Image-quality guide
Why does an image look blurry after posting?
A sharp original can look softer online because the social platform creates its own processed version. You can reduce avoidable damage, but you cannot prevent every platform from recompressing an upload.
Last reviewed: 31 August 2026
The platform usually changes the file
Social services optimize images for fast delivery across many screen sizes and network conditions. After upload, a platform may resize the picture, reduce its file size, convert its format, create several display versions or sharpen it differently. The file shown in a feed is therefore often not the exact file you uploaded.
Common reasons for visible softness
- The dimensions do not match the placement. A platform must resize or crop the file again.
- The source is too small. Enlarging a small picture can smooth edges but cannot recreate missing detail.
- The file has already been compressed several times. Repeatedly saving a JPG can accumulate artifacts around edges and text.
- The wrong format was chosen. JPG usually suits photographs, while PNG often preserves screenshots, text and flat graphics more cleanly.
- The preview is not the final published version. Some services initially display a lower-resolution preview while processing completes.
The useful target is not the largest possible file. It is a clean file with an aspect ratio and pixel size that are appropriate for the intended placement.
A practical preparation workflow
- Begin with the highest-quality original available.
- Select the actual destination format: story, vertical feed, square, landscape or another placement.
- Adjust the crop yourself instead of letting the social platform choose the important area.
- Check that captions and fine text remain readable at phone-screen size.
- Use JPG for a normal photograph, PNG for graphics or sharp text, and WebP only when the destination accepts it.
- Avoid repeatedly downloading, editing and resaving the same compressed file.
What Gecko PostPrep can help with
Gecko PostPrep creates separate versions for the publishing formats you select. Each version can have its own crop, position, captions and watermark. This reduces unnecessary automatic cropping and gives you a chance to inspect the result before upload.
If a selected output is larger than the available source area, PostPrep warns that enlargement is required. Smoothing can reduce jagged edges, but no image tool can recover detail that the original never contained.
What it cannot control
After the prepared file leaves your device, the destination platform decides how it is stored and displayed. Platform processing can change over time and may differ between feeds, previews, messages and profile images. PostPrep cannot guarantee identical pixels after publication.
Prepare the crop before uploading
Create the correct versions locally and inspect each one before saving.
Open Gecko PostPrep →