On Spotify, these cover arts can be used on a variety of items, including playlists (in which case, they’re known as Spotify playlist covers), albums, and singles. Every time someone looks at any of those things on your profile, they’ll see that art.

Considering that, if your cover art gets pixelated or cut off, it’s gonna…well, look bad.

If you’re worried about that, keep reading. In this article, we’ll share the recommended Spotify cover art size, how to nail the designing process, and some helpful tips.

Let’s dive right in.

What’s the Ideal Spotify Cover Art Size?

As per official recommendations, the perfect Spotify cover art size is 640 x 640 pixels. This is an aspect ratio of 1:1, which means it should be a perfect square.

You’ll find different recommendations for cover art size on Google. But the ones shared above (640 x 640 pixels) will give you the best quality. Besides, it’s what the folks at Spotify recommend. However, you can use a photo resizer tool to adjust the dimensions of the cover art.

Besides the size, here are some additional recommendations when it comes to Spotify cover art:

• The file size of your Spotify cover art shouldn’t exceed 4MB.
• Spotify only supports TIFF, JPG, or PNG formats for cover art.
• Your cover art should be encoded with sRGB color space at 24 bits per pixel.

Furthermore, Spotify doesn’t support cover art with orientation metadata.

Stick with the rules above, and you’ll be fine.

Why Your Spotify Cover Art Matters

Spotify is a streaming platform where artists, misc. content creators, and brands can share their talent with the world. Considering that, your cover art takes the backseat if you think about the priority of things.

While the actual content (playlists, albums, etc.) you put out matter the most, the cover art can be beneficial too.

Here are some reasons why:

• A captivating cover art can help your content stand out from the rest and get more engagement.
• It can leave a positive first impression of your content.
• Cool art can also play a role in making your content go viral.

The point is – if your cover art isn’t on-point and looks unprofessional, your fans and followers won’t be impressed.

Use Pixelied to Create Appealing Spotify Cover Art

Creating new Spotify cover art can be challenging. There are many Shopify playlist cover makers out there that can help, but they’re very limited in terms of their features.

On the other hand, not everyone can use tools like Illustrator and Photoshop to whip up designs.

Luckily, there’s an easy fix. Enter: Pixelied – a powerful online graphic designing tool that’s giving sites like Canva a run for their money.

Here’s a short, 3-step tutorial on how you can get started:

1.      Launch the Editor

Click here to fire up the free Pixelied editor with the ideal Spotify cover art size locked and loaded.

You can use the ready-made Spotify cover art templates to get started in no time.

This is what it looks like:

Pixelied offers a ton of other ready-to-use templates for web and social media design.

2.      Start Designing

One thing that makes Pixelied so great is its extensive list of easy-to-use tools. Unlike traditional graphic design platforms, you don’t have to worry about feature-overload.

Some of the best features include free stock photos, custom file uploads, background removal, and much more.

There are two ways you can go about creating cover art using those tools:

a)      Upload Your Own Files and Design

If you already have something ready to go and want to adjust it to finalize your design, simply upload it on Pixelied and start designing.

To do this, click on “My Files” in the bottom left corner in the tool bar.

If this is the first time you’re using Pixelied (or you’ve never uploaded any files of your own), it will show “No Files” by default. Upload your files by either clicking on the browse button and navigating to the files stored on your device, or simply drag and drop them to the little square, as shown above.

Once you upload the file(s), they’ll show up underneath where it says “Uploads out of folders.” To load a file onto the canvas, click on it once.

Drag any of the corners of your design to adjust it to the canvas size.

Make sure that the corners don’t get cut off.

b)      Create Something from Free Images, Elements, & Illustrations

If you don’t have any files of your own (or would like to add more to your design), you can also whip up something from scratch with Pixelied.

Not only can you source millions of free stock images from Unsplash and Pixabay directly onto the editor, but can also select from large collections of illustrations and elements.

It only took me less than 5 minutes to design it. And I’m the farthest thing from a designer!

You can also add text (choose from hundreds of free fonts or upload your own) and use icons.

3.      Download!

Once you’re done designing your album or playlist cover photo for Spotify, all there’s left to do is to download it.

Remember – it’s all free, so you don’t have to worry about any hidden charges or trials.

To get your design, click on the Download button at the top right corner.

At this point, you can select the format in which you want your file (select JPEG or PNG), the quality, and the size. After specifying those things, hit the second Download button below.

5 Best-Practices to Get Your Spotify Cover Art Right

All in all, it’s easy to create stunning, professional-looking Spotify cover images using Pixelied. With our custom editor, you won’t have to worry about sticking with the recommended Spotify cover art size.

With that out of the way, there are some Spotify-specific tips that you should keep in mind when designing your cover.

Let’s have a look:

1.      Stay Clear of Certain Elements

Spotify gives its users the freedom to express their creativity.

However, keep in mind that there are streamers from all ages, backgrounds, and ethnicities on this platform.

For that reason, there are certain boundaries that all users must respect when putting out content in the wild. They’ve shared those boundaries in their community guidelines.

As far as your cover art is concerned, try NOT include the following elements:

• Sexually Explicit Content – your cover art should not include sexually explicit content. This includes pornographic material and nudity. The actual audio content, however, can be explicit (and may be published with an E tag).
• Violent Content – content that depicts or advocates any kind of violence, threat, offense, or abuse is a no-go.
• Copyright Content – this is a no-brainer. Make sure that you don’t incorporate copyright-protected content in your cover art.

Finally, strive to leave any offensive or defamatory elements out of your art.

Doing so will prevent your content from being banned or flagged.

2.      Align Text (if Any) with the Content

You don’t necessarily have to add any text to your Spotify cover image. It can just be a vague picture with no information.

However, if you do decide to include some text, make sure that it aligns with what the content actually is. In other words, there shouldn’t be any information mismatch.

The goal of the text should be to provide some context to the streamers.

For instance, when it comes to music, the cover art should include:

• Name of the track
• Artist name
• The album/volume

Here’s an album cover art example that checks all of the boxes:

Misleading content can disrupt the experience for your fans. In worst cases, Spotify can even remove your content if a certain number of people report it.

3.      Stay On-Brand

If you’re serious about establishing a strong presence on Spotify, work on your personal branding.

This includes the following elements:

• Font
• Art type
• A logo (and its variants)
• Any other subtle element that helps you stand out

Take Afrojack as an example:

The Dutch music producer and DJ has a logo that you’ll find on all of his artwork.

Of course, we’re no Afrojacks (at least I’m not). But it can certainly help you carve out an identity for yourself in the long-run.

Once you finalize these branding guidelines, make sure that you stick with them, especially when creating cover art.

4.      Use the Right Color Contrast

Great color contrast not only looks good, but also makes your content legible and easy to scan.

Every cover art is different, so there’s not much specific advice to give here. Just mix dark colors with lighter shades, especially if you have some text in there, and you’ll be good.

Here’s an example of a meticulously crafted cover art that mixes a range of shades, while maintaining optimum contrast levels:

Here’s another good example:

5.      Keep it Clean

Last but not least, to make your cover art visually pleasing, don’t over-clutter it.

It can be tempting to include all the information and artwork in the world, but remember, the ideal Spotify cover art size is only 640 x 640. There’s not much room to begin with, so make it count.

Keep in mind that this isn’t a hard and fast rule, and you may choose to do the exact opposite.

How to Update Your Spotify Cover Art

Uploading/Changing your Spotify playlist cover art is easy.

Here’s what you need to do on the web player and the desktop app:

• Hover over the existing image/placeholder for your playlist
• Browse to the location on your device where the PNG/JPG file is stored
• Select and upload it

On the Spotify app, follow these steps:

• Tap the dotted menu at the top of the playlist
• Tap on “Edit”
• Select “Change Image”
• Select the file from your gallery

If your file doesn’t follow the recommended Spotify cover art size, it may get pixelated or some parts of it may get cut off.

Ending Note

Your cover art – whether it’s for a playlist, album, or cover – can tell a lot about your taste and provide some context for your content.

Apart from getting the size right, follow the best-practices to make the most out of your cover art.

Best of luck!

The post What is the Recommended Spotify Cover Art Size? [With Best Practices] appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

Emphasizing on something as trivial as your profile picture may sound weird, but trust me, it matters.

For that reason, in this article, I’ll:

• Share the recommended Twitch profile picture size
• Go over why it’s important to get it right
• Share a quick Twitch size guide
• Walk you through how you can design yours from scratch
• Few profile picture ideas
• Share some additional tips

Let’s get started.

What is the Ideal Twitch Profile Picture Size?

The ideal Twitch profile picture size (also known as your Twitch avatar) is 800 x 800 pixels. This translates to an aspect ratio of 1:1. Like most social media platforms, your profile picture on Twitch needs to be a square (even though it shows up as a circle – more on that later).

The officially recommended dimensions are 256 x 256 pixels. However, sticking with 800 x 800 pixels will result in higher quality and prevent the image from being too large.

Apart from the size, here are some additional guidelines for Twitch profile pictures:

• The image file size must not exceed 10 megabytes
• Images can only be in PNG, JPG, or GIF formats.

Those are the basics.

If you follow those rules, you’re already half-way there.

From here, it’s just about implementing certain best practices that will help make your profile picture even better.

Why It’s Crucial to Get the Twitch Profile Picture Size Right

As mentioned earlier, some people may not give so much thought to their Twitch profile pictures.

But if you’re serious about your Twitch game, you have to get it right.

Why?

Because first impressions matter.

I don’t know about you, but if a channel’s profile picture looks pixelated, doesn’t show the main elements properly, or just looks awkward in general, I’m going to judge them HARD.

The sameprobably goes for a bunch of other users. And then some.

The point is – you want to portray yourself as if you mean business.

Sure, some popular streamers may intentionally make their profile pictures seem a bit (ironically) awkward. Exhibit-A: Shroud.

But that doesn’t mean you have to follow in their footsteps, especially if you’re just starting out.

Build a fan-base first.

A Quick Twitch Size Guide

Getting the Twitch profile picture size right is just one part of the puzzle.

There are a ton of other graphics that go on your Twitch channel, each of which have different recommended dimensions.

Don’t worry – here’s a quick Twitch size guide that you can always refer to whenever you’re in doubt:

• Twitch Profile Banner – your Twitch banner size should ideally be kept at 1,920 x 480 pixels (aspect ratio of 4:1). The image should either be in JPG or PNG, and must not be larger than 10MB in size.
• Twitch Offline Banner Size – also known as “video player banner,” the recommended Twitch offline banner size is 1,920 x 1,080 pixels, which is an aspect ratio of 16:9.
• Twitch Panel Size – these should be kept at 320 x 160 pixels. Panels show up underneath your live streams and can be used to share some information about your stream.
• Twitch Emote Size – ideal Twitch emote size is 112 x 112 pixels (for larger devices). Emotes are custom emojis that you can set on your channel.
• Twitch Video Thumbnails – these should be kept at 1,280 x 720 pixels to avoid having important elements cut out.
• Twitch Overlay – these are graphics that appear during your live streams. These should be kept at 1,920 x 1,080 pixels for best results.

