How to Easily Resize Photos for Facebook Cover and Profile

Your Facebook profile and cover photos are how hundreds or maybe thousands of people recognize you. These photos make the first impression when someone searches for you on Facebook or when you send a friend request. Facebook has specific guidelines for the sizes of these photos. So to make the best first impression, it's important to know how to resize your photos and optimize them for this platform.

Why You Should Resize Profile photos for Facebook

Facebook has set standards for profile pictures. When you upload a photo as a profile picture on Facebook, the website automatically crops it to fit in the available space. While this is handy, the cropping isn’t always accurate and can lead to some unusual framing. Remember that a profile photo is what introduces you to other people, so you want it to look good. Therefore, you should resize photos for your Facebook profile before uploading them.

Before discussing options for resizing photos for Facebook, you should know that the sizes of Facebook cover and profile photos are 851x315 pixels and 170x170 pixels respectively.

How to resize photos for Facebook cover and profile pictures

Now that you understand why it’s important to resize your photos for Facebook cover and profile pictures, let’s take a look at some simple ways to do that:

1. Using online solutions

If you don’t generally edit photos, then you might want to use an online tool to resize your image to fit the Facebook cover photo or profile photo guidelines. There are quite a few online Facebook cover photo resizers to help you do this, but we recommend PicMonkey or Canva.

To resize a photo with PicMonkey, simply go to the website and follow these steps:

• Upload the photo you wish to resize.
• In the Basic Edits tab, choose the Crop option.
• Use the drop-down menu to select one of the preset dimensions or enter dimensions yourself if you can’t find the dimensions for a Facebook cover or profile photo.
• If you wish to change the crop from horizontal to vertical, simply use the Rotate Crop button.

If you don’t like PicMonkey, then you can go with Canva instead to design your very own custom cover photos:

• After signing into Canva, you’ll be presented with many different preset sizes. Choose the preset for Facebook cover photos.
• You’ll be taken to the editor, where you’ll see a huge number of templates that you can edit to your heart’s content.

2. Using desktop solutions

If you already have photo editing software or are open to downloading software in order to resize photos for Facebook, then Photoshop and Luminar are the best options.

Of the two, Luminar is by far the easiest as it comes with a streamlined interface and simple controls that don’t require you to spend weeks learning them. Luminar isn’t only a quick and easy way to edit images; it has also established itself as a powerful RAW converter. This is why Luminar might be the one photo editor that fits all your needs, whether you want to create amazing photos from RAW files, design collages, or do something else.

Here’s how to resize a photo for Facebook with Luminar:

• Open the image you want to turn into your profile or cover photo.
• Go into Crop Mode by pressing the C key on your keyboard.
• The top bar will now show all the different options associated with the Crop Mode.
• Click the Ratio menu and select the Facebook Cover option.
• If you wish to frame the photo within the crop area, simply click and drag the photo as desired.
• Press Enter and you’ll have a perfect Facebook cover photo!

And you know the best thing about giving Luminar a shot? You can download a free trial to check it out before you spend any money.

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If you already have Photoshop on your system, then you can follow these steps to resize your photos for Facebook cover or profile pictures:

• Click on the Crop tool.
• Use the controls at the edges of the cropping border to freely resize your image, or type a specific size in the top bar.
• Once done, press Enter or click outside the cropping border to make the change.

What to do before using a Facebook Cover Photo Resizer

Before you resize any photo for Facebook, you should know what makes a good cover photo. These photos are especially important for businesses and creative pages. If you provide any sort of service to your visitors, you need to attract them to your content. For example, if you have a Facebook photography page, then you need to showcase your best photos at the top of your page. A great way to do this is to create a collage of your images so people can see at a glance the different kinds of photos you take.

You should also change your cover photos every now and then to put new content in front of people. Keeping the same image on your page for a long time makes people think that you aren’t very active and might not be the best when it comes to providing quick customer service. As you can see, a Facebook cover photo is more important than people usually think.

Closing thoughts

Facebook is generally thought of as a great platform for people to connect with family and friends, and it definitely is that.

But it can be so much more if you use it effectively. We’ve written this guide on how to resize a photo for Facebook not only to help you make your profile look good but also to help you create an efficient business profile.

Creating a successful business page on Facebook requires posting regularly, sharing content that’s relevant to your readers, and resizing your photos to fit Facebook profile guidelines.

If you’re ready to supercharge your Facebook profile, then take the first step and resize your photos for Facebook!