Prepare images for social posts

Social Media uses images from Your images. Adding an image to a post does not copy it: the post refers to the image in Your images, and each account receives a prepared copy in its own shape when the post goes out. The image in Your images is never changed, and prepared copies are not added to it.

Adding images to a post

On a post, select Add images to choose images from your library or upload new ones; uploads go to Your images. Images you upload are selected for you. Select Add 2 images to post (it shows your count) at the top right of the picker to put the selected images on the post. Use in Social Media in Your images and in Quick Transfer, after a photo is saved to Your images, opens the image in Social Media.

A post can use your own images, images already used in another post of the same team, and images in the team's Brand Kits.

Each image on a post shows its description, which you can edit in place, and its size in pixels. Images are posted in the order shown. With more than one image, drag an image by the grip at its left, or use Move up and Move down, to change the order.

The post preview in each account's section shows the images the way Bluesky and Mastodon lay out several: one at its own shape, two side by side, three as one large and two small, four in a grid. The preview is approximate.

Focal point

Bluesky, Mastodon, LinkedIn and X get each image in its original shape, so a post that goes only to them has nothing to crop and shows no cropping settings. When an account crops images to a shape, such as Instagram, the post's Images section names it, and each image is shown larger with its cropping settings.

Click the part of the image to keep in every crop. Every shape that crops the image keeps that point as close to the middle as the image allows. With the image selected, the arrow keys move the point.

The focal point set in Social Media → Images belongs to the image and is used by every post that adds it later. Only the person who uploaded the image can change it there. Setting the focal point on a post changes it for that post only.

Crop or show the whole image

Crop to fill the shape fills the shape and crops what does not fit, around the focal point. Show the whole image shows the whole image and fills the rest of the shape with a background colour. Images are never stretched.

The section of an account that crops images has Image shape, such as Square or Portrait 4:5; Instagram's shapes are all cropped. An account that was set to a cropped shape also shows Image shape, so it can go back to Original shape. Original shape keeps the image's proportions and scales it down to at most 2,000 pixels on its longest side. Prepared copies are JPEG files with their metadata removed. For Bluesky, copies are made smaller than Bluesky's file size limit.

Images

Social Media → Images lists images used in the selected team's posts and images you added, most recently used or added first, then images in the team's Brand Kits.

Add images opens Your images, where you can choose images or upload new ones; drag in several files or select several in the file picker to upload them together. The images you add are listed at the top. Each gets the tag Social Media in Your images, so images you added appear on this list in every team you open. Remove from Social Media removes the tag. The image stays in Your images, and an image used in a post stays listed while the post uses it.

Use in a new post starts a post with that image.

Shapes

Opening an image in Social Media → Images shows it with its focal point and description, then a preview of it in every shape, with the platforms that use each one. The previews are not added to Your images. Download saves that shape as a file. Open in Design Canvas creates a design of that size with the image filling it, where text or a logo can be added. In the design's Export panel, Save Page to Images (or Save selection to Images) saves a PNG to Your images, where Add images on a post can choose it.

The story shape shows shaded areas at the top and bottom where platform buttons and captions often cover the image. They are approximate; platforms change their layouts.

Image descriptions

An image's description (often called alt text) says what the image shows. Screen readers read it aloud, and it is shown when an image cannot load. Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn receive it with the image. The description saved on the image in Social Media → Images is the one posts start with when they add it; changing it on a post changes it for that post only.

For help, see Contact support.