That’s pretty much it.

Stick with those guidelines to set up a coherent, professional-looking channel on Twitch.

Designing the Perfect Twitch Profile Picture with Pixelied [in 4 Easy Steps]

Whether you’re creating a custom image from scratch or just using your headshot, you need to make sure that:

• It’s set at the recommended dimensions
• It follows the other recommended best practices

You can ensure all of the above with Pixelied – an easy-to-use, free online graphic design tool that’s giving sites like Canva, Snappa, PicMonkey, and all the other similar tools a run for their money. You can create stunning, professional-level graphics with simple drag-and-drop features.

Here’s how you can adjust/customize your Twitch profile picture on Pixelied:

1.      Open the Editor

To get started, simply go to our free Pixelied editor.

This will launch the free editor of Pixelied set to the ideal Twitch profile picture size (800 x 800 pixels).

Here’s what it looks like:

Pixelied offers hundreds of ready-to-use templates for various social media designs, including Twitch offline banner templates, panel templates, and more.

However, Pixelied doesn’t have any templates, because Twitch profile pictures are supposed to be 100% unique.

2.      Start Designing

After launching the editor, it’s time to finalize your profile picture from scratch.

There are two things you can try here:

a)      Upload an Image of Your Own

If you have a logo, a headshot, or a custom illustration that you’d like to use as your Twitch profile picture, you can easily upload it to the editor.

This is one of the many features of Pixelied which makes it incredibly easy to customize your designs to your liking.

To upload a file, click on “My Files” in the left panel.

Here, you can upload your files (by either browsing on your device or by dragging and dropping them to the highlighted box).

Once a file has been uploaded, it will show up in the area where it says “No Files!”.

For this tutorial, I’m going to use my custom avatar.

To load up your file on the canvas, double-click on it.

Adjust the picture so that it fits the canvas by dragging it from the corners. To avoid awkwardly stretched-out or compressed designs, Pixelied doesn’t let you change the width and the height of your files separately. Dragging any of the corners will maintain the ratio.

Ideally, the picture you’re using should be in the 1:1 aspect ratio (or very close to it). Otherwise, some parts of it will get cut off.

b)      Use an Available Illustration

If you don’t have a headshot, logo, or illustration of your own, you can pick an illustration from Pixelied’s native library.

To get started, click on “Illustrations” in the toolbar on the left.

Pixelied lets you filter the available illustrations as categories (click on the dropdown menu above where it says “All categories”). From avatars to web designs, there’s a lot of great stuff to work with.

Since we’re designing Twitch profile pictures, it would make sense to use avatars.

Click on any of the avatars that you fancy to load it up on the canvas.

Adjust its size and positioning relative to the canvas.

3.      Add Bells and Whistles (Optional)

If you want, you can further customize your new Twitch profile picture by adding in a few extra bells and whistles.

In addition to the massive library of popping illustrations, it also offers a wide range of elements and shapes.

Remember – you can also upload custom vectors to the editor and add them to your avatar. Furthermore, if you want, you can also customize the background with captivating colors.

The sky is the limit (just make sure it doesn’t look cluttered).

4.      Download Away

When you’re done designing your profile picture, all that’s left to do is to download it.

To do that, click on the Download button at the top right corner of the screen.

Pixelied lets you specify the format (stick with either PNG or JPEG), the quality (with 80 being optimal), and the size you want your image in.

Once you’re done specifying all those things, click on the second download button towards the bottom.

And you’re done!

Tips for Designing Awesome Twitch Profile Pictures

Now that you know the perfect Twitch profile picture size and how to design one, keeping a few tips in mind will make it absolutely perfect.

Let’s take a look:

1.      Mind the Circular Crop

First and foremost, you have to remember that on Twitch, profile pictures show up as circles, like so:

When you upload your profile picture, Twitch will place a circular frame over it and prompt you to zoom-in and adjust.

That’s just a basic rule of modern social media UI design. Profile pictures will always appear as circles, not squares.

With that in mind, make sure that you consider this circular crop when designing your Twitch profile picture.

Make sure that all the elements – whether it’s your headshot, illustration, or some logo – are carefully centered and don’t get cut off.

Here’s an example of a profile picture (of Twitch streamer XcaliburYe) that does it right:

The front angle shot is properly centered. There are no awkward close-ups or cut-offs.

2.      Keep it On-Brand

Another important thing to consider when designing your Twitch profile picture is to keep it on-brand.

This essentially means following a coherent theme across all (or at least most) designs, including your profile banner, offline/video banner, panels, overlays, and thumbnails.

If you’re just using a picture of yourself (like in the example above), wear a shirt that matches the overall theme of your channel.

Similarly, you can also tweak the background of your profile picture that way.

3.      Make it Festive (Change it from Time to Time)

You don’t necessarily have to use the same profile picture throughout the year.

To keep things fresh, you can slightly tweak it based on seasonal themes.

For instance, and this may sound like cliché-city, but you could use Pixelied to add a Santa hat over your avatar around Christmas time, along with some candy canes.

Similarly, some eggs around Eastertime can go a long way towards celebrating the spirit of the holidays. Let that creativity loose.

4.      Don’t Clutter It Up

When designing your Twitch profile picture, make sure to not get carried away and end up with a cluttered design.

You need to leave ample breathing room for other users to make sense of what your profile picture includes. And considering the mandatory circular crop, you don’t have that much room to begin with.

For that reason, only keep what’s necessary.

Unless you can wear a shirt with their logo on it, you don’t have to show your sponsors on your profile picture.

That’s what your profile banner, video banner, and panels are for.

5.      Adhere to Twitch’s Community Guidelines

Last but not least, make sure that you adhere to the community guidelines of Twitch.

Go through all of the guidelines to ensure that you’re not violating any rule which may get you banned.

Twitch has made these guidelines super-explicit, leaving no room for misinterpretations.

How to Change Your Twitch Profile Picture?

With your Twitch profile picture ready-to-go, all that’s left is to update it on your channel.

To do that, follow these easy steps:

• Log in to your Twitch channel.
• On the homepage, click on the icon at the top-right corner to open a dropdown menu.
• On the dropdown menu, click on “Settings.”

• You’ll see the Profile Picture section at the very top of the settings page. Click on “Update Profile Picture” (if you have an existing profile picture) or “Add Profile Picture” (if you’ve yet to upload one on your channel).

• Browse to the location where your profile picture is stored on your device and open it.

Et voila – you just uploaded your new Twitch profile picture.

Wrapping it Up

Your Twitch profile picture, along with your profile banner, are two of the most crucial elements on your channel.

Considering that, you should take extra care when creating and finalizing either one of those assets.

In addition to getting the Twitch profile picture size right, you should also focus on your Twitch username using a Twitch name generator to come up with some interesting and eye-catching names.

And remember – whether you want to create Twitch profile pictures, banners, or panels, you can always use Pixelied.

The post What is the Ideal Twitch Profile Picture Size? [+Tips & Examples] appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

Imagine a doormat the size of a tic tac on your porch. It’s so small that you can actually see the individual threads being spread open. That’s what happens when you upload an image that is too small as your Shopify store’s cover.

The same is true if it’s a large, high-resolution image. When compressed, large images become too dense (or may not even upload).

After you’ve chosen an image, it’s important that you resize it as well so as to make it more user-friendly and compatible with your online store page.

In this post, we’ll look at the importance of product image sizes, the ideal image optimization specs for Shopify, as well as how to resize images for the site.

Let’s get into it.

What are the Ideal Shopify Image Sizes?

The ideal Shopify image sizes are 2048 x 2048 pixels (square product photos). However, Shopify image sizes can go up to 4472 x 4472 pixels but it’s not recommended.

When choosing the right product images for Shopify, it’s important to consider the width of the image first, followed by the height.

This is because when you upload an image that isn’t wide enough, Shopify automatically stretches it out to make sure it fills the placeholder.

This might lead to a pixelated photo on your homage.

On the other hand, if you upload a photo that’s too wide, Shopify will compress it and ruin the image’s aspect ratio.

When looking for a product image to upload, make sure it’s large enough for users to zoom in without pixelating. At the same time, it shouldn’t be such a large file size that it increases load times.

It is important to mention that each platform such as Amazon product images has its own size dimensions and guidelines.

Other Rules for Shopify Image Sizes

In order to let your audience zoom into your image, you need to keep your image above 800 x 800 pixels.

You can’t upload a product image larger than 20 MB, but we don’t recommend going above the 10MB mark anyway.

The best image you can upload on your website ranges from a few KBs to a maximum of 3.4 to 3.7 MB.

You should try to make a point of keeping your images no less than 72 ppi or preferably over 100 ppi.

Here’s a table that should give you a good idea of how large your Shopify image sizes must be for their respective purposes.

That said, you might look at an image and see how it’s not as sharp or good quality as when it’s on the phone screen.

In this case, you will need to scale the image or optimize it.

Before you do, though, make sure you know the scaling vs resizing difference.

Design Awesome Images Using Shopify Image Sizes on Pixelied

There are a ton of tools that you can use to refine and design product images according to the Shopify theme.

These include Photoshop, Canva, and more.

However, almost all of them require training and experience in photo manipulation for you to be able to use them.

Pixelied is a user-friendly alternative to all these tools and software with a humanistic layout.

Everything is laid out right in front of you – from the smallest of tools, all the way to important information you need to edit the image.

You don’t need any training to master Pixelied, either.

Here’s a detailed outline of what you need to do to create, design, and optimize your product image.

Step 1: Head Over to the Editor

To get started, simply head over to our free editor.

In the left sidebar, you can go through all the eCommerce hero image templates that are ready to use and customize.

On the left, you have a selection of templates to choose from.

You can also search for something specific or change the category via the drop-down menu.

Click on a template. It should load immediately.

At the top you will have the details about your product image, specifically:

• Background color, borders, shadows, and opacity
• Alignment, layers, and positioning options
• Size, flip, and lock options

And more.

Select any element in the template to enable these buttons.

Once you click an element, you may see more or fewer options as well. Hover your mouse over the eyedropper button to see what it does.

Step 2: Design Away

Now that you know the ins and outs of the editor, it is time to start designing something on your own.

Let’s say you want to create an image for motorcycle decals.

Select an appropriate template.

You can change the color scheme if you want by simply clicking on the blend thumbnail on your left and choosing a blend of your liking, as shown below.

