Photo collage sizes
By The CollageCreator team · Published · Last reviewed
Pixels, ratios and why both matter
A size is two numbers, and the ratio between them is usually the one that matters. Platforms crop to a ratio and then scale to their own pixel size, so getting 4:5 right matters more than getting exactly 1080 × 1350 — but exporting at the platform's own pixel size avoids one round of resampling, which is worth a little sharpness.
The table above lists both. Where a platform states a smaller size than the table, as Facebook does with its cover, the table gives the doubled version, because the stated size is soft on any modern screen and the platform downsamples cleanly.
Safe areas: the part you cannot use
Three of these sizes hide part of the image. Stories put the profile row over the top and the reply bar over the bottom, which costs roughly 250 and 310 pixels. Facebook covers lose their sides on mobile and their bottom-left corner to the profile photo. Instagram's profile grid crops a 4:5 post to 3:4, taking about 90 pixels from each end.
None of these is a cropping error you can fix afterwards — they are how the platform displays the image. The only remedy is to keep anything that must be read inside the visible band, which is why the editor draws those bands on the canvas.
Print sizes and DPI
For print, a size is a physical measurement and a resolution together. 300 DPI is the standard for photographic printing, which makes an 8 × 10 inch print 2400 × 3000 pixels. 150 DPI is acceptable for something viewed from a distance, like a poster; below 100 DPI a print looks soft close up.
The number that catches people out is per-photo resolution rather than the whole file. A 2400 × 3000 collage of twelve photos shows each one at roughly 600 pixels across, so a 600-pixel source photo is exactly at the limit. Check the per-photo figure, not the export size.
One collage, several sizes
If a collage is going to a feed, a story and a print, make it once and change the canvas. A tool that re-solves the layout for each shape gives you three collages that each suit their format; one that scales gives you a stretched version and two letterboxed ones.
Export the print version last and at the largest size, since that is the one where a low-resolution photo shows. If it passes at 300 DPI it will pass everywhere else.