no effect on how an image displays on a screen. A 1200 x 675 pixel image is identical whether it is tagged 72 or 300 DPI. Pixel dimensions and file size are the only things that matter here. Do export in sRGB, which is the colour space browsers assume.

Why does X crop my image?

Because the ratio you uploaded differs from what the surface expects. Feed previews favour landscape shapes, so the further your image departs from roughly 16:9, the more a client crops the preview. Tapping the image still opens it at full size, so nothing is lost, but the preview is what earns the tap. Keep faces, logos and any text you need read away from the outer edges.

Do I need different images for mobile and desktop?

No, upload one image at the recommended size and let X handle the rest. The one place the difference genuinely matters is the header, where the profile picture overlap and the crop both change between devices, which is why the safe zone is the middle third. For post images, designing so the subject survives a centre crop covers both cases.