LinkedIn Ad Image Sizes — Single Image, Carousel, Spotlight, Message & Video

Single Image Ads

The single image ad accepts three shapes: 1200x628 horizontal (1.91:1), 1200x1200 square, and 720x900vertical (4:5). All three share a 5MB ceiling and accept JPG, PNG, or GIF — animated GIFs up to 250 frames.

• 1200x628 is the safe default: it is the same 1.91:1 crop as a link preview, so one landscape master feeds the ad and the organic post that supports it.
• 4:5 is the tallest LinkedIn allows: 720x900 recommended, 1080x1350 at the top of the accepted range. There is no 9:16 single image ad — that ratio exists for video only.
• The accepted range is enormous: horizontal images may run from 640x360 up to 7680x4320. Recommended is not required; 5MB binds long before dimensions do.
• Keep intro text to 150 characters and the headline to 70: LinkedIn truncates beyond that. The hard maximums are 3,000 and 200, which is not the same as them being readable.
• Do not burn the headline into the image: LinkedIn renders the headline field beneath the creative. Text in both places reads as a duplicate.

Carousel Ads

Carousel cards are square: 1080x1080 at a 1:1 ratio, between 2 and 10 cards, up to 10MB per cardin JPG, PNG, or non-animated GIF. The number that governs the design is not 1080 — LinkedIn scales every card to 312x312 in the feed.

• Design for 312x312, export at 1080x1080: the card is rendered at less than a third of the uploaded width. Anything that must be legible — a price, a stat, a product name — has to survive that downscale.
• Two cards minimum, ten maximum: a one-card carousel is a single image ad. Beyond ten, LinkedIn will not accept the ad.
• No animation: GIF is accepted but must be non-animated, unlike the single image ad, which allows up to 250 frames.
• 10MB per card, not per ad: double the single image ad’s budget, and it applies to each card independently.
• Cards lock on save: LinkedIn does not let you edit carousel cards once the ad is saved. Proof the whole set before you commit it.
• Each card can carry its own destination URL, though a Lead Gen Form applies across every card rather than per-card.

Spotlight Ads

Spotlight ads are a Dynamic Ad format that runs in the desktop right rail and personalises itself with the member’s own profile data. The custom background image is the one spec on this page with no tolerance at all: LinkedIn requires exactly 300x250 pixels, 2MB or less.

• Exactly 300x250 — not a minimum, not a maximum: every other image spec LinkedIn publishes is a recommendation inside a range. This one is an equality. A 600x500 background is not a high-resolution version of it; it is rejected.
• A custom background costs you two things: supplying one removes the ad description and the member’s profile image from the unit. The personalisation that makes a Spotlight ad a Spotlight ad is what you trade away.
• The logo is 100x100, JPG or PNG: that is a floor. Larger logos are reduced to 100x100, and a non-square logo is resized so its longest edge fits.
• The copy fields are short: headline 50 characters, description 70, company name 25, CTA button 18. This is the tightest text budget of any LinkedIn ad format.
• Desktop only: the right rail does not exist on mobile. A Spotlight ad reaches nobody scrolling a phone.

Message & Conversation Ads

Message Ads deliver a single sponsored message to the member’s LinkedIn inbox. The optional banner sits above the message at 300x250 maximum, 2MB or less, in JPG, PNG, or non-animated GIF — the same canvas as a Spotlight background, though here 300x250 is a ceiling rather than an exact requirement.

• The banner is desktop-only, and optional: it does not render on mobile. If you skip it, LinkedIn may show another advertiser’s banner in that slot — which is the actual argument for supplying one.
• 300x250 is a maximum here: unlike Spotlight, a smaller banner is accepted. Matching 300x250 exactly still gives you the most pixels.
• Copy limits: subject line 60 characters, message body 1,500, CTA 20. The subject line is what decides whether the message is opened at all.
• Conversation Ads use the same 300x250 banner but accept JPG or PNG only, and branch into multiple CTA buttons rather than one.
• EU targeting is available again: LinkedIn restored EU targeting for Sponsored Messaging in October 2024, serving only members who have consented to inbox ads and who can withdraw that consent in their privacy settings.

Video Ads

Video ads are MP4 only, between 75KB and 500MB, under 30 frames per second, and from 3 seconds to 30 minutes long — though LinkedIn recommends 15 to 30 seconds. Unlike single image ads, video does support 9:16.

• 1920x1080 caps the 16:9 lane: LinkedIn does not accept 4K video ads. Uploading a 3840x2160 master will fail rather than downscale.
• The thumbnail is JPG or PNG under 2MB, and must match the video’s aspect ratio and resolution. A 16:9 thumbnail on a 4:5 video will not do.
• 75KB is a floor: a video compressed below it is rejected. This catches very short, very flat animations more often than you would expect.
• Under 30fps, not 30fps: LinkedIn states less than 30 frames per second. Export at 24 or 29.97 rather than a clean 30.
• Caption it: feed video autoplays muted. SRT captions are text-only and are the difference between a silent ad and an unintelligible one.

Why LinkedIn Ad Sizes Matter for CTR

The LinkedIn feed column is a fixed width. Once you pick an aspect ratio you have picked how much vertical space your ad occupies, because height is just that width divided by the ratio. That is arithmetic rather than a performance claim — but it is the mechanism behind every “go square, go vertical” recommendation you have read.

Beyond feed real estate, the specs shape click-through in four concrete ways. Note that LinkedIn’s advertising specifications themselves publish no click-through rate figure for any image size — so the percentages that circulate in size guides are not sourced here. What follows is what the specs actually determine.

• The wrong ratio gets cropped, not letterboxed: LinkedIn fits your image to the slot. A logo or CTA near the edge of a mismatched creative is simply gone by the time anyone sees it.
• Carousel cards render at 312x312: a headline that is legible in your 1080x1080 export can be illegible at the size it actually ships. Set type for the render size, not the file size.
• Truncation is a design constraint: 150 characters of intro text and a 70-character headline is what a reader sees before “see more.” The click happens above that fold or not at all.
• File-size limits are compression limits: 5MB for a single image, 2MB for a Spotlight background or Message banner. Overshoot and you are trusting LinkedIn’s compressor with the fine type in your creative.
• Format is not decoration: PNG holds flat colour, screenshots, and text-heavy creative without artefacting. JPG at the same file size will smear the exact edges a reader needs to parse a chart or a UI.

Frequently Asked Questions