What is the best image size, ratio and format?

Question

What is the best image size, ratio and format to use for the images in my survey?

Answer

Before considering image size, ratio and format, it is worth mentioning consistency.

Your images will look best in your survey if they are consistent with each other

File size

Your image file size should be 400 KB or less

Respondents will view the same file as the one uploaded to the image libary. Therefore the smaller and lighter the the better without losing image quality.

The recommended file size is 400 KB or less. The platform will warn you if you use images larger than 400 KB and will not allow you to upload a file size larger than 3MB.

File ratio

Square images ( 1 : 1 ratio ) work well for images on the platform. However the most important thing is to keep the ratios consistent for images.

File type

JPEG files work well for photos and PNG files work well for logos and simple illustrations.

The app supports any file type that a browser is able to render as an image. This includes JPEG, PNG, GIF and TIFF.

There are lots of articles on-line which will help you chose the best image file format to use such this this article by 'Design Powers' https://designpowers.com/blog/image-file-formats

Resizing images

There are many free tools which will allow you to customise the ratio and file size of your images. One such tool is Adobe Express.

These are the steps to follow to customise the ratio and file size of an image using this service.

1. Go to https://new.express.adobe.com/ and sign into your account or create one for free
2. Once you have opened an account go to the 'resize file' option as shown below.

Screenshot showing the 'Resize Image' option in Adobe Express

1. Upload your image and select 'Resize for Instagram'

Screenshot showing an image uploaded to Adobe Express being resized for Instagram

1. Centre your iamge and select 'Download'

Screenshot showing an image being altered to a square ratio

1. When you download the file you will be able to see the file size of the image. In the example below the file size is 1,183 KB which exceeds the recommended file size of 400 KB or less

Screenshot showing a downloaded image with a file size of 1,183 KB

1. To reduce the file size choose 'resize for custom' and choose a smaller width and height px. In the example below 540 px has been chosen. Download the image again.

Screenshot of an image being resized to 540 px wide and 540 px high using the 'custom' setting

1. This time the file size is 388 KB which is in line with the recommended file size for the platform

Screenshot showing a downloaded image with a file size of 388 KB