Why is my profile picture blurry on Facebook

Hello beautiful reader, I am glad that you are here again to get some logo design tips. Today I want to tell you how to use your logo on Facebook. If you feel that this is too basic for you, you are free to leave now but you'll never get to know why you have a blurry profile picture.

Make a great first impression

Your cover and profile picture on your Facebook site is a very important marketing element. And I would say that it is a good (actually crucial) thing to keep your profile clean and professional. Don't forget that you only have one attempt to make a great first impression.

Basic facts about Facebook profile pictures

It is a matter of fact that social media platforms (including Facebook) are forever changing the image sizes and formats. Facebook itself says that your page’s profile picture:

1. displays at 170x170 pixels on your page on computers,
2. 128x128 pixels on smartphones
3. and 36x36 pixels on most feature phones.

And Facebook even says that: For profile pictures and cover photos with your logo or text, you may get a better result by using a PNG file. There used to be a huge difference in displaying quality between png and jpg files but I think that it is much better today. But if Facebook itself recommends uploading png I would stick with their advice.

Uploading your profile picture (your logo)

There are several things to think about when you upload your profile picture on Facebook.

The first one is dimensions. Facebook says that your profile picture will be displayed as a 170x170 pixels square. But that doesn't mean that you should upload 170x170 pixels file. You get a blurry and a really bad profile picture if you do so. I recommend to upload a 600x600 pixels file to get a nice and sharp result.

The second one is the file format. Since Facebook admits that you can get better results with png files it is pretty self explanatory that I recommend to upload a png file to get a nice and sharp result. There are online tools that can help you convert your jpg file to png.

The third thing is to keep in mind that you profile picture (logo) needs some breathing space, the bigger doesn't always mean the merrier. It means that your logo needs a safety area around itself to ensure visibility and maximum impact. Open your logo manual to find out what a logo safe area for your logo is (your designer should have sent you that) and set your profile picture accordingly.

Last but not least, don't forget that your profile picture will be displayed in a circle in ads and posts. Just check out if your logo looks good in the circle as well.

Your cover picture

Facebook says that your page's cover photo:

1. displays at 820 pixels wide by 312 pixels tall on your page on computers and 640 pixels wide by 360 pixels tall on smartphones,
2. must be at least 400 pixels wide and 150 pixels tall,
3. loads fastest as an sRGB JPG file that’s 851 pixels wide, 315 pixels tall and less than 100 kilobytes

For profile pictures and cover photos with your logo or text, you may get a better result by using a PNG file.

Uploading your cover picture

I recommend to upload a picture in png file format at 1702 pixels wide and 630 pixels tall to get better results on retina displays. And I also recommend to:

1. use a unique image that represents your page,
2. be creative but keep your design simple
3. and bear in mind that a cover photo on mobile devices will be cropped (keep all the important information within the mobile safe area).

I hope you find these tips helpful and that you will get the best out of your logo on Facebook. If you want to read some more logo tips feel free to jump into the article dealing with logo design essentials.

Thank you for taking your time to read my article. I hope that you find it useful. I am looking forward to see your thoughts in the comment section below.