What size and length should photos and films be for Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn?
These are the shapes and lengths bernard makes and checks films and photos against. They are the same numbers your own assistant reads when it makes something for you (Make your posts in Claude or ChatGPT and send them to bernard).
The prompt
“What size should a film for my Instagram Reel and my LinkedIn feed be, and how long?”
Signed in, Get my prompt fills in your site for you. Otherwise press Copy and fill in the [bracketed] parts. First time? Connect your AI to bernard once: Use your own AI (opens in a new tab).
Films and photos
| Where | Shape | Size in pixels | Film length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram or Facebook Reel or Story | 9:16 | 1080 x 1920 | 6 to 15 s |
| Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn feed | 4:5 | 1080 x 1350 | 6 to 15 s |
| Square, any feed | 1:1 | 1080 x 1080 | 6 to 15 s |
| LinkedIn link post | 1.91:1 | 1200 x 628 | 6 to 15 s |
| Blog moving header | 16:9 | 1280 x 720 | 8 s loop, muted |
| Email loop | 16:9 | 600 wide | 3 s loop, at most 1 MB |
Words on a film
On a Reel, keep words clear of the foot and the right-hand side, where the caption and the buttons sit, and clear of the top, where the account name sits. On the other shapes, keep a small margin from every edge. Words need strong contrast with the picture behind them: a soft dark shade behind light words, not a shadow on the letters.
Captions
| Network | Most characters in a post |
|---|---|
| 2,200 | |
| 3,000 | |
| 3,000 |
To have Bernard make a film in these shapes from your own photos, see Make a photo move for Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. How a post is made, checked and scheduled is in What does Bernard do about my social posts?.
Questions people ask
- Do I have to resize my photos myself?
- No. When you choose a photo or a film for a post, bernard prepares a copy in the shape each network takes. You see that prepared copy before you approve the post with Schedule.
- Why must words stay away from the edges?
- On a Reel, Instagram puts its buttons, your caption and your account name over the film. Words inside the safe area stay readable. Bernard checks every film for this before you approve it.
- Are these numbers the ones my assistant gets?
- Yes. They come from the same place in bernard as the brief your own assistant reads, so a film made elsewhere is checked against the same sizes. It still waits for your approval.