To edit the text, double-click the placeholder.

Click on any element and you’ll see a handle protrude upwards. Click on it to tilt the image or simply drag and drop the same to move it around.

You can add more text or replace the image, as well as change the background, color schemes, and much more to come up with the final image.

The sky’s the limit when it comes to customizing your custom image.

Now, zoom out with the help of the button at the bottom.

You will be able to resize the whole image from here.

This is where you can change your background’s orientation and size from. Make tweaks and finalize the image before moving on.

Step 3: Download Using Shopify Image Sizes

Once you have finalized your design, click on the Download button at the top right corner.

You will see a dropdown that lets you choose the file type (image format) (jpg, png, webp, and more), quality, and size of the image you just designed. 80% or even sliding it down to 50% or 40% would be enough to maintain Shopify image sizes.

By choosing the quality, you are simply scaling the image down, not ruining the pixels or ppi. It actually has a direct bearing on the file size as well.

Tips When Designing and Using Shopify Images

Shopify images are a vital part of marketing design.

That’s all the more reason to do it right.

Ideal Shopify image sizes aside, here are some actionable tips to help you design awesome images:

1.     Make Sure Your Product is Visible

All eyes should be on your product. This is actually a very common mistake designers make – adding too many elements into the mix and effectively distracting the viewers.

The product photo should be exactly that, a PRODUCT photo.

You can include contrast elements to highlight your product as shown in the screenshot below.

Or, if you want to match the product’s color with the background, you can choose to keep the poster clutter-free as shown below.

As you can see, it includes all the information one might need but the watch is still the highlight.

2.     Ensure That the Color Goes with Your Brand Guidelines

The two examples above both have different designs, are different types of images, and showcase a different group of products.

However, what they both have in common is that they match the brand color.

Anne Klein, for instance, follows a black aesthetic. However, that’s just the brand.

Of course, there are watches of different colors. However, you will find that almost every product image, Facebook ad, and thumbnail follows the same branding principle.

The text overlay offers some flexibility.

That’s what the template uses to match the watch’s undertones.

3.     Use Different Images Showing Your Product from Different Angles

When creating the perfect Shopify image for your product, it is a good idea to show the product from different angles – but in different images.

Showcasing the same product over and over again in the same image, albeit from different angles, introduces clutter.

And as you continue to add more and more elements into the mix, you will inevitably increase the file size as well.

You’ll have to scale it down later on.

If you are trying to showcase a group of products, you don’t have to name all of them. You can actually add a couple of them as shown in the image below.

The main objective you should keep in mind is that under no circumstances should there be any clutter on your product or banner images.

4.     Compress the File Size of Your Images

Once you’ve finalized the design, you will need to compress the file size of your image to minimize loading times, all while making sure the product image stays high-quality.

This is known as image optimization.

Pixelied lets you change the image size and quality of the image before you download it.

It also lets you choose the format.

For example, you can choose JPEG and download it by choosing a 5x image size and 10’ image quality, or 1x image size with 5-8’ image quality.

While the former is suitable for printing, the latter is geared towards Facebook Ads, Shopify, your website, and other online platforms where loading time is important.

5.     Always Test Your Image

After you’ve downloaded the image and added it to your website, don’t forget to test the image loading speed and visual quality.

First, conduct a visual inspection. Load the page and see if it loads properly. Inspect the borders and then move in to make sure the alignment with headers is perfect.

Make sure the image isn’t pixelated. Try zooming in to see how far you can go.

Next comes the loading time.

Usually, the uploading time itself gives you a hint of how long it will take to download the image every time a new visitor comes to your store.

On average, it takes seven times longer to upload an image than download it.

However, there is a better way to know for sure where you stand:

• Load your page.
• Press Ctrl + Shift + C.
• The console will open.

• Click on the Network.

• Press Ctrl + Shift + R to hard reset your page.

You will see in red (or green) the loading time of your page along with other important metrics. The recommended page loading time is under 2 seconds.

Final Thoughts

Ideal Shopify image sizes aside, there’s a lot that goes into designing an effective visual. This includes picture quality, good copy, and an overall reliable presence.

However, at the end of the day, the goal is to improve user experience, and Pixelied can definitely help get the visual aspect down.

Use Pixelied to get the right-sized and perfectly designed images FOR FREE today and give your store the edge it needs.

The post Shopify Image Sizes: What’s Recommended? [2021 Guide] appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

No, for real – Star Wars references aside, over the last decade, the field of graphic design has become extremely advanced and competitive.

From website backgrounds, social media graphics, and infographics all the way to bespoke emails, invitations, brochures, and more, there’s a lot that graphic designers have to worry about.

Needless to say, your job as a graphic designer is versatile.

You need to find the perfect font, scale it, align different elements, find the perfect balance in what you’re creating and know when to quit.

If that sounds kind of overwhelming, keep reading. In this article, we’ll discuss 25 graphic design tips that both non-designers and experts can benefit from regardless of what they are looking to design and the software they are using (Photoshop, InDesign, Canva, and more).

Let’s dive in.

Graphic Design Tips for Beginners

If you’ve recently started your career in graphic designing, these expert tips will definitely come in handy:

1.    Keep Ample White Space

It is a common misconception that more elements and a vibrant color palette mean a more attractive design. I can tell you that this isn’t the case.

Also known as negative space, empty white space can actually enhance the subject without being too overt. As per the psychology of color, white space presents the mind with less clutter to focus on, letting it quickly identify the message you’re trying to send.

That’s part of the reason why we’re intrigued by minimalist posters so much.

2.    Stick with a Limited Number of Fonts

There are more than 550,000 font styles out there, but that doesn’t mean that you have to use each and every one of them. This is particularly the case if you’re working with a content marketing specialist or designer who is looking to create a brand.

Here are some awesome places where you can find free fonts:

• Creative Market
• FontSpace
• FontFreak
• Behance
• org
• Font Squirrel
• DaFont
• Fontstruct
• 1001FreeFonts
• Artill

Furthermore, make sure that you organize your fonts properly. I recommend using a font manager app like Suitcase Fusion or RightFont.

3.    Mix Up the Size of Your Font

The human mind has a way of identifying a certain letter or word that’s out of place.

See how out of place the word “letter” looks above? It’s only 1 size larger than the rest.

Try experimenting with the font size, weight, and different fonts to enhance your design. Here’s another good example:

You can also go one step further and craft your entire design using nothing but typography.

4.    Leverage Templates

Templates get a bad rep among high-level professional designers. The primary reason for that is that people often use the templates without even tweaking them or putting in any original thought.

But, believe it or not, one of the best beginner’s graphic design tips I can give you is this – use those templates to your advantage.

Just don’t outright plagiarize. Use them to create something unique.

For instance, you can create stunning, completely original designs with Pixelied in a matter of minutes, thanks to its vast library of templates.

You can customize them to your needs from head to toe thanks to the myriad of free tools you have at your disposal in the sidebar. To get started, head over to our free editor.

The sidebar also allows you to switch between different templates with just one click – and that’s the extent of it. You can also copy elements from one template to another. As an example, consider this template:

I’ve copied the image to another template and now I have something new entirely:

This type of customizability lets you craft custom, bespoke, and on-point templates without having to complete designer courses or spend years trying to master the craft.

Try it today. It’s 100% free!

5.    Look for Feedback

Feedback – whether it’s from a co-worker, customer, or friend is a designer’s most powerful tool.

Remember, as an artist, you will most likely not know when you are crossing the line or when you haven’t done enough. Discuss your project with those around and ask for their insights. However, it is important that you don’t try to please everyone at the same time.

6.    Keep Your Designs Simple

Simple designs stand out – and that’s a fact.

The more elements you keep on adding, the more distracting your design will start to become.

When designing, consider what’s more important; your subject matter or the extra design elements you add?

Keep it simple and cohesive.

7.     “Plan Out” Your Design Before You Begin

When asked, many artists and designers agree that one of the most difficult part of designing anything is knowing when to stop.

Right after that (in terms of difficulty) is how to start.

This issue arises only when designers start designing without any plan. I recommend you create a rough sketch or doodle before beginning.

8.    Replicate Designs to Flex Your Muscles

I recommend you find something that inspires you and try to develop it from scratch. In the first go, try to replicate it and then try to add your own elements to create something of your own.

This will help you flex your muscles, get inspiration, and start taking different creative angles with your designs.

Graphic Design Tips for Novices

Okay – let’s take things up a notch now.

This next set of graphic design tips are a tad bit advanced and targeted to mid-level designers:

9.    Keep Alignment in Mind

Even some experienced designers often forget the most crucial element when designing something – symmetry.

It is important to keep your text aligned with other elements in your design.

Use the grid tool to ensure that everything is aligned (a common graphic design tool found in most software).

10.  Adjust Brightness to Make Text Readable

When designing a brochure, social media post, or anything that needs to be eye-catching, you might be tempted to make it way too bright. Don’t do that – especially if you’re going to include some text.

Try to adjust the brightness of your background so that your text stands out, not your background. 

Higher readability equals a better user experience so make sure to create appropriately readable designs.

11.  Create a Colour Palette

Maintain a specific color palette throughout a design. Remember, your designs will have a direct impact on your or your client’s brand – so maintain consistency when you use color.

Take a look at this intuitive website as an example. If you scroll down through the different sections, you’ll see that the images and graphics they use all stick within a color palette that is pleasing to the eye and mixes well with other elements on the site.

You’d want to replicate this in how you create your graphics.

Some tools to create and manage your own color palette include:

1. Adobe Color CC
2. Coolors
3. Color Tool
4. ColorSpace
5. Khroma

You can also design a digital color wheel for even better color combination guidance during the design process.

12.  Incorporate Contrasting Colours

Contrast is the best tool designers have at hand when looking to differentiate between two (or more) subjects.

Look at the image above and see how the contrasting color combinations separate the elements on it.

Contrast is a much more powerful tool than color differentiation, so use it wisely!

13.  Seek Inspiration

As you continue to sharpen your graphic design skills, it’s important to seek design inspiration to keep those original ideas coming.

Think of inspiration as a fuel that helps you consistently move forward and produce masterpiece after masterpiece.

Follow your favorite graphic designers on Dribbble and Behance, and pin tutorials you like on Pinterest.

14.  Incorporate Icons

You know how they say an image can speak a thousand words? Well, icons can be so much better.

Before your audience reads, they see. To make your designs more enticing, use icons.

On Pixelied, you get access to a wide range of icons sourced directly from Iconfinder and Svgrepo.

However, use icons with tact. Overusing icons can actually be counterproductive and send the wrong message.

15.  Incorporate Frames and Grids

As mentioned above, symmetry is one of the most important elements of any design. It doesn’t have to be a disciplined symmetry, but can be chaotic as well.

