Design4 min read
Twitter Image Sizes for X, and How the Card Crops Them
Twitter image sizes on X: 16:9 for single images, 1200x628 for link cards, and the timeline crop that decides what people actually see.
The Twitter image size that works on X is 1600×900 — 16:9 — for a single attached image, and 1200×628 for the link preview card. Both get cropped in the timeline, and the crop is the thing worth planning for: an image that reads perfectly when opened can be meaningless in the feed.
Twitter image sizes on X, by placement
| Placement | Ratio | Export |
|---|---|---|
| Single image in a post | 16:9 | 1600×900 |
| Two to four images | Varies by grid position | 1200×1200, composed for a square crop |
| Link preview card (large) | ~1.91:1 | 1200×628 |
| Profile picture | 1:1 | 400×400 |
| Header image | 3:1 | 1500×500 |
FreeMentioned in this article
Social Image ResizerOne image, cropped to every size the networks actually use.The timeline crop
X shows an attached image at a fixed aspect in the timeline and expands it on tap. A tall image is therefore reduced to a horizontal band from its middle, and text at the top or bottom simply is not there until someone taps.
This has one strong implication: compose the point of the image into the centre. Screenshots of text are the worst offenders — a screenshot of a paragraph becomes a band of three illegible lines, and people scroll past it.
For multi-image posts, each slot is cropped differently depending on how many images you attach, which is why a set of four images composed individually rarely looks deliberate. If the images belong together, make one image.
Link cards are a separate asset
When you post a URL, X renders a card from the page's Open Graph and Twitter card tags — not from anything you attach. That card is generated from the linked page, so fixing a bad card means fixing the page, not the post.
FreeMentioned in this article
Link Preview DebuggerWhat X, Facebook and LinkedIn will show when you share your link.The debugger fetches a URL once and draws the card as X, Facebook, LinkedIn and chat apps each render it. See Open Graph tags, and if a card is showing the wrong thing, link preview not showing.
The two card types are worth knowing:
summary_large_image— the big card, roughly 1.91:1. Almost always what you want.summary— a small square thumbnail beside the text. Fine for a text-heavy page,
weak for anything visual.
X publishes the card specification in its developer documentation.
Why the crop matters more than the resolution
Resolution problems announce themselves: an image looks soft and you fix it. Crop problems do not - the image looks perfect in your editor, perfect when tapped, and useless in the one place it is actually seen.
The feed is a scanning environment. An image gets a fraction of a second in a band across the middle of itself, at a size where fine detail is gone. So the question to ask before attaching an image is not "is this a good image" but "what does the middle band of this say on its own". If the answer is "nothing", the post has an attachment rather than a picture.
Three practical consequences:
- Screenshots of text need to be reformatted, not attached. Crop to the sentence
that matters, or quote it in the post and skip the image.
- Charts need their title inside the band. A chart whose title sits above the plot
area loses it.
- Faces and products belong dead centre, because centre is the only region
guaranteed to survive every crop.
Screenshots of posts
Sharing a post as an image is common and slightly fraught: an image of a post proves nothing about who wrote it, and a screenshot at phone resolution looks poor when scaled.
FreeMentioned in this article
Post Screenshot GeneratorA clean card of a post, drawn instead of screenshotted.Our generator draws the card cleanly and deliberately includes no verification badge, because a drawn card is a mock-up rather than evidence. More in how to screenshot a tweet.
Threads of images
If you are posting a sequence, the same rules apply per post, and the first image is the one that decides whether anyone reads the rest. Structure matters more than resolution here — see how to write a Twitter thread.
The complete cross-network reference is social media image sizes.
What is the best Twitter image size on X?
1600×900 at 16:9 for a single image. It matches the timeline crop closely, so what people see is close to what you uploaded.
What size is a Twitter card image?
1200×628 for the large
summary_large_image card. It comes from the linked page's Open Graph tags, not from the post.Why is my image cropped on X?
The timeline shows a fixed aspect and expands on tap. Anything at the top or bottom of a tall image is hidden until someone opens it.
Why is my link preview not showing on X?
Usually a missing or unreachable Open Graph image, or a cached older version of the page. Fetch the URL through a preview debugger to see what X is actually reading.
Check how any URL renders as a card before you post it with the link preview debugger.
Put it to work
Tools for the job you just read about
Free to run, most of them without an account.
FreeImages & video
Social Image Resizer
One image, cropped to every size the networks actually use.
Resize →
FreePreviews
Link Preview Debugger
What X, Facebook and LinkedIn will show when you share your link.
Preview the URL →11 runs
FreeImages & video
Post Screenshot Generator
A clean card of a post, drawn instead of screenshotted.
Generate →1 runs
FreePreviews
Google SERP Snippet Preview
See your title and description as a Google result — on a desktop and a phone.
Preview →5 runs
FreeUtilities
Social Media URL Cleaner
Strip the tracking off a link — and see what each parameter was telling somebody.
Clean →1 runs
FreeAnalytics & growth
Instagram Money Calculator
What to charge for a post — priced the way a brand actually prices it.
Calculate →
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