Reddit has slowly grown into a massive community discussion social media platform with millions of users around the globe. As more people flock to the site, the first thing they try to do is personalize their profile. However, most of them are unaware of the ideal Reddit banner size, profile picture size, and other dimensions.
While you can start using Reddit off the bat, including making posts and commenting on subreddits; it’s always best to first set up your profile.
At times, people tend to see a Redditor’s comment and instantly want to check out their profile. If you’re consistent with your posts, have a personalized profile, and carved a niche for yourself, there’s a good chance people will follow you or start chatting with you.
In this article, we’ll go over the recommended Reddit banner size, along with some tips on designing one for your Reddit profile.
Let’s dive right in.
Table of Contents
What’s the Recommended Reddit Banner Size?
The ideal dimensions for a Reddit banner image are:
- 1920×384 pixels (192px) for the Large banner size, at an aspect ratio of 5:1
- 1920×256 pixels (128px)for the Medium banner, at an aspect ratio of 7.5:1
- 1920×128 pixels (64px) for the Small banner, at an aspect ratio of 15:1
These are the banner sizes and aspect ratios recommended by Reddit for their primary subreddit banners.
Unless you have a very small and niche community, we would suggest that you opt for the large banner image size.
NOTE: According to some users, the large-sized image window is not fitting images automatically. Users have to raise the images 4-8 pixels higher from the center of the image, to get them to fit in the central position.
Additional Reddit Dimensions You Need to Know
Not surprisingly, the banner image is not the only visual representation you have to adjust if you want to make an impact within your community and on potential members.
Here are some additional image dimension specs you need to know:
- Community Avatar: 256×256 pixels with a maximum size of 64kb
- Body Background: 4000×4000 pixels with a maximum size of 5MB (unless there’s tiling)
- Image Widgets: 312 pixels wide with a maximum size of 5MB
- Emoji: 128×128 pixels with a maximum size of 64kb
- Post (link preview placeholder): 80×60 pixels with a maximum size of 64kb
Since there is a lot of variance in the actual size of a post, tiling is recommended for post background.
Tips for Creating a Great Reddit Banner
Reddit hosts a variety of communities on its platforms, all of which exist for their members, but also compete for the number of members in a way.
Everyone wants to grow their discussion-based community, and having great banner images is one way to do that.
Banners give the potential member an idea of what the discussions going on will be like. They sometimes are the reason why some of the 52 million daily users choose to join or reject a community.
Here are some tips on how to create an engaging Reddit banner image.
1. Add Elements Relevant to Your Niche
Your banner reflects the website ideas and thoughts being dispersed inside your subreddit. It’s what displays your intentions with the group and the idea behind why you thought it necessary for there to be a group about that specific topic.
To that end, banners are a visual representation of your thoughts and are one of the indicators that a subreddit is a worthy community for a potential member to join.
This is why your banner should definitely have elements and graphics that reflect your thoughts and intentions for the group. This will not only give the members an idea of what the group is about, but a well-designed banner will also show them that the community has a pro behind it.
2. Brand the Banner (If Relevant)
Brands are now recognizing Reddit as the marketing goldmine it is, with all of the users on it daily. Brands such as Little Caesar’s Pizza have all seen the potential that the platform has.
In case you have a brand that you want to promote and base discussions around, it’s better to have a branded community, the first aspect of which would be a branded banner image.
Just like an album cover, a branded banner would be designed with the typical imagery aspects of the brand such as the color, composition, typography, and more. Just make sure to keep the design EXACTLY like what your brand already displays, to avoid confusion.
3. Utilize the Width Instead of the Height
Most banner images for online platforms are in landscape orientation. This is to create a frame for the primary content on their pages. Reddit is no different.
Width is actually a better visual asset to have since the human eye naturally sees in this orientation and registers a lot more information on the horizontal plane, as compared to the vertical one.
Use the width of the banner to add elements relevant to the conversation and compose them in a way that they immediately register to the visitor’s eyes. Additionally, if you want written content in it, use fonts that don’t take away from the rest of the elements.
4. Keep Your Design Simple and Easy to Comprehend
Perhaps the most important tip of all – keep your banner simple and easy to understand, even for someone who has never been on Reddit before.
Uniformity is a huge concept in the design world at the moment and a simple design across all of the images on a platform lends cohesion to the message behind the images.
To build a simpler design, use fewer elements and try to compose them towards the sides of the image. Make sure to use a similar composition for all of your pictures on Reddit.
Designing Your Reddit Banner Using Pixelied
While images are important to both your brand and your community, not everyone has the tech or technical skills to create a design from scratch.
For this, we have Pixelied and its huge range of design templates, elements, image ideas, and other creative options.
Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to design your Reddit banner using Pixelied.
Step One – Open Pixelied’s Editor
Open up Pixelied’s easy-to-use editor on the Pixelied website.
At this point, you have a huge array of filters and settings you can play with. However, you should stick to the recommended image sizes, especially on Reddit since there are strict community guidelines on the platform.
Step Two – Edit Your Banner Using Different Design Elements
Add elements to your image to give it more life and make it feel active instead of bland.
You can add vector designs, watercolor illustrations, lines, shapes, photos, stick figures, and even 2D characters to your image.
Furthermore, you can also use other editing elements like illustrations, text boxes, custom blends, personal brand assets, and more. You can also play around with things like opacity, borders, shadows, and other options.
NOTE: Since Reddit is focused on discussions, it’s important to not make the banner stand out so much that it becomes all people ever talk about. Keep the image simple and sweet!
Step Three – Download Your New Reddit Banner
Once you’re done creating your ideal banner, you can download it by clicking on the ‘Download‘ button on the top-right corner of the editor screen.
Pixelied gives you the option of downloading your banner in various formats, including JPG/JPEG and PNG. JPG is recommended since it’s a well-supported format and it loads quicker.
However, in case aesthetics are important to you and you want lossless compression of images, PNG is the way to go. Since Reddit supports both formats, it’s up to you whether you want to go with looks or faster functionality.
How Do I Upload My Reddit Banner?
Here is the step-by-step process of uploading a Reddit banner.
- Go to the subreddit
- Look for Moderator Tools in the sidebar
- Click on Subreddit Settings
- Scroll down to Look and Feel
- Click on Upload Header Image (The Choose File box may appear different depending on the browser you use)
- Choose the new image file from your computer and click on Done or Upload
Once done, the upload button will disappear and a message saying Uploading will come on the screen.
Refresh the page to see the new banner!
Bottom Line
When it comes to adding images, the biggest mistake that people make is not following the instructions regarding the recommended size. What happens is, platforms adjust images according to their specs and the picture ends up being badly cropped.
This is why it’s important to always follow the size recommendations when creating banner images. Plus, with Pixelied, you can have the design aspect taken care of, letting you concentrate on other important specifications.
Start designing your custom images on Pixelied and see the difference a professional online design tool makes. Not only will your images look like they were designed by a pro, but you can sync your design across all platforms. Meanwhile, keep important information like the ideal Reddit banner size in mind.