And the best way to achieve this symmetry is to align images within the design with frames and grids for optimal spacing and visual uniformity.

16.  Don’t Forget Your Audience

At the end of the day, the most important element in any great design is the audience.

When designing, remember the old adage, “true beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.” 

Regardless of whether you’re designing a simple blog post header or a detailed website template, design from your heart, but do so for your audience.

17.  Maintain Visual Hierarchy

There is a hierarchy present in any message you are looking to convey – no matter the medium. Take the design above as an example.

Certain elements are more important than others and should be highlighted whether with a contrasting color scheme or differentiated font sizes.

Graphic Design Tips for Experts

And now, for the experts. Here are some graphic design tips for pros, by the pros:

18.  Create a Mood Board

If you already haven’t, I highly recommend creating a mood board.

A mood board is a collage/arrangement of various visuals (images, paintings, illustrations, posters, typefaces, graphic elements, text, etc.) that convey the feel or the general idea of what you’re trying to design.

With a mood board, you can ensure consistency and never run out of inspiration.

You can have more than one mood board.

19.  Leverage Flat Designs

Today, the best design is minimalistic and streamlined, instead of complicated and chaotic.

Use that to your advantage. You will have to go the whole nine yards for these illustrations, but they are well worth the effort in the end.

20.  Use a Productivity Tool

These tools can not only help you manage your workflow but also help you enhance it. Try to incorporate them into the mix to enhance your productivity and aid your design process.

What separates an expert graphic designer from a novice or a beginner is how efficiently they manage their resources.

Some recommended tools include Trello, Magnet, and Toggl.

21.  Play with Transparency

Transparency is something that can make or break your design. If you still aren’t comfortable with the use of transparent hues, silhouettes, shapes, and more, now is the time to start practicing.

It offers complexity beyond words and really adds to the aesthetic appeal – if done right.

22.  Don’t be Afraid to Go Against the Rules

You are now at a point where you can actually define the rules. Your experience means that you can now get away with even the riskiest ventures out there.

Take risks – but do so with tact. Always keep a buffer. This is where feedback is most important.

23.  Keep the Dimensions in Mind

This may sound like basic advice, but make sure that you stick with the recommended/ideal dimensions – especially when creating social media design.

For instance, the recommended Twitch offline banner size is different from the ideal Twitch banner size. Make sure you get those dimensions right.

24.  Keep Individual Designs Consistent

One rule of thumb that you must always maintain, even when going against the rules, is that of consistency.

Never underestimate the constructive abilities of consistent design and the destructive potential of even good design that doesn’t maintain consistency. Think of consistency as the two-dimensional version of the word symmetry.

25.  Switch Styles from Time to Time to Mix Things Up

Finally, consider switching styles from time to time and mixing your own design elements up to get the most out of your skills and diversify your design portfolio.

This will help you sharpen your skills and reach whole new heights in your career.

Conclusion

As mentioned before, graphic designing – or any other creative field, for that matter – demands continuous learning for professional growth.

No matter where you are in your career, you can always get better. Implement those tips to move the needle and get to the next level.

If you are ever short on time or simply need design templates that you can practice your skills on, to get inspiration, or use it professionally as well, you can always use Pixelied.

The post 25 Graphic Design Tips for Beginners, Pros, & Experts appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

Putting a book (or hundreds of them) inside a handheld device was a revolutionary idea.

So it’s easy to imagine why the concept of e-books became so popular.

In fact, the total revenue from eBooks is estimated to reach $15.6 million in 2021.

All that said, on the writer’s side, it can be a mess trying to figure out the aesthetic side of things.

To help you get over the eBook cover hurdle, in this article, we’ll go over the right way to design an eBook cover, as well as determine what the ideal size should be.

Let’s get right into it.

What Exactly is an eBook Cover?

An eBook is exactly what it sounds like – a digital book.

Websites like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Wattpad, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Bookbaby, and LULU are all online libraries where you can find millions of eBooks.

Think of the cover as a thumbnail for your eBook.

It’s the first image that viewers see as they scroll through these sites, and acts just like the front cover of a print book.

It is important to have a captivating eBook cover.

With so many other titles in a similar genre available on the internet, you need stunning visuals to attract an audience to your eBook.

What’s the Ideal eBook Cover Size?

The ideal eBook cover size is 1,600 x 2,650 pixels. These dimensions give a height/width ratio of 1.6:1. They’re ideal as they ensure the best quality for your cover image.

While eBook publishing sites have different requirements for cover sizes, the general rule for an eBook cover is for its height to be around 1.6 times greater than its width.

This aspect ratio keeps your eBook cover art intact, without being stretched out, cropped, or distorted in any way.

Many publishing sites require eBook cover sizes to be at least 1,400 px wide, while some are more specific.

With differing requirements across eBook platforms, maintaining a 1.6:1 ratio is necessary so that your cover design looks the same when it is uploaded.

Recommended Best Practices

Your eBook cover resolution is also an important factor to be kept in mind.

Using high resolution (300 dpi) is recommended. It’s useful when you want to print your eBook.

However, 72 dpi is normally the minimum requirement for an eBook cover.

Other practices we recommend you follow when designing your eBook cover are:

•        Stick to a JPEG or PNG format (although TIFF is also accepted by KDP)
•        Try to keep your cover image file size below 50MB
•        Images should have a minimum resolution of 300 ppi (pixels per inch)
•        Your eBook color profile should follow the RGB (red, green, blue) color profile – the CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) color model is not accepted by eBook publishing websites and retailers

It is important to stick to these guidelines when formatting your eBook cover to ensure it attracts more e-readers.

Why Bother Creating an eBook Cover?

You may be thinking why you should bother getting into the specifics of eBook cover design and formatting.

And besides – we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, right?

Well, believe it or not, an eBook cover is an important aspect of your publication.

It serves as the first glimpse of the genre and style of your book. It sets the tone and the viewer can often accurately assume what to expect from the book.

In short, it’s a medium that tells us whether the book we’re looking to spend our time and money on is worth it.

So apparently, we do judge (e)books by their cover.

An eBook with a cover will help viewers decide whether they are interested in the way the author will narrate the story.

Although reading involves a highly imaginative process, a book cover reflects the author’s perception of the story.

Think about this. What if you across an eBook without a cover?

How likely are you to view an eBook with a catchy title and no cover design, among the thousand others which have equally catchy titles paired with an eye-capturing book design?

I’m guessing your answer is, not very likely.

If you want the highest number of readers and revenue – making an eBook cover is an excellent place to start.

How to Create an eBook Cover in Four Easy Steps

With so much importance weighing on the look of your eBook cover, designing one can seem like a pretty daunting task.

Where do you start? How do you go about it? Most importantly, what tool do you use to design one?

This is where Pixelied comes in.

Experienced or not, Pixelied is the only online graphic design tool you need to whip up some stunning visuals for your eBook cover.

An alternate to tools such as Photoshop, it comes stacked with customizable eBook cover templates and presets that meet all your graphic design needs.

There’s something for every eBook.

Let’s walk through how you can design your own eBook cover on Pixelied, right now.

Step One – Launch the Pixelied Editor

To begin, head on over to our free editor.

This will directly lead you to the following page. You’ll see the eBook cover size is already set to the recommended cover dimensions – Pixelied has done the heavy lifting for you.

You’ll be looking at a screen like the one shown below.

The blank white area is where your design will come to life. The toolbars on the left and above the white area will provide you with the necessary instruments to design your eBook cover exactly how you want it.

The first thing you’ll notice is the free templates that you can choose from to start your design.

The toolbars house several important editing options you can use in your covers, such as fun illustrations, different forms of typography, and many icons.

Let’s take a closer look at these tools as we start designing our eBook cover.

Step Two – Choose an eBook Cover Template

Pixelied offers a wide variety of templates to choose from for all kinds of online content.

This is an awesome feature especially useful for those who have little experience in graphic design.

A template sets the foundation for your design. Once you have that, then comes the fun (read, easy) part of tweaking the design to your liking.

You can select a category from the drop-down menu in the Templates section on the left toolbar, or type it in the search bar.

You’ll be presented with an expansive selection of stunning eBook cover templates.

These cover a wide range of themes, styles, and moods, meaning there is a template for every kind of book.

Pixelied has templates for categories including eBooks, Wattpad covers, and Amazon Kindles.

All of these categories have the same dimension, so you don’t have to worry about manually adjusting the size for each category.

Select the eBook cover template of your choice, keeping in mind the genre, tone, and personality of your eBook.

Step Three – Add Relevant Assets to the Design

Now that you’ve picked your template, it’s time to adjust it to how you want it.

The toolbar on the left gives you options to add eye-capturing design elements.

These include:

•        Access to a large library of high-resolution stock images
•        Customizable, creative text layouts
•        A variety of illustrations
•        Mockups of your design on different device layouts (iPads, tablets, mobile screens, etc)
•        Brand presents
•        Elements like shapes, arrows, and speech bubbles
•        Logos and social media icons
•        Blend – offers many design color combinations (also customizable)

The built-in search bar is extremely handy.

This feature allows you to find exactly the kind of images you’re looking for. Even by typing in words like ‘simple’, you’ll be shown some great stock images provided by Unsplash and Pixabay.

The Pixelied editor has another toolbar located above the design you’re working on.

This section has all the necessary apparatus to help you position, size, and adjust the assets you pick for your eBook cover.

These tools allow you to make tweaks in:

•        Background color
•        Border
•        Shadow
•        Opacity
•        Alignment
•        Layers
•        Flip
•        Lock
•        Duplicate
•        Delete

Selecting any text on your design reveals more options and tools you can utilize to modify it.

Having options like these with regards to the assets you add to your eBook cover can make all the difference in creating an eye-catching cover.

Step Four – Download Your New eBook Cover

When you’re happy with the eBook cover you just designed (wasn’t that easy!?), it’s time to download your masterpiece.

Move your cursor to the Download button on the corner right of the editor, and click it.

After doing so, you’ll be given the following options:

Clicking the drop-down button under Choose a format will show the list of available format options:

•        JPG
•        PNG
•        PNG Transparent
•        SVG (Beta)
•        WEBP
•        WEBP Transparent

The rule of thumb is to choose the PNG format for graphics, and JPG formats for actual photos.

Picking the relevant format for a file maintains its high quality.

How to Upload Your eBook Cover?

Now that you have your stunning eBook cover hot off the editor, you’re ready to upload it. The uploading process varies for several websites.

You generally begin with selecting the manuscript you have uploaded, heading over to Cover settings, and choosing the cover you have just designed.

Below, we’ve listed some step-by-step instructions specific to the most popular eBook publishing websites.

