Multiple Versions: Facebook will actually create multiple versions of your image (similar to website platforms like Squarespace) so that it can serve the version that’s ‘good enough’ for each device. In this case, 2000px is ‘good enough’ as larger images will simply take up more space in the database and take longer to load with no additional benefit. Therefore, the image can be reduced to about 2000 pixels wide, and still look identical to the original. Good Enough: Image Sizeįacebook displays images at a maximum of around 2000 pixels. An MP3 only contains about 10% of the original track, which is why they are so small - but to every person using Apple Music or other Streaming service they are the ‘Good Enough’. ‘Good Enough’ does not mean ‘identical’ it means that for most purposes, they are the same. So, in summary, in a Facebook post, it will look about the same as the original. exactly? Well, there is no strict definition, but it means that the image is acceptably similar in quality to the original, when viewed at the resolution Facebook will deliver the image at. But the boffins in San José write the algorithms so the the images are still ‘Good Enough’. This saves storage space and makes images load quickly, but can produce unwanted artefacts when done to the extremeįacebook WILL resize AND compress your images. Use an algorithm, like JPEG, to reduce not the size but the amount of data the image takes up in bytes. It’s not usually a good idea to increase image size as you do not gain anything - you can’t create image detail which does not exist.Ĭompress. But even as a digital image, if the size is reduced too much you can see pixels in the image. We generally make images smaller for electronic use because you do not need the full size. Change the resolution by making the image smaller or bigger in pixel size. So let's look at what happens to your images when you upload them.įirstly, for those at the back, some definitions: How are the images manipulated at Facebook HQ? If it looks pixelated, then that’s what you uploaded. BUT - what you get out will be virtually the same quality as the image you put in. They are getting manipulated, processed, resized and compressed every time. This is important: there is no magic resolution or quality setting that will mean your images are not touched. That’s because it’s not the file uploaded - it’s been generated ‘on the fly’! Have you noticed that the filename of a downloaded file is nothing like the filename you uploaded. Then all that happens is the internal (clever) format is converted into a. In fact, the only time Facebook will even use JPEG is when you ‘download’ an image from Facebook. But if you don’t need to worry about compatibility (like an internal Facebook database) then you can use whatever technology you want. So why does JPEG hang around? Because everyone uses it, simple as that. All this content needs to be retrieved immediately, so the images are not stored in a big folder at Facebook HQ as we would do on our machines, but instead they are inserted into a database for instant access.įacebook probably doesn’t even store images as JPEGs given that this technology is 20 years old and more modern algorithms do a much better job. How DO they store images then?įacebook is, fundamentally, a huge database with countless posts, images, videos all being added by billions of people every day. So on that basis alone, Facebook affecting images negatively in any substantive way would clearly be crazy. The last thing they would want to do is to make these images soft, compressed or pixelated as this would harm the perceived quality of the whole platform, reduce advert revenue and everything else. as it means a limitless supply of high quality content. It is also the most widely used platform for sharing professional photos, which s is good news for Mr Zuckerberg and Co. Let’s be logical about it…įacebook is the biggest and most successful social networking platform on the planet. In this article I will explain why this is totally untrue, where this myth comes from and how to maximise the quality of your photos for Facebook. We’ve all heard photographers complaining about the dreadful quality of their images and feel that their best masterpieces are not getting the number of pixels they deserves to be shown in all their glory. Almost all photographers from beginner to professional use Facebook to share images.
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