How to Resize an Image for LinkedIn
LinkedIn's profile banner is an extreme 4:1 strip and the profile photo shows in a circle. Here are the pixels for each slot, and why a plain resize stretches a banner.
To resize an image for LinkedIn, match the pixels to the slot it fills: a profile banner, a profile photo, and a shared post are three different shapes with three different targets. Send the wrong shape and LinkedIn crops it, drops the edges on a phone, or stretches it to fit.
Resize Image sets exact pixels in your browser, and nothing leaves your device. But for the banner and the profile photo you want to crop to the right shape first, for the reason below.
The size for each LinkedIn slot
Match the shape to the placement. These are the targets LinkedIn displays without re-cropping:
- Personal profile banner (the wide strip behind your name): 1584 x 396, a 4:1 ratio. It is nearly four times wider than it is tall, so keep anything that must be readable inside a centred safe zone of about 1200 x 300. Phones crop roughly 15 to 20 percent off each side, and a logo or line of text near an edge simply disappears there.
- Profile photo: square, 400 x 400 or larger (LinkedIn accepts up to 7680 px and a file under 8 MB). It is shown inside a circle, so keep your face centred and leave the corners empty, since they get clipped away.
- Shared link preview (the image on a posted link): 1200 x 627, a 1.91:1 ratio. If the link's preview image is far from that shape LinkedIn crops it, so set the page's preview image to 1200 x 627.
- Single image in a feed post: 1080 x 1080 square is the safe default; 1080 x 1350 portrait (4:5) takes up more vertical space; 1200 x 627 landscape matches the link shape. Any of the three displays cleanly.
The exact pixel numbers shift occasionally, but the shapes above have been stable for a long time. When in doubt, get the ratio right and the resolution generous, and LinkedIn handles the rest.
Why a plain resize stretches your banner
The banner is 1584 x 396, roughly four times wider than tall. Your photo almost certainly is not that shape. Resize a normal photo straight to 1584 x 396 and every pixel gets crushed sideways into a letterbox, so faces and horizons look pulled thin.
Resize Image is built to stop that by default. It has a Lock aspect ratio checkbox that starts on, and while it is on the tool holds your photo's original proportions: type a width and the height is worked out from your image, so a width of 1584 gives a much taller result than 396, not the strip you asked for. Type both numbers and it still keeps the shape, using your width and ignoring the height you typed. That is the tool refusing to distort the picture, not a bug.
To get an exact 1584 x 396 you have two choices. Uncheck Lock aspect ratio and the tool resizes to precisely those numbers, squashing the photo to do it. Or crop to the shape first, then resize, which keeps the photo looking right.
Crop to the shape first, then resize
Cropping decides which part of the photo you keep; resizing sets the final pixels. Do them in that order and nothing gets distorted:
- Open Crop Image. For the banner, drag out a wide, shallow strip, or type an exact width and height in a 4:1 proportion (for example 1584 x 396, or any multiple of it). Aim to keep your subject and any text in the middle, where the phone crop cannot reach it.
- Once the crop matches the target shape, resizing to the exact pixels no longer distorts anything, because the shape already fits. Feed the crop into Resize Image and set the width. Our walkthrough of resizing for Facebook uses the same crop-then-resize idea on that platform's slots, and what aspect ratio means explains why the shape is the real decision.
The profile photo is a circle, not a square
LinkedIn stores your profile photo as a square but displays it inside a circle, so the four corners are always clipped. Crop to a square with your face centred and a little breathing room, and nothing important lands in a corner. Crop to Square locks the box to 1:1 for you, then resize the result to 400 x 400 or larger. Because a LinkedIn square feed image is the same 1080 x 1080 as an Instagram one, Resize for Instagram's square preset also hands you a ready square post file, since the pixels do not know which network they are headed to. If you want to understand that 1:1 target on its own, our guide on resizing to 1080x1080 covers it.
Don't over-compress before you upload
LinkedIn re-compresses images you upload, so sending an already heavily-compressed file means it gets compressed twice and the result looks worse than if you had uploaded a clean image and let LinkedIn do it once. Resize to sensible pixels, keep quality high, and stop there. Only reach for Compress Image if an export is genuinely huge and slow to upload, not to chase a small file for its own sake, since LinkedIn's limits are generous (up to 8 MB on a profile photo or banner).
FAQ
What size should a LinkedIn banner be?
1584 x 396 pixels, a 4:1 ratio. Keep anything readable inside a centred zone of about 1200 x 300, because phones crop roughly 15 to 20 percent off each side.
Why does my LinkedIn banner look stretched?
Because you resized a normal-shaped photo straight to 1584 x 396, which crushes it sideways into the strip. Crop to a wide 4:1 strip first, then resize to the exact pixels.
What size is a LinkedIn profile photo?
Square, 400 x 400 or larger, shown inside a circle. Keep your face centred and the corners empty, since the circular crop clips them.
Can I resize to an exact width and height?
Yes. Uncheck Lock aspect ratio in Resize Image to force exact dimensions. It will distort the photo when the new shape differs from the original, so crop to that shape first when you care how it looks.