When uploading an eBook cover on Amazon’s KDP, follow these steps:

•        Go to Bookshelf
•        Click the three dots (“…”) under Kindle eBook Actions on the book cover you want to add
•        Scroll to the Cover section and choose Launch Cover Creator or Upload your Cover File

To see your eBook cover, head over to “Kindle eBook Preview” or “Book Preview” section and click Launch Previewer.

Once you’ve made sure everything is in order, click Save and Continue.

The way to do it for Barnes & Nobles is to register and click on Create New Project.

From there:

•        Give your Project a name, click Create My Project, and you will be redirected to a screen with tasks listed on the left.
•        One of these tasks is Cover Image. Click on this button, and you will see a button saying Choose a file to upload…
•        Click on it, choose your eBook cover file, and click Upload Cover Image

By following these steps, you’ll have a new eBook cover that you designed yourself.

Bottom Line

It is vital that your eBook cover size falls within the recommended size and aspect ratio.

Apart from the recommended eBook cover image size, other practices to bear in mind are the cover’s image formats, the color profile, as well as the image resolution (dpi and ppi).

By paying close attention to these practices, you will reap the benefits of a stunning eBook cover design with minimal hassle.

The post What is an Ideal eBook Cover Size? [With Best Practices] appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

The very first thing a visitor will see after landing on your group page is the group cover photo. Hence, it’s crucial that it stands out.

A cover photo is more than “just a picture” – it captures the essence of your group’s purpose and tone. On that note, a Facebook group page cover photo should be captivating, clear, and most importantly – the right image size.

Whether you’re a marketer, blogger, or business owner doing social media marketing yourself, keep reading.

In this article, I’ll share key information about all of the above, including the ideal Facebook group cover photo size, along with some useful tips on how you can design impressive group covers.

Let’s get started.

What is the Recommended Facebook Group Cover Photo Size?

The ideal Facebook group cover photo size is 1,640 x 856 pixels. This recommended size gives an aspect ratio of 1.91:1, which ensures that your group cover photo will be fully visible.

In other words, by sticking to these cover photo dimensions, you won’t have to deal with Facebook cropping out any copy or other elements you include in your photo.

Here’s an example of what your group cover photo may end up looking like if you don’t choose the right size dimensions, leaving it to Facebook to crop the image to the allowed specifications.

That’s not the result we’re looking for.

Picking the optimal group cover photo size is crucial if you want to make a positive impression on your audience and create something new from scratch.

In the past, Facebook has had the frequent itch of changing its group cover photo size specification every year. However, this year they’ve modified it to a ratio that functions as a one-size-fits-all feature.

Uploading a Facebook group cover photo with the dimensions mentioned above will display the design as you made it, on any device.

Why It’s Important to Get the Facebook Group Cover Photo Size Right

What’s the big deal about Facebook group covers anyway? Why bother making sure it fits right when everyone knows Facebook has the habit of cropping images beyond repair?

A Facebook group cover image is the first thing viewers see when they land on your group page. If you’re hoping to make a good impression on potential clients/leads/users and you’re looking for more members to join in – it’s pretty important. It’s a bit different from the cover photo on your personal Facebook profile.

Furthermore, it can help you stand out from competitor groups on the social network.

When people see you put in efforts towards making your Facebook business page or group, it shows that you’re dedicated and professional. And if designed right, the group cover photo can act as a visual summary of your group.

Anyone who can tell what your group is about by simply looking at your group cover photo is more likely to join, than someone who has to dig for any information that was potentially cropped off (or not even included in the first place).

How to Design an Awesome Facebook Group Cover Photo?

Creating an original cover photo that accurately represents the essence and purpose of your Facebook group (or Facebook page, for that matter), is an excellent way to increase the number of members, drive engagement, and connect with your audience.

However, it can be a bit challenging, especially for those with little or no experience with graphic designing.

Luckily, there’s a solution – Pixelied, a great alternative to Photoshop and sites like Canva.

By using simple drag-and-drop features, you can whip up high-quality designs with minimal effort.

Here’s a quick 3-step tutorial:

Step 1: Open the Editor and Select a Template

Head over to our free editor where you can begin designing your Facebook group cover photo.

If you follow the link above, you’ll see that the canvas is automatically set to the recommended Facebook group cover photo size (1,640 x 856 px).

Furthermore, Pixelied has a wide variety of free Facebook group cover templates to choose from, which you can access from the menu bar on the left.

The editor link above already has Facebook cover photo templates locked and loaded.

Select any of the ready-to-use templates you’d like to start off with.

Step 2: Start Designing

Once you’ve selected the template of your choice, you can start designing the perfect Facebook group cover photo.

Pixelied is a highly flexible and intuitive tool. You’ve got the reigns and you make the decisions.

For this demonstration, let’s begin our design by working with this template.

We offer a variety of tools that you can use to really elevate your design.

On the toolbar to the left-hand side of your workspace, you can access features such as the Text tool, Images (stock photos sourced from Unsplash and Pixabay), Illustrations, Elements, and social media icons.

The toolbar above the canvas also has a bunch of free tools that you can use. These include size adjustment/resize, color, and element/layer reposition feature.

Add-on graphics may seem insignificant but can add personality to a flat image that you’ve designed. Here’s exhibit-A:

Remember, this is your cover photo, and you decide how it looks.

One thing we’ll suggest you do is to keep your design simple and clean. Avoid clutter, so your viewers can concentrate on the prime subject of your group.

Step 3: Download

Once you feel your design is good to go, it’s time to download it.

Move your cursor to the Download button on the corner right of the free editor, and click it.

Here, you decide the format you want to download your image in (PNG or JPG). Additionally, you can also specify the file size.

It is recommended to download graphics as PNG files. This allows the image to maintain its quality and resolution even after Facebook compresses it whilst being uploaded as your group cover photo.

And that’s it.

It’s that simple to design your own Facebook group cover photo from scratch. Try it yourself!

Tips for Designing a Captivating Facebook Group Cover Photo

In this section, we’ll share some different design/platform-specific tips to create an awesome Facebook group cover photo:

1.      Maintain the Overall Theme of the Group

This group theme feature lets you select a primary color for the background and buttons of your group.

This may sound insignificant, but smartly pairing a group theme with the group cover photo really pulls the look of the group together.

It’s good practice to design a Facebook group cover photo while bearing in the mind the overall theme you want your group to have.

You can select your group theme by following these steps:

• After selecting your group from your News Feed, click Settings in the left menu.
• Next to Group Color, click the downwards-facing arrow.
• Select the color of your liking (or click your cover photo image to get a custom color).

• Click Save/Apply Color.

It’s as simple as that.

Only group admins can change the Facebook group color theme.

2.      Take Mobile into Account

The layout you see on a desktop screen will naturally differ from that on a mobile screen.

Because of this difference, it’s vital to keep the mobile layout into account when designing your group cover photo. The image will be slightly cut off more on mobile devices.

The emphasis on the mobile layout is massive, given that in 2020, 98% of all active user accounts worldwide accessed Facebook on their mobile devices.

Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of uploading a separate group cover photo on a mobile than that on the Facebook desktop browser.

Cover photos have a wider aspect ratio on the desktop, while they’re taller on a mobile device.

This helpful image shows you how Facebook crops its group cover photos on different devices.

Keeping this in mind, it’s smart not to let important text, logos, or social media handles trail onto the extreme sides of your cover photos. Try moving these a bit toward the centre of the image. Think of it as the safe zone.

Other elements, like patterns and shapes can be situated near the edges.

3.      Ensure Everything is Visible

When designing a Facebook group cover photo, it can be easy to misjudge the appropriate size of all the elements present in your image.

When you’re designing a group cover photo, you are being shown the full-sized image on the large screen you are working on.

But viewers see the Facebook group cover photo in a smaller size, as it only takes up a small, horizontal section of the group page.

It is important to remember this change in size when you choose how to size each element in your cover image. This includes the copy and its font and smaller elements, like any social media icons and decorative shapes. Here’s a good example:

To ensure all these elements are appropriately sized, pay attention to how their size compares to other elements on the image, and how much space they take up.

You can try zooming out in the Editor to see how the cover photo would look when scaled down.

4.      Leave Ample Whitespace

Design isn’t just about what you add. It’s equally (if not more) about what you leave out.

Whitespace is the area between design elements in any graphic or image.

To design a group cover photo that effectively encompasses the purpose of your group, leaving sufficient whitespace brings focus to what’s really important in the image.

This is a great example of what leaving whitespace can do for your image. Your eyes are immediately directed to the header, and what the brand vision is.

Don’t be afraid to leave out empty space – in fact, we encourage that you do leave it out.

Clear, concise, and clean is the way to go.

If your Facebook group cover photo has too much going on, you give viewers the impression of having trouble identifying the key concept, tone, and brand of your group.

Here’s another example of a Facebook group cover photo done right:

It’s clean. It’s minimal. It looks awesome!

5.      Align Your Group Cover Photo with the Content

As mentioned above, a Facebook group cover photo acts as a visual representation of what your group is all about.

In the cover photo examples above, we can tell just by looking at the image what the purpose of the group is.

The tutoring cover photo probably belongs to an academic group, where tutors interact with students or share extra resources to help facilitate their learning.

Here’s another example of a cover photo for a Facebook group called “Women of Impact,” which shows women from different ethnicities:

Similarly, it wouldn’t make much sense to use an image of someone kayaking as a group cover photo for a travel agency that specifically focuses on trekking trips in mountainous regions.

Keep in mind exactly what you’re offering and who your target audience is when you’re designing your Facebook group cover photo.

It also helps to establish your group’s tone of voice – whether you want to come across as passionate, scientific, helpful, or relatable is reflected in the way you address your audience in captions, comment replies, and inbox inquires.

Your tone of voice should reflect in your group cover photo, as it will help your audience learn more about the group.

Ending Note

Your Facebook group cover photo is the first thing viewers will notice, so it is imperative that is captivating and clear. In fact, this applies to all forms of social media design.

This is especially important if you’re running a Facebook group that’s tied with your business. The cover photo will form your potential customers’ and clients’ first impressions of your brand.

We’ve laid out the technicalities for you and explained what you can do to avoid rookie mistakes. You know the ideal Facebook group cover photo size, and what you should keep in mind when crafting one from scratch.

But when it comes to the actual design – that’s on you.

Spend time understanding what your Facebook group’s purpose is, how you want to it to be seen as, and think of some key attributes you want viewers to remember about it.

Then use that condensed information and reflect it in your design.

And remember – with Pixelied, the actual designing process is a piece of cake!

The post What is the Ideal Facebook Group Cover Photo Size? [With Tips] appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

Like a great, captivating title, a captivating featured image can drive more people to click on your page.

To that end, picking the right size for your article’s feature image is crucial, as it affects the look and performance of your website.

Apart from sizing, this article will clear up any confusions you may have regarding featured images and give you some insight into how you can design your own featured image.

