1 Thing This Week: master ideal image sizes

1 thing this week - blog graphic.jpg


Take a bare 10 minutes to familiarize yourself with the different aspects of image sizes and dimensions - how big a given image is, whether that's small or big in the general scheme of things and how to check if it's the right kind of size for what you want to do with it.


You don't need to become an image expert, but by having a vague notion of whether your images are an ok size, you can save yourself problems later on. Image files that are very big will slow computers down and are responsible for many of the "slow websites" I see in my business.

Outsize image dimensions get squished and stretched online as websites struggle to make them fit in the place they need to go and can make the final image you see look distorted or blurry.


Easily done in 10 minutes - and save this post so you can refer back to it on the go.


First of all, open some tools.

Find where you store images on your computer. On Windows, this will be File Explorer and on Mac, Finder. 

Make sure you can see the file details

  • On Mac, you'll see them by single-clicking on a file. They'll show up in the space to the right.
  • On Windows, File Explorer > View > Details.

Now, open up an article like this, or any other updated article that gives you details of ideal image sizes for various networks.

What you're looking for

  • Anything bigger than 100KB is too big unless it's a large image that is supposed to take up a great deal of the page. In that case, make sure it's no larger than 500KB. If your image ever migrates into MB or GB, it is WAY too big!
  • It's a blunt instrument, but in my experience, anything less than 500x in one direction will be too small, and anything larger than 2000x in any direction is approaching too big, BUT...

    Good quality images, whether you download them or take them yourself, are usually much, much bigger than this. There's nothing wrong with them, per se, they're just too unwieldy to use online without some editing. If you have no other information to use to make a decision about what the size should be, try 1200 x 800. It works for me 90% of the time.

  • Have a look at the images you have saved on your computer. Are they an acceptable size? Have you uploaded them anywhere? Was the upload a reasonable size? Do you need to change it (remove the image, and re-upload a smaller version)? Download some new images. Are they a good size, or should you look for a smaller version?


If you need to make changes to the size of an image, use Photoshop or a free tool like Landscape.

Reducing the size of the dimensions will usually also reduce the file size, but if the file is still too big, try saving (or downloading) as .JPG instead of .PNG, or reducing the "quality" or "resolution" option until the size becomes more reasonable.

The ideal situation is that you download from a site like Pexels.com that gives you the option to download a smaller version of the image, so you don't have to make any changes at all.

Need more help?

We can provide consulting (we'll tell you how to do it!), outsourcing (we'll do it for you!) or mentoring (you'll do it, and we'll give you feedback!). It's remote or in person, it's equally effective): send me a message or call me.