What is the ideal image size for the cover photo?

[Drexl]

I can't seem to figure out what the best dimensions to upload are. I tried maximizing the browser and measuring the resulting banner image which comes up 1570x200, but the image appears stretched then. Also, the lowest ratio possible with these two numbers is 157:20 which is just a weird ratio not used anywhere that I can tell so I'm guessing that's not intentional. What dimensions or ratio should I be targeting?

[CookieTheLabrador]

2 minutes ago, Drexl said:

I can't seem to figure out what the best dimensions to upload are. I tried maximizing the browser and measuring the resulting banner image which comes up 1570x200, but the image appears stretched then. Also, the lowest ratio possible with these two numbers is 157:20 which is just a weird ratio not used anywhere that I can tell so I'm guessing that's not intentional. What dimensions or ratio should I be targeting?

What are you using it for?

[Drexl]

I'm not sure I understand your question. I'm using it for the profile banner on these forums. When you view someone's profile there is a banner at the top. I've been toying around with several temporary images trying to find the ideal size but can't figure it out. I want to know the best dimensions so I can find or make an image that looks nice.

 

Edit: So technically it's called a cover photo I guess. I'll update the topic to be more specific.

[Oshino Shinobu]

Looks to be about 8:1. Resolution will change depending on the monitor resolution you're looking at it from. On my 4K screen the banner is technically more pixels than on my 1080p screen. In general, the more pixels, the better. 

[CookieTheLabrador]

Just now, Drexl said:

I'm not sure I understand your question. I'm using it for the profile banner on these forums. When you view someone's profile there is a banner at the top. I've been toying around with several temporary images trying to find the ideal size but can't figure it out. I want to know the best dimensions so I can find or make an image that looks nice.

Ohh, now I understand. Sorry, I'm a bit of a newbie. Try 2560x423, that's for YouTube but should work around here

[Drexl]

@Oshino Shinobu Thanks. I'll focus on images near that ratio then.

[LogicalDrm]

 

[Drexl]

@LoGiCalDrm where do you get that number? I know I said that in my OP, but I found evidence to suggest that isn't the actual resolution as did @Oshino Shinobu.

[Oshino Shinobu]

53 minutes ago, Drexl said:

@LoGiCalDrm where do you get that number? I know I said that in my OP, but I found evidence to suggest that isn't the actual resolution as did @Oshino Shinobu.

Colonel Mortis is one of the lead developers for the forum, I would take what he says. 1570x200 is about 8:1. The aspect ratio is what's important. 

[vanished]

54 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Colonel Mortis is one of the lead developers for the forum, I would take what he says. 1570x200 is about 8:1. The aspect ratio is what's important. 

The problem is if you resize your browser window, the shape changes greatly so there is actually no ideal size as far as I can tell.

[LogicalDrm]

1 hour ago, Drexl said:

@LoGiCalDrm where do you get that number? I know I said that in my OP, but I found evidence to suggest that isn't the actual resolution as did @Oshino Shinobu.

Like said, Mortis is forum dev. I just linked to last thread asking about this question.

[colonel_mortis]

When displayed on any display with more than 1660 logical horizontal pixels, it should displayed at 1570x200. If you use a display that has DPI scaling (such as any mobile device, or if you use browser or operating system level zoom), those 1660 logical pixels will take up more than 1660 actual pixels, so you can benefit from using a higher resolution image. If you view it on a smaller screen, the image will retain 100% width, but will be scaled vertically, such as

 

I can find no server side code to scale the cover photo - as far as I can see, the image you upload will be displayed unmodified on your profile, aside from the offset that you add. If you upload a 1570px wide image, it should be displayed completely unscaled when viewing at 100% zoom on a 1080p+ monitor.

[Drexl]

Hmm, interesting. That's a very odd resolution, but it is what it is. Thanks everyone!