Let’s get started.

What is the Recommended WordPress Featured Image Size?

The recommended size for a WordPress featured image is considered to be 1200 x 600 pixels. These dimensions work effectively for most blog formats and layouts.

Sticking to this image size will prevent any graphics you choose to incorporate in your blog from looking blurry or pixelated. This will also maintain a good level of functionality and performance of your website.

What’s the Point of a WordPress Featured Image?

Why do you even need a featured image?

As described earlier, a featured image works as a thumbnail image for any blog post type.

Adding a featured image to your blog post gives it a visual representation, which users can see to decide whether the article is relevant to what they’re looking for.

A relevant, high quality original image has the power to attract more visits to a website, landing page, or blog post.

It can also increase reader engagement, as well as the likelihood that people share a blog post.

What’s more – search engines can display these featured images in search results, which increases blog reach and the number of blog visits.

Apart from all the measurable benefits that a WordPress featured image adds to your blog post, it also makes the posts more visually pleasing.

A piece of writing that’s full of words with no visuals or graphics is an inefficient way of encouraging people to reading blog posts and website articles.

An example of this would be this blog post made by TransparentLabs

It includes using a featured image at the very start with the appropriate image of a woman with the product they’re marketing. 

It sets the tone for the rest of the article that focuses on selling pre-supplement workouts.

This is something that you can take full advantage of when it comes to making your own blog posts to establish the reader on the rest of the article through the use of an image.

How to Set a Featured Image in WordPress

When on WordPress, scroll down on the tool bar on the right of your post until you find a section labelled ‘Featured Image.’

Clicking on ‘Set featured image’ will open up a pop-up window.

From here, you can select the image file you’ve chosen.

Once selected, your image will be displayed under the ‘Featured Image’ section of the toolbar.

How to Set Custom WordPress Image Sizes

When uploading an image onto WordPress, the software processes this image and provides users with some default image sizes (thumbnail, medium, and large).

These different sizes give users ease to select what they desire in different sections of the post.

You have the option for selecting images and their dimensions for thumbnail size, medium size, and large size images in ‘Media Settings’.

You can edit these image settings after uploading your media.

However, sometimes you may want to add images with custom sizes, such as when you’re adding new widgets to your website.

To do this, you’ll have to edit your website code.

Be sure to have a backup before proceeding with the following steps.

If you’re unsure about copying and pasting code snippets onto the WordPress site, we recommend you go through some tutorials on how to do so.

Step 1. Edit the Function.php file

In the WordPress website, go to ‘Appearance – Editor’ from your dashboard to edit the functions.php file and Write the following code into your file:

add_theme_support( ‘post-thumbnails’ );

You can replace the ‘post-thumbnails’ with whatever image you’re trying to add and

click ‘Save’.

This will enable the ‘add_image-size ()’ function. Then, add your custom images and sizes with this code:

add_image_size( ‘post-thumbnail size’, 800, 240 );

The numbers 800 and 240 are the dimensions (height and width respectively).

Step 2. Add the Code in Theme File

Once the sizes are added, you now need to display these sizes in the WordPress theme.

Add the following code in the post loop where you want the thumbnail to show:

<?php the_post_thumbnail( ‘your-specified-image-size’ ); ?>

Replace ‘your-specified-image-size’ with the name you used in the previous code.

Step 3. Regenerate Thumbnails

Changing the code doesn’t alter sizes for existing images in WordPress. You’ll have to update them to new image sizes.

The Regenerate Thumbnails plugin is a reliable and recommended plugin to use for this step.

After installing and activating it, go to Tools -> Regen. Thumbnails, and click the Regenerate All Thumbnails button.

This will regenerate all your existing images in WordPress to the custom sizes you had set.

How to Design a Stunning WordPress Featured Image Using Pixelied

Now that you know the recommended size of a featured image, as well as why it’s important that your blog post has one, it’s time to create one from scratch.

But now you’ve encountered another problem: ­Where do you find one that’s most relevant to your post, and falls in line with the theme of your blog?

More importantly – how do you design one?

Enter: Pixelied.

What’s great about Pixelied is that you can edit each image and add various elements to it for added value.

Step 1. Open the Editor and Pick a Template

To get started, simply head over to our free editor.

In the left-panel, you can browse through a wide-selection of ready-to-use and fully customizable blog featured templates.

All of these are set at 1200 x 600 by default, so you don’t have to worry about the recommended dimensions.

Step 2. Start Customizing Your Featured Image

Even further left to that is a menu in which you can choose to add your desired images, text, illustrations or elements, shapes, and icons

You can edit any template to your exact liking.

You can choose millions of stock photos from the left sidebar. Type in keywords to get something close to what you have in mind.

After choosing your image, adjust it how you like by using the handy toolbar on the top of your workspace.

You can edit, crop, and adjust it to your liking.

Furthermore, you can also add custom copy and text styles to your new WP featured image.

You can also add fun elements, illustrations, and social media design icons to your featured image, while adjusting their colour and size to exactly how you want it.

Our advice? Keep the add-ons relevant to your blogpost – you don’t want your readers getting distracted.

How you design your featured image is all up to you. The Pixelied editor is designed to work efficiently, and easily – so don’t be afraid to play around and experiment.

Anything you accidentally delete can easily be recovered.

Step 3. Download!

When you think you’re done with your design, head over to the Download button on the corner right of the workspace.

Here you decide the image format you want to download your design, along with the desired quality and the size.

And that’s pretty much it.

Tips on Setting a WordPress Featured Image for your Blog

Here are some quick tips to help you nail your WordPress featured image:

Use the Recommended Image Formats

Does it really matter what your image format is?

If you want a non-blurry, high quality image on your blogpost, which doesn’t take hours to load on your reader’s browsers, the answer is YES.

Devices that are used to open your websites need to download the images for the user to see them.

Around 40% of users will leave your blog or website if this takes longer than 3 seconds.

Compressing your image is key to reducing its size so the device can download the image faster.

But, with compression comes a loss of quality.

The general rule of thumb is to choose a JPEG/JPG format for photos, and a PNG format for your graphics.

Only Use High-Resolution Images

The images you use to upload on your blog posts and website articles should be high resolution.

Readers open up these pages on many different devices – mobile phones, iPads, and large-screen desktops.

Your image should look clear and crisp on any of those devices.

For your blogs and websites to be considered professional, you’ll need to deliver on the quality front.

A high-res image that has margin to be scaled to full size and still look sharp is one of the key factors to keep in mind when choosing your featured image.

Keep it Simple and Relevant

The purpose of adding a featured image on your blog posts is to supplement the text with a relevant, visually pleasing graphic that encourages your readers to read further.

While it is important to make your image stand out and attract readers, they shouldn’t be too exciting.

The featured image should serve as an attractive add-along, not an element trying to steal the spotlight from the actual blog post.

Any image or graphic that is too cluttered, busy, and unclear will distract readers from the main text of your article.

The main takeaway here is to keep it simple, and relevant.

Final Words

Remember – with a captivating image, you can attract more traffic to your post, increase the likelihood of user engagement, and reap those SEO benefits!

Take some time to understand the tone of your website, blog post, or specific article, as well as what kind of an audience you’re attempting to attract.

This will help you pick out a relevant image.

It’s always a better option to design your own featured image, as you can customize it to accurately represent your brand. And, with a tool like Pixelied, it’s easy as pie.

The post What is the Recommended WordPress Featured Image Size? appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

Similar to other holiday cards like Eid, St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Kwanzaa, Valentine’s Day, or even birthday cards, Easter cards are just another way of showing support for the special days.

There’s something intimate about giving someone a card with a thoughtful message.

For that reason, Easter greeting cards will never go out of fashion.

This year, why not up to your game and give your loved ones something they’ll cherish forever?

I’ve gathered some of the best and easy Easter card ideas I could find on the internet (so you won’t have to) in this article. I’ll go over what makes each of them special, how you can DIY, and a few sources where you can look for more Easter card ideas.

Bust out your Easter craft supplies and let’s hop right in!

1.      You Can Never Go Wrong with Embossing

via Wallridge Farm

The first one on the list is this adorable card by Wallridge Farm featuring die-cut stickers of cute little bunnies and embossed designs.

While this Easter bunny card may seem difficult to replicate, you can make something quite similar with ease at home.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Cardstocks or paperboards of different color
• An embossing folder (you can find them easily on Amazon and Etsy)
• Light paper (on which you’ll emboss your design)
• A rolling pin
• A pair of scissors

Once you get your supplies, follow these easy steps:

• Place the light paper inside your embossing folder.
• Place the embossing folder onto a flat surface, grab your rolling pin, and start rolling it (hard) over the embossing folder.
• Draw little bunnies of equal sizes onto some cardstocks (you can use a stencil for this purpose) and cut them.
• Paste the bunnies onto the (now-embossed) light paper.
• Add a greeting or any thoughtful message onto the embossed paper (Tip: Instead of “Happy Easter,” go with “Hoppy Easter” as a pun).

If you’re still unclear about how to emboss without a machine, watch this video tutorial.

That’s pretty much it.

You can also add additional embellishments to make your card prettier.

2.      Mix Up the Textures and the Patterns

Think plain cardstocks are boring?

Me too.

You can also use additional material on your card.

As a perfect example, I wanted to include this masterpiece by artist and blogger, LeAnne Pugliese, on our list of Easter card ideas.

via LeAnne Pugliese

It features different textured papers/cardstocks, tiny bunnies cut from said papers, some embellishments, and a main cardboard of dark color onto which everything is pasted.

Follow these steps:

• To begin, cut a long rectangle from a plain cardboard and fold it right in the middle. This will form the main body of your card.
• Take a textured paper/cardstock of a lighter color and cut off a square that’s a little smaller than the front of your card’s body (make sure that the body forms a border).
• Cut out little bunnies from different textured papers (you can cut as many as you want, however, each bunny should have a different color, pattern, and texture).
• Paste some artificial rocks/jewelry onto the card.

All that’s left is to write your Easter wishes, and you’re done.

3.      Mix Up the Color

via Bloglovin’

Next on the list is this colorful handmade Easter card by an independent artist and blogger.

The card features eggcellent combination of colors, a mesmerizing sticker of a bunny, and embossed background.

To replicate this cute Easter card, you’ll need:

• A piece of cardstock
• Fomic/Foam sheets of different colors
• Embossing paper (this will serve as the main background or body of your Easter card)
• An embossing folder
• A rolling pin
• A pair of scissors
• Watercolor (optional)

Here’s what you need to do (in order):

• Begin by placing your embossing paper into the embossing folder. Place it onto a flat surface, take your rolling pin, and roll it over.
• Take your foam sheets and cut eggs of different color. Paste them about 1 inch above the bottom edge of the embossed background.
• Draw a tiny bunny onto the cardstock (ideally of a different/darker color than your embossing paper) and cut it. Paste it on the embossed paper (to make it more beautiful, use watercolors on the bunny).
• Finally, take a rectangular piece of green foam sheet, cut blades of grass on one side, and paste at the bottom edge of the background (with a few blades of grass covering the bunny and the eggs).

