Facebook cover photo collage: the right size, the safe zone, and how to make one
The Facebook cover is the most mis-sized image on the internet, because it is shown at two different shapes: wide on a computer, taller and narrower on a phone. A collage makes the problem worse, since every cell has an edge that can get cut. Here is the size, the zone that survives both views, and how to build a cover that looks designed on every screen.
1. The size, and the zone that survives
| What | Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Displayed on a computer | 820 x 312 | The wide view |
| Displayed on a phone | 640 x 360 | Narrower and a little taller: the sides are cut |
| Upload size | 1640 x 624 | Twice the desktop view, sharp on retina screens |
| Safe zone | 640 x 312, centered | Visible on both; faces and text stay inside |
| Minimum Facebook accepts | 400 x 150 | Blurry; never use it |
| Page cover | same as profile | Same crop rules |
| Group cover | 1640 x 856 | Cropped to about 1640 x 624 on mobile |
| Event cover | 1920 x 1005 | 1.91:1, shown the same everywhere |
The safe zone is the rule that matters: on a 1640 x 624 upload, keep faces and text inside the central 1280 x 624 and away from the bottom 120 pixels, where the profile picture overlaps. The Facebook cover templates in StudioCollage draw the mobile crop and the hidden corner so you can see what survives before you upload.
2. Layouts that fit a strip
A cover is a 2.6:1 strip, so the usual square grids do not work. Three families of layout do:
Three tall cells, and one wide hero with two small cells. Both keep every photo inside the safe zone when the edges are quiet.
Five portraits in a row (a team, a family, a band), and four landscapes. On a phone, the outer cells lose their edges: put the least important photos there.
- Three columns: the safest. The middle cell is fully visible on every screen; the outer two lose a sliver on phones.
- Hero and two: one wide landscape on the left, two small cells on the right. Put the hero in the center-left so the mobile crop keeps its subject.
- Four or five columns: for portraits of people (a team page, a family, a band). Faces in the two outer cells should sit toward the center of their cell.
Let Auto lay them out, then fix what you want.
Free, no watermark, and your photos stay on your device.
Open StudioCollage3. Eight cover collages that work
- The family strip. Three to five portraits, one per person, same background if possible. Order them so the two people most likely to be cut on mobile are at the ends.
- The trip in three. Arrival, the view, the dinner. Three landscapes, thin white gaps.
- The team page. Five headshots in a row for a small business, each cell the same crop: eyes on the same line.
- The product line. Four products on the same colored background, for a shop page. The color is the brand.
- Before and after. Two cells, same framing, for a renovation or a fitness page. Keep the dividing line in the center so both halves survive the mobile crop.
- The four seasons. Four landscapes of the same place, spring to winter.
- The event countdown. Photos from last year's event in a strip, with the date in the safe zone.
- One hero, two details. The wedding photo in the hero cell, the rings and the cake in the two small ones.
4. Make it in three minutes
- Open StudioCollage and choose the Facebook cover preset. The canvas is 1640 x 624, with the mobile crop and the profile-picture corner shaded.
- Add three to five photos. Press Auto to get strip layouts that keep faces whole, or pick three columns, hero and two, or five columns.
- Drag inside each cell so faces sit toward the center of the cover, away from the shaded zones.
- Set a thin gap or none, and a background color picked from the photos for the gaps.
- Download as JPG. Aim for a file under about 100 KB at maximum quality if you can; Facebook compresses big files harder.
On Facebook: open your profile or page, hover the cover, Edit cover photo, Upload photo, then drag to reposition if needed and save. Check it once on your phone: the mobile crop is the one most people will see.
5. The same collage for other banners
Once the cover exists, the other banner sizes are one format change away in the same project: X header at 1500 x 500 (3:1, profile picture bottom left), LinkedIn cover at 1584 x 396 (4:1, profile picture on the left), YouTube banner at 2560 x 1440 with a 1546 x 423 safe area. The sizes guide has every one of them, and how many photos to put in a collage covers the count for each shape.
Frequently asked questions
What size is a Facebook cover photo in 2026?
Facebook displays the cover at 820 x 312 pixels on computers and 640 x 360 on phones. Upload 1640 x 624 (twice the desktop size) so it stays sharp on high-resolution screens, and keep the important content in the central 640 x 312 area that both views show.
Why is my Facebook cover cropped on mobile?
Phones show a taller, narrower crop of the same image: the left and right sides of the desktop view are cut, and a little more height is shown top and bottom. Anything in the outer 90 pixels on each side (on an 820 wide cover) disappears on mobile.
Where is the profile picture on the cover?
It overlaps the bottom edge of the cover, on the left on computers and toward the center on phones. Keep faces and text out of the bottom corners and out of the lower 60 pixels of the cover.
How many photos fit in a Facebook cover collage?
Three to five. The cover is a strip about 2.6 times wider than tall, so three wide cells or five tall ones fill it; more than that turns the photos into thumbnails on a phone screen.
Should I upload a JPG or a PNG for a Facebook cover?
A JPG in sRGB, saved at high quality. Facebook recompresses every cover; a JPG under about 100 KB is compressed least. A PNG is fine for a cover with text or flat colors, but Facebook converts it anyway.
