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How-to

Create a Facebook Cover Photo in Under 2 Minutes

Stencil makes designing professional Facebook cover photos fast and easy. No design skills necessary.

Create A Facebook Cover
Facebook Cover Photo

Creating the Perfect Facebook Cover Image

When someone arrives at your Facebook Page, the first thing they see is your Facebook cover photo — a huge image that takes up almost a quarter of your screen. It introduces your brand to potential Facebook followers and sets the tone for their interaction with you, so it can make or break your Facebook marketing efforts. A good cover photo will encourage people to follow you, interact with your page and visit your website, while a bad one will have them tapping “Back” before you can say “Facebook.”

So what’s the best way to create a great Facebook cover photo -- and make the most out of it?

This article will show you how to easily create that perfect cover photo for your business and give you some great Facebook cover photo templates to get started!

Facebook Cover Photo Size

Facebook cover photos are displayed at 820 pixels wide by 312 pixels tall on desktops, and 640 pixels wide by 360 pixels tall on smartphones. You must have a minimum size of 400 x 150 pixels.

For images with a logo or text, using a PNG file is the best option.

Keep in mind that if your cover image is too big, Facebook will crop it, and if the image is too small, it might look stretched and pixelated.

If you want a no-hassle way to make sure your cover photos are the right size, use our Facebook Cover Image pre-set size to ensure they look great on all devices.

Facebook Cover Safe Area

Important Note: In Stencil, we use a slightly different size for the Facebook Cover Image: 820px x 360px These dimensions use the Facebook recommended desktop width and mobile height. By doing this you can use our "Safe Area" feature to create a single image that will look perfect on all devices.

Creating Facebook Cover Photos: Best Practices

A great Facebook cover image should grab attention and encourage people to take action on your page. It's the very first thing they see when visiting your Facebook page, so it's a huge opportunity to make a great impression. Here are some things you should keep in mind when creating your cover photo:

Follow Facebook's cover photo guidelines

If you’re caught violating Facebook’s guidelines, Facebook might take action against your page. While it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the complete list of their policies, here are a few important things to keep in mind:

  • Your cover must not be deceptive or misleading in any way.
  • Make sure you’re not infringing on anyone’s copyright.
  • You can't ask people to upload your cover to their personal timelines for advertising purposes.

Make it relevant to your brand

Your Facebook page is an extension of your business, so it's important to keep things familiar right off the bat. Use memorable imagery with colors that reflect your brand to make sure visitors know they're on the right page.

Don't worry about the old '20% text' rule, but still try to stay visual

The old "20% text" rule doesn't apply to cover images anymore, but it's typically best to avoid using too much text or graphics.

Match your Facebook cover photo with your profile picture

A Facebook cover photo that matches with the profile picture looks professional and makes a great first impression.

Show what’s behind your brand

You may want to show your followers what’s going on behind-the-scenes and introduce them to your enthusiastic and friendly team. Or you may demonstrate how they can make the most out of your offering by showing your current customers using your products.

Advertise your upcoming events or special offers

If you have an event coming up soon or you are running a promotion, be sure to feature them in your cover photo.

Join over 390,000 others and create your first Facebook Cover image in under 2 minutes (No designer required!)

Create your first image

Creating Facebook Cover Photos with Stencil Is Fast and Easy

The old way of creating a cover image for your Facebook page was hunting down complicated Photoshop templates, sifting through the layers and figuring out where to put graphics so they appear on all devices. Or worse, having to hire an expensive designer to do this for you.

With Stencil, it's dead simple and there's no design experience required.

With our Facebook Cover Image preset canvas size, we show you exactly where the "Safe Area" is, so you can be sure none of your image gets cut off. Here are just a few ways Stencil makes creating a cover for Facebook easier than ever:

No more hunting for the correct image sizes. Use our Facebook Cover Image preset size and save tons of time.
Our "Safe Area" overlay shows you exactly where to safely place graphics so that they appear properly on all devices.
Upload your own backgrounds or choose from millions of amazing stock photos.
Easily add your logo to your Facebook cover photo and download in high-resolution PNG, JPG or GIF
Pick from 6,050+ Google Web fonts that are safe to use in any of your cover images.

Here Are Some Examples of Facebook Cover Photos You Can Create With Stencil

Create a Professional Facebook Cover Photo in 4 Easy Steps

In less than 2 minutes, you'll have a beautiful Facebook Cover that will look amazing on all devices. Here's how to do it in Stencil:

1

Open Stencil and choose the Facebook Cover canvas size

First thing you'll want to do is select "Facebook Cover" from the Stencil canvas resizer. You can also start by using one of our Facebook Cover templates, found in the Templates section.

2

Choose a background photo or upload your own

Choose from over 5,000,000 photos for the main image in your cover or upload your own to the Uploads section. Use our "Safe Area" guide to see where parts of the image will appear on all devices.

3

Add your logo and any display text you want to include

Make sure to keep your text either centered or more to the right so your Facebook profile image doesn't overlap.

4

You're done!

It's that easy. Now all you need to do is download your image and upload it to your Facebook account.

How to Upload Facebook Cover Photos

Now that you’ve created an amazing cover photo, all you have to do is upload it to your Facebook page. Here’s how:

  1. Go to your Facebook business page and hover over the cover photo space at the top.
  2. Click Add a Cover in the top left corner.
  3. Click Upload Photo/Video and select the photo you’ve just created.
  4. You can adjust the cover photo by dragging it up or down.
  5. Click Publish.

Brands Who Got It Right: Facebook Cover Photo Examples

Nike Facebook Cover Oreo Facebook Cover Adidas Facebook Cover Zendesk Facebook Cover

Frequently Asked Questions

You can use Stencil by visiting our in-page app or can you install the Chrome Extension, Firefox Add-on, or WordPress Plugin. With our browser addons, you can highlight text anywhere or right-click images on the web to create amazing visuals on-the-go!

Absolutely! All of the photos and icons in Stencil are royalty-free and safe to use! They are sourced from trusted providers and can be used personally or commercially, with no attribution required. Some examples include social media graphics, blog/website images, ads, posters, t-shirts, eBooks...or practically anything. For more detailed information on usage, learn more.

Of course! We offer dozens of preset canvas sizes, 1,350+ templates and many other ways to create images for almost any medium.

Pick a plan that makes the most sense for you and sign up! We offer a 7-day money back guarantee on all plans, so there's no risk at all to give Stencil a try.

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