Remember – it’s super-important that you follow the aforementioned steps in the order they’re listed.

4.      Go Minimal

You don’t have to create something over-the-top as an Easter greeting card.

Instead, you can opt for something minimal – like this simple and funny Easter card by CharmArm Studio:

via CharmArmStudio

There are two different approaches you can take when creating a minimal Easter card like this one.

You can either:

• Go for a handmade card
• Design an eCard using a graphic design tool (more on that later)

Whatever approach you take, just remember – whether you’re designing a minimalist poster, a logo, or an Easter celebration card – always remember this core principle of minimal design: Less is more.

In this context, it means that the less elements you have on your Easter card, the better.

5.      You Can Never Go Wrong with Ribbons

Want to instantly enhance the beauty of your gift or Easter card?

It’s simple…add a ribbon bow!

For instance, have a look at this awesome card:

via Catherine Proctor

I want you to try and imagine it without that bow.

Sure, the Easter egg, the cute bunny, and the pastel background colors look great on their own, but simply adding that ribbon increased the beauty of the card by a tenfold.

Here’s a quick visual tutorial of how to tie a ribbon into a bow (courtesy of Craft me Happy):

Alternatively, you can purchase a ready-made bow from Etsy, Amazon, or your local crafts store, and simply paste it on your card.

6.      Make it a Small Gift

Cards are nice, but nothing says Happy Easter like Easter gifts.

For that reason, I’ve included these little gift boxes (made by Cindy Schuster) in my list of Easter card ideas:

via Cindy Schuster

Sure, they aren’t cards, per se, but they’re so much better. And trust me, if you opt for something similar, Easter brunch is going to be extra-special.

To recreate those cutest little gift boxes, you’re going to need:

• Stampin Up FRIENDS AND FLOWERS Clear Mount stamp set
• Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlits Dies
• Some markers
• Cardstocks

You can find the complete tutorial on the nutmeg creations blog.

In the end, once you’re done creating your little gift boxes, don’t forget to add a chocolate bunny or some candy and attach a little happy Easter card.

7.      Go Digital

If you’re not very crafty with handmade cards, you can make a digital Easter card instead, like this one:

via Freepik

The best thing about eCards is that they don’t have to cost you anything.

In addition, they also help you avoid the pre-Easter clutter of paper craft supplies.

What’s more – you don’t have to be a pro designer to create something. And you definitely don’t need to be good at Photoshop.

How to Design an Endearing Easter Card Like a Pro with Pixelied

Pixelied is a powerful and free online graphic design tool that’s giving sites like Canva a run for their money.

You can use our tool to create stunning Easter cards, social media design, banners, book covers, and more, using templates and several customization features.

Here’s a step-by-step process of how it works:

• Go to Pixelied’s free online editor (no need to sign up or register).

• You can begin by adding a high-res stock image to your canvas by clicking on “Images” in the left panel. All images are sourced directly from Unsplash and Pixabay.
• Type in “Easter” in the search bar to load up the content. Once you click and load up an image on the canvas, don’t forget to resize (simply drag any corner of the loaded image until it fits and adjusts).

• Next, add your Easter wishes. To do this, click on “Text.” Pixelied offers hundreds of fonts and ready-to-use text styles. Click on “Add Headline” or select from any of the available text styles.

• In my example, I’ve selected one of the text templates. You can customize the text by simply double-clicking on it (I changed mine to “Happy Easter!”). You can also change the size, placement, and typeface of your message.

• Furthermore, you may personalize it with a thoughtful message and make it more beautiful with illustrations and elements/shapes.
• When done, click on the “Download” button at the top right corner. Pixelied lets you download files as PNGs, JPEGs, SVGs, and WEBPs.

And that’s pretty much it. You can now use your printable file however you want (either send it digitally or print it and give it in person).

8.      Throw Flowers into the Mix

Next on the list is this beautiful Easter egg card created by an independent artist and blogger.

via Krystynas

The card features amazing flowers, leaves, and a ribbon – all attached on a background with beautiful motifs.

While it may seem impossible to recreate, you can easily accomplish something similar with an artificial boutonniere (Amazon can help with that).

Try to mix things up by adding different kinds of flowers. Throw daffodils, tulips, and roses into the mix.

And as always, don’t forget to include a personalized message.

9.      Go Over the Top and Mix Everything Up

Card making is a serious art, and this beautiful Easter card by Ola’s Little Fantasies is the perfect example that demonstrates that art in play:

via Ola’s Little Fantasies

As you can see, this breathtaking masterpiece incorporates all or some of the elements of the various Easter card ideas that we discussed.

It features different types of flowers, a ribbon bow, a beautiful printed card, and even eggs (you may use artificial ones).

If that’s not over-the-top enough for you, you may also enclose some confetti inside to surprise your loved one.

Top Places to Get Easter Card Ideas

In case none of the ideas we just discussed work for you, you can always look for more on the internet.

To save your time, I highly recommend looking for ideas on the following platforms/websites:

1.      Pinterest

Pinterest is the go-to website for craft ideas and art, curated by a massive community of millions of users.

To get started, search for “Easter card ideas” on the homepage.

A simple search will reveal thousands of results, including mesmerizing pop-up cards, awesome eCards, and much more. You can also pin your own designs and generate eyeballs to your site.

2.      Etsy

If you’re looking to buy handmade gifts and cards, Etsy is the perfect place.

Not only can you find some of the best Easter cards, but also thinking of you, mother’s day, and creative holiday cards – all in one place.

You can look at all of the amazing cards on sale to inspire your own project.

3.      Amazon

On Amazon, you can find both craft supplies and Easter/Spring cards from different sellers.

Like Etsy, you can use it to get some inspiration for your custom handmade Easter card.

4.      Google Image Search

Last but not least, a simple Google Image search will also do the trick.

Simply type “Easter card ideas” and get thousands of ideas in just one second.

Final Thoughts

If you want to make this Easter holiday extra-special for your loved ones, you can never go wrong with an Easter card.

For that reason, make sure that you design something special and add a touch of personalization. Remember – you can always use Pixelied if you want to design marketing assets such as a digital card from scratch.

Make a whole Easter basket, fill it up with treats, and top it off with your awesome card.

Happy Easter!

The post 9 Super-Creative Easter Card Ideas to Inspire the Artist in You appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

Header images can serve different purposes, depending on where they are used. However, in a nutshell, they deliver some message – could be as simple as a welcome or something specific, like a discount offer or a CTA – through an aesthetically pleasing experience.

If you’re looking for websites where you can find awesome header images, keep reading. In this article, I’ll share 7 top-rated sources where you can download stock images, vectors, and illustrations.

Let’s jump right in.

1.      Pixelied

Let’s kick things off with Pixelied – a complete package, offering both high-res header images and a powerful online graphic design tool.

Unlike other traditional stock photos websites, where you can simply search for images and download them, Pixelied lets you select an image (sourced straight from Unsplash or Pixabay), customize it to your liking, and download it in a format of your choice – all for free!

How to Design an Awesome Custom Header Image on Pixelied

You don’t have to be a professional graphic designer to create a stunning header image using Pixelied.

The tool offers top-level customization features, templates, and much more – all on a highly intuitive user-interface.

To get started, head over to our free online editor.

On the editor, click on the button under where it says “Search Templates” in the sidebar to expand the complete list of available templates.

Here, you can find ready-to-use templates for

• Email headers
• Twitter headers
• LinkedIn headers
• Patreon banners
• Etsy banners

Alternatively, you can also set a custom image size for your header and design a new image from scratch, which, again, is super-easy. To do this, click on resize at the top and specify the pixels.

For simplicity’s sake, let’s assume that you decide to go with a template (highly recommended). To do this, click/tap once on any template that you like from the available options to load it up on the canvas.

At this point, if you want to add/replace any images on the template, click on “Images” to access the stock photos from Unsplash and Pixabay.

Search for anything specific using relevant keywords. To load up an image on the canvas, click/tap on it once, and resize it using simple drag and drop features to fit the design.

In addition, you can also change the copy and typography, add custom elements, change the background image, and even add your own image to the design.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg – there’s a lot more that the tool offers, all without the complexity of Photoshop.

Once you’re done designing your custom image, simply click on the download button at the top to get your header image as either a JPG or PNG.

2.      Shutterstock

Next on the list is Shutterstock – a well-known website where you can find high-quality stock photos, videos, and even 3D models.

What I like most about Shutterstock is its wide selection of filters that allow you to refine your search and find that perfect header image.

You can sort your results by relevancy and freshness, specify the orientation you’re looking for (in the case of header images, you want to set it to “Horizontal”), specify the color/theme, and much more.

The only drawback?

It’s not free.

Well, there is a free trial, but after that, you need to opt for one of their paid plans before downloading and using any image.

If you’re on a tight budget or don’t usually require images that often for your projects, you might want to look elsewhere.

3.      Pexels

If you’re looking for free stock photos that you can use as header images, you should give Pexels a shot.

Unlike Shutterstock, you don’t have to sign up or pay a premium to get the images.

What’s more – you can also download stock videos for free.

Like Shutterstock, Pexels offers filters that you can use to narrow down your results, though the options are rather limited.

You can filter photos by their orientation, size, and their background color/theme.

Subsequently, you can also use a stock photo finder to help you search the best photos.

That’s all there is to it. Simply hover your cursor over any image and click on the download icon to get the image – no need to sign up.

If you want, you can also donate to the original user through PayPal (if they accept donations) and/or give them a shout out.

4.      Freepik

I’ve been using Freepik to download stock photos and vectors for a while now.

If you frequently have to download resources and have some budget to spare, I highly recommend getting a premium account (though the platform also offers free images).

With a premium account, you get complete access to the massive media library and don’t have to attribute the creator.

Aside from that, the tool also offers a remarkable search customizer with tons of filters, including, but not limited to:

• Category (vectors, photos, PSD, or icons)
• Type of license (free or premium)
• Sorting by popularity or time
• Color

To get any image that you like, open it and click on the green download button.

This will download a zip file containing the JPG, EPS (editable file that can open on Adobe Illustrator), and a license for your header image on your system.

5.      Dreamstime

Next website on the list is Dreamstime – a platform where you can find photos, illustrations, videos, editorial content, and even audio files.

Like Freepik, Dreamstime also offers both paid and free resources.

