Why social images look blurry after upload, and how to export them
Sharp on your computer, soft on the feed. Platforms resize anything that is not their size and recompress every upload. How to give them less to damage: the right size, the right format, and the setting on your phone.
Beginner2 min readUpdated 27 September 2026Editor · Presets, Export
The causes, most common first
| Cause | What you see | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Wrong size | Soft all over, especially text | Start from the platform preset; export at 1× |
| JPG on top of JPG | Blocks and halos around text and edges | PNG for graphics; one JPG save only, at 90 per cent or higher |
| Screenshot or messaged copy | Soft and slightly off in colour | Upload the exported file itself |
| Small text | Letters smear into each other | 36 px minimum on a 1080 px canvas; 48 px or more for anything important |
| App upload setting | Everything uploaded from the phone is soft | Turn off data saver; turn on the highest upload quality if the app offers it |
| Photo was upscaled into the design | Photo soft, text sharp | Use a larger original; see the resolution check |
Export for a feed
- Start from the preset for the platform on the Editor start screen, or check the design size in the status bar.
- Press Ctrl+E. Choose PNG if the design is mostly text, shapes and flat colour; JPG if it is mostly photo. Set JPG quality to 90 or more.
- Choose 1×. Larger exports are resized down by the platform, which softens text more than a correct size does.
- Send the file to your phone as a file (AirDrop, a cloud folder, email to yourself as an attachment), not through a chat app, which recompresses it first.
Should I upload at 2× for a sharper result?
Usually not. The platform resizes it down to its own size, and its resizer is tuned for speed rather than for your text. Exact size at 1× is the safest.
Why is my Facebook cover blurry but my posts are fine?
Covers are shown at different sizes on desktop and phone and are resized for each. Use a 1640 × 624 PNG with large text away from the edges, so the resize has little fine detail to smear.
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