X Header Size and Resizer

What size is an X header image?

X asks for a 1500 by 500 pixel header, which is a 3:1 rectangle. That is the size X recommends for the header photo, also called the banner, at the top of your profile, and it is the size the resizer above exports. Upload it as a JPG, PNG or GIF: X accepts all three and does not support animated GIFs for a header or a profile photo, so a moving banner is not an option.

X publishes a 2MB cap for profile photos but no published cap for headers, which is why this page does not quote a header limit X never set. A well exported 1500 by 500 JPG usually lands between 100KB and 400KB. If yours is far above that, the compression is the problem, not the dimensions.

What X crops, and where to keep your text

Two things eat into a header after you upload it. First, X warns that up to 60 pixels at the top and the bottom can be cropped depending on the monitor size and the browser. A 500 pixel tall file therefore has a guaranteed band of about 380 pixels, from 60 pixels down from the top to 60 pixels up from the bottom. Treat the outer bands as background.

Second, your profile photo sits over the lower left corner of the banner. It is opaque, it is the first thing anyone notices, and it hides whatever is behind it. A logo parked in that corner disappears behind your own face. Leave the bottom left for texture such as a gradient, a photo or a pattern, and put the wordmark and the one line you want read in the middle of the safe band.

Why a huge export does not help

X scales your upload to the frame it renders, and that frame is roughly the 1500 by 500 you uploaded. A 6000 pixel wide export does not arrive sharper. It arrives heavier, it takes longer to decode on a phone, and it gets scaled back down anyway. Export at 1500 by 500 and check the words are legible at that size. If they only read when the file is 6000 pixels wide, they are too small for a banner, because most people see the scaled down version.

How the resizer above works

The resizer reads your file in the browser: nothing is uploaded and no account or email is needed. It crops the picture to a 3:1 rectangle with the centre kept, the same thing CSS calls cover, scales that rectangle to exactly 1500 by 500, and hands back a JPG you can save.

It crops rather than squashes on purpose. Stretching a photo to 3:1 flattens faces and turns a circle into an oval, while a centre crop keeps the proportions you chose when you took the shot. If the important part of your picture is off centre, crop it yourself to a 3:1 rectangle first and then drop it in, so the tool has nothing left to trim. A source that is already 1500 by 500 comes back unchanged, which makes it an easy way to re-compress a heavy file.

Resize an X header in four steps

1. Pick a picture wider than it is tall. The banner is three times as wide as it is tall.
2. Read the row under the preview: it tells you your source size, the crop that was applied, and the export weight.
3. Download the file. It arrives named x-header-1500x500.jpg, already cropped to size.
4. Upload it on X with Edit profile, then the camera icon on the banner, then Upload photo. Apply, then save.

Header mistakes that cost profile visits

• Words inside the top or bottom 60 pixels, cut off on some screens.
• A logo in the bottom left corner, hidden behind the profile photo.
• White text on a pale banner, unreadable for anyone using light mode. X renders profiles in light and dark themes, so check both.
• Too much detail. A banner is one idea plus decoration, and on a phone it is a few hundred pixels wide, so tiny type and long sentences never make the trip.
• No banner at all. The default pattern says nothing about you while taking up the largest block on the page.

Related reading

• The Twitter profile that converts covers the bio and pinned post the banner has to work with.
• How to grow your account on Twitter covers what brings people to the profile in the first place.
• X profile strength scorecard scores the whole profile, custom banner included.

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