If you’re not willing to spend any $$$ on your next project, click on “Free Photos” at the top menu and type in a relevant keyword in the search bar.

However, to download any image, you’ll need to sign up for a free Dreamstime account, which will hardly take a minute of your time.

Compared to the previous platforms, I feel that the website doesn’t have as many options when it comes to header images. For that reason, it should certainly not be your first choice (as in, only look at this website once you’ve exhausted all other options).

6.      iStock

iStock by Getty Images is another (mostly) paid platform where you can find some of the best header images – whether you’re looking for something to spice up your social media design, create a killer banner for your WordPress website, or anything else.

To get started, sign up for a free iStock account.

This will give you access to 1 photo, 1 video, 1 illustration, and 1 audio clip for free on a weekly basis.

Not such a good deal if you’re trying to manage a tiny marketing design budget – but it’s alright if you don’t normally look for images every day.

Otherwise, you can always go for a paid plan.

And like most websites on this list, iStock offers great filters that can help you find an on-point image and really make that single weekly freebie count. Click on “Refine” (next to the search bar) to reveal the filters.

All in all, it’s a fairly decent website with millions of images.

7.      PNGTree

Let’s wrap this up with PNGTree – a great resource for PNGs and background images.

This is a fairly good option if you’re looking for vectors or customizable templates for your header image. However, if you’re looking for classic stock photos, you’re better off checking out the other options on this list.

Similar to Freepik and Dreamstime, you can find both free and premium header images on PNGTree.

Furthermore, you can narrow down your options with smart filters, including category (set to “Png Images” by default), format, and the option to sort by popularity, number of downloads, and freshness.

It’s certainly not the best option out there, but it’s worth a shot if you can’t find anything relevant on the other websites.

What to Include in Your Header Image?

As mentioned earlier, a header image can be used on different platforms and can serve different purposes.

For that reason, there aren’t any universal “best practices.” However, there are certain elements that you should consider including in your header image – whether it’s for a website, an email, or a social platform.

These include:

• Your Brand Elements – this could include your logo, corporate colors, and/or any other visual element that you want people to associate with your brand.
• Compelling, Informative, and/or Entertaining Copy – this could be your company’s slogan, some problem that you solve, or even a discount deal (anything that helps provide some context).
• A Call–to-Action – a header image is wasted if it doesn’t include a compelling CTA.

In addition, if you’re creating a website header image, include links to your social media platform and other pages on your website.

In the end, just remember one thing – less is more. Don’t fall into the trap of including everything in your header image and ending up with a cluttered mess.

Wrapping it Up

With all those (paid and free) websites out there, you can easily find something amazing to use as your header image.

Remember – if you want to stand out, customization is key. Whatever website you use to download your header images from, you can always edit/customize them using Pixelied.

Best of luck!

The post 7 Best Websites to Find Captivating Header Images appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

Video has taken social media by storm.

And why wouldn’t it? Videos are just so much more engaging, exciting, and entertaining than plain, boring-text (oh, the irony).

This is especially true on Twitter, where you’re already restricted to 280 characters. Thanks to videos, there’s so much more you can say and convey to your followers.

Considering that, it’s no surprise that video tweets, on average, receive about 10X more engagement than others.

To make sure that you make the most out of your video content, in this article, I’m going to share the different Twitter video limits (lengths and sizes), and answer some other frequently asked questions with screenshots along the way.

Let’s get started.

What’s the Twitter Video Limit Right Now? [How Long They Can be]

As far as the maximum video length goes, Twitter imposes a limit of 2 minutes and 20 seconds.

This amounts to a total of 140 seconds, which you can think of as a throwback to the time when Twitter had a 140-character limit.

If you’re using a standard account, you can upload videos that exceed that limit, but you’d then have to crop it down to 140 seconds or less.

That was the max limit. However, as far as the ideal Twitter video length goes, keep it limited between 20 and 45 seconds. Apparently, that’s the sweet spot, and Tweet videos of this length get the most engagement.

What’s the Current Twitter Video Limit in Terms of File Size?

When it comes to video size, Twitter imposes a limit of 512 MB.

If your video is larger than that, you can compress your file.

There are a bunch of free online tools that let you do that, including Clideo, FreeConvert, and ClipChamp. They’ll get the job done without losing the quality of your video clip.

Some Important FAQs

Now that I’ve covered the basics of Twitter video limit (both in terms of length and file size), I’m going to provide some additional details that might come in handy and help you make the most out of your content.

I’ve broken those details down in a series of FAQs:

How Do I Post Longer Videos on Twitter?

If the standard length limit of 140 seconds isn’t enough for you, and you want to upload a longer one, there’s a way around that.

This involves signing up for a Twitter ad account and using Twitter Media Studio.

Just follow these easy steps:

• Go to Ads.Twitter.com and log in with your credentials (if you’re not already logged into your device).
• This will lead you to the campaign creation page. Don’t worry, you can just select any option for now and move forward (this won’t cost you anything).
• In the top left corner of the screen, click on “Add new payment method.”

• On the page that loads up, type up your bank details (again, don’t worry – this won’t cost you anything).
• Once done, you’ll get more options at the top panel of your ads account. Click on “Creatives” and then click on “Videos.”

• On the page, click on the button that says “Upload a Video” (or “Upload your first video” if this is the first time you’re about to upload a video to your account).

If you follow all of the aforementioned steps, you’ll be able to upload videos longer than 2 minutes and 20 seconds (but no longer than 10 minutes).

Again, you don’t have to be an active advertiser or even spend a dime to do this. All you need to do is to plug in your bank account details to unlock that option.

What Video Formats Does Twitter Support?

Twitter imposes certain requirements when it comes to the format of your video file.

These are different for the mobile application and the desktop/web version:

• For the Mobile App – as of now, Twitter supports MP4 and MOV video formats.
• For Desktop – if you’re on desktop/web, you can only upload an MP4 with AAC audio and H264 format.

Have your video in a different format?

No problem.

You can convert your file into an MP4 or MOV with Convert-Video-Online.

To get started, tap on “Open file,” and browse the video file on your device (or import a video from your Google Drive, Dropbox, or simply via a URL).

Select either “MP4” or “MOV” from the available options, and set the resolution. Obviously, you’re going to want to select the best option available.

Once done, click on “Convert.”

You’ll then receive a download link for your converted file.

It’s that simple.

What are the Ideal Twitter Video Dimensions?

The resolution of your video:

• Can’t be more than 1920×1200 and 1200 x 1900
• Can’t be less than 32×32

The ideal dimensions are:

• 1280×720 (for landscape aspect ratio)
• 720×720 (for a square video)
• 720×1280 (for portrait)

Keep those dimensions in mind to get the best end-results.

What’s the Ideal Frame Rate for Twitter Videos?

For videos, Twitter imposes a limit of 60 frames per second (fps).

That’s also an ideal frame rate for videos on Twitter.

It can also be at 30 fps.

How Do I Retain the Quality of my Twitter Videos?

One major bummer of sharing videos on Twitter is that the social platform tends to mess up the quality.

However, there’s a way you can prevent that from happening.

Here are some tips that will maintain that video resolution:

• Record at 60 fps – recording your videos at 60 fps can prevent the quality from dropping.
• Use the Highest Resolution – depending on the aspect ratio, select the ideal resolutions for your video.
• Use the MP4 Video Format – finally, make sure that your video isn’t saved as a MOV, but as an MP4 file.

Remember – if the file size exceeds 512 MB, you can always compress it with one of the free tools I shared earlier.

How Do I Upload Videos on Twitter?

With the Twitter video limit out of the way, let’s talk about the very basics – uploading your video.

As of now, there are 3 ways to share a video on Twitter:

1.       Record Your Video

If you’re using the app (Twitter for iOS or Android), you can directly record and share your video from your mobile device to your Twitter account. This means that the video doesn’t have to be saved to your camera roll prior to being uploaded.

To do this, tap the camera icon at the top.

Record your video like how you normally would. Once you’re ready, go ahead and add a caption/tweet your video.

2.       Upload/Import Your Video

This is the most common option.

You can upload a video that’s saved on your device to your Twitter account.

To begin, click/tap the tweet button and then select the gallery icon.

Navigate to the video file saved on your device, select it, and hit “Open” (if you’re on desktop). For mobile, select the video file from your gallery.

If your video is longer than 140 seconds (the max Twitter video limit – for those who skipped the upper-half of this article), Twitter will ask you to trim your video.

Once done, proceed to type up an impactful caption (don’t forget to throw in some hashtags in there), and post your tweet.

3.       Go Live

Another way of sharing video content with your followers is to go live.

Twitter uses Periscope to power its live videos.

However, this can only be done through the Twitter app, and not the web version.

To do this, tap on the compose tweet button, tap on the camera button, and select “Live.” The app will then prompt you to add a description for your live broadcast, which will show up as a tweet.

You can then select certain guests that you’d like to invite over to view your live video.

Once done, tap the button that says “Go Live.”

To end your live broadcast, simply tap on the Stop button.

How Do I Set a Custom Thumbnail for My Video?

Twitter, just like any other platform, automatically sets thumbnails for videos, which is usually the very first frame.

However, you do have the option of changing it and putting a custom thumbnail.

To do this on the web/browser version, navigate to your Twitter profile and click/tap on “Media,” and open up the video whose thumbnail you want to change.

Then click on the “Change thumbnail” button. From here, you can either upload a custom thumbnail or choose a frame from within the video as the thumbnail.

However, this doesn’t work on Safari, so you may have to use a different browser

Design Stunning Visuals for Your Twitter Video

If you’re looking to create some eye-catching visuals/slides for your Twitter video, but don’t know how to use Photoshop or Illustrator, give Pixelied a shot!

Our user-friendly Twitter editor makes it easy to create professional-level Twitter headers, & posts with built-in dimensions in a matter of minutes.

To begin, load up the editor.

If you’re designing entire slides that you wish to use for your Twitter video, you can set custom dimensions at the top (remember – the ideal landscape dimensions are 1280×720).

If you’re simply creating some graphics/elements to add to your element, you can select any appropriate dimensions for the canvas.

From here, you can add custom elements, icons, typography, and even brandify your design – the options are limitless, and easy-to-use!

Once you’re done designing your masterpiece, simply click the Download button at the top right corner of the screen to get your file in the format of your choice.

Wrapping it Up

Now that you know about the current Twitter video limit, and all the design tips and tricks to create something awesome, go out there and spread your creative wings.

Remember – while video tweets tend to get more engagement, there are no promises. The actual content will be the deciding factor.

Even if you don’t get the desired results from your first video, keep trying. You’ll eventually find that big break, attract hundreds of new followers, and become a Twitter celebrity.

The post Twitter Video Limit: Ideal Length, Size, & More [With Expert Tips] appeared first on Pixelied Blog.