How To: Create Your Own Twitter Background

So you want to create your own background image for your twitter account, but don’t know where to start. Been there!

What’s the right size? Should it be a gradient, a photo, a logo, etc.? Should it have words? How do you avoid it looking perfect on a small screen, but screwed up on big screen, or vice versa?

Well we have a few helpful tips for you based on our experience!

1) Setting up the main background

I was lead to believe that the image should be 2560 x 1600 (about 35 x 22 inches).. WAY too big!  Then I read somewhere that recommended about 14.5 x 11 inches, still not right! After making my own measurements based on the inaccuracy of the first images, I came to the conclusion:

Perfect image size: 1700 x 900

That’s about 24” wide by 12” tall. It gives enough breathing room for large-screen monitors, showing up perfectly on both my large screen pc at home and my small screened MacBook.

We want to keep the main background simple. If you have too much going on, your image is likely to go over 800K and you won’t be able to upload it to Twitter.

Too much could also turn people away, if it is too hard on the eyes. Keep it simple.

2) Creating a Side Graphic.

When creating a background for Twitter, what we like to do is put anything worth seeing on the left side where it can be seen. This is called a side graphic, and can include a logo, important information, URLs, or anything else relevant to your account.

You have about 6 inches on either side until you reach the center portion of our twitter view, which will be covered with tweets.

2) Save it and Upload it.

You can save the file as a GIF, JPG, or PNG. But make sure it is below 800K. This may mean saving it with a high quality, at an 8, rather than maximum 10. But it will not make the image look any worse.

To upload the background, click on the link to view your profile and go to "Edit your profile" on the right side of the header. You will see 7 tabs on the left, click on "Design," scroll down to "Customize your own," and "Choose File."  You can then edit the background and links colors to match your new background, but make sure you click "Save Changes" before you leave or nothing will be saved!