Sizing Facebook Photos

What is a good size for Facebook photos so that they display well even on large monitors yet aren't good for printing? I'm looking for how many pixels on the long edge and a resolution as I mainly work in and export from Lightroom.

Thank you!

I use 1920px x 1080. Fills my monitor.

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daystar wrote in post #18263625
What is a good size for Facebook photos so that they display well even on large monitors yet aren't good for printing?

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It seems like you are searching for something that doesn't exist. If a photo looks good on a large monitor, then it will look good on photo paper. How could this ever not be the case?

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haha. My eyes completely skipped over the "arent good for printing" part, as its nonsensical.

Just to clarify, I didn't fabricate the question myself....it was a statement I had found online and made me go "huh?" as I wasn't sure how that would be achieved. Thank you for pointing out that the two concepts cannot play together.

Kinda, with landscape orientated photos a 2048px on the longest side (width) is ideal for facebook, and will print well.

However, if you're asking about a portrait orientated image, this needs to be 960px on the longest side (height) and thus won't print very large at all. That may, or may not help.

1. You could crop the image to a non-standard ratio, for instance 4X7", 3X6", etc.
2. Or if you can't crop it, add to the Canvas & crop that image to a non-standard ratio.
3. Put a big © on it. Or several of them.

kjonnnn wrote in post #18263650
I use 1920px x 1080. Fills my monitor.

I use the same and export to .png which helps reduce Facebook's compression.

Facebook actually has a fair degree of flexibility. Like kjonnnn mentioned you can post a photo that may be larger than some might be "accustomed to. for example, POTN/Amass has "limits", I believe 1280 pixels at the max in either dimension (height or width). In POTN, though, if you have an image "up", then at the upper right you see a pair of "eyeglasses which if you click them will open the image at a larger size (I'm not sure of the maximum size in pixels).

Facebook does have the ability to open an image at that larger size. Now, you do hear folks complaining about Facebook "compression", well, you may see some less-than desireable results if you just open an image by clicking on the thumbnail or the preview in a post. In that case, what you get is the image opened with various "border" stuff, including the column for comments and for the image description, and also some border "stuff" including at the bottom, things like "menu" items that you can click on. The result of all this stuff, stuff I tend to think of as "clutter is that the image is in fact compressed so that it will "fit", kind of like if you print an image to be framed, possibly with matting, maybe with a border that will fit some desired frame/matting size, so the actual printed image will be to some degree "compressed". And, if you print, say, at an aspect ratio that differs from what you would consider your "native" aspect ratio, well, that compression happens accordingly. Say you print a 5x7 print or an 8x10 print, well, the image will have to be sized accordingly.

However, since the question is about facebook, well there is something to be aware of and it can be quite nice to use. that is, facebook will allow you to post an image at, say, the dimensions that kjonnnn mentions, 1920 pix at the widest dimension. When you are preparing an image for Facebook (or another viewer), you would do well to consider an appropriate viewing size, both for the width and for the height. That takes into consideration how the image will be viewed.

My last point is that Facebook has a very nice feature. It's called the "full Screen view mode. So, if you open an image and this "mode is available either through a menu "Option" or if you move your pointer to the upper right corner of the image, you could see two little "arrow pointers" which if you click them, will open the image at a size that will "fill" your screen.

Believve me, this is a very nice feature, one that can really be a "plus" for viewing images, especially things like landscape/scenic photos, or any photo that you might wish would show as a "larger" display!

When I post images, I do actually take into consideration my "normal" display dimensions. For me, the "limit" can show up in the Height of the image. for instance, kjonnnn mentions 1080 pixels as his height dimension. that could be useful for monitors that max out at a size bouncing around that dimension. For my monitor I think it's a bit less, so that I may post images at a max heightof say 1000 pixels, so I can open/view images that won't go beyond my monitor's native resolution. For the width, well, I can take that into consideration, whereas the POTN limit is 1280 pixels, that seems to work for me. facebook does have those "longer" guidelines, so for me maybe that 1920 pix width may "crowd" my monitor a bit, but for a worthwhile image I won't complain much!

Just know, though, that the "Full Screen View mode is to me invaluable! In fact, I often will mention that mode either when posting photos or also in groups with frequent image posts, such as dedicated photography groups!

Hope this all helps a bit!