Uploading high quality photos and videos to Facebook can be frustrating when the platform compresses your files. Pixelated or blurry images lose visual impact, fail to convey your intended message, and reflect poorly on your brand or profile. Fortunately, you can take steps to optimize your uploads for the best possible quality on Facebook.
Why Does Facebook Reduce Upload Quality?
Facebook compresses images and videos for a few key reasons:
- To save bandwidth and storage space on their servers
- To reduce file sizes so content loads faster for users
- To create a more uniform viewing experience across devices and connections
Their algorithms balance visual quality with practical constraints. Photos over 2048 pixels wide or tall will be scaled down. Videos longer than 1GB or 20 minutes will be condensed.
Tips to Improve Image Quality
Upload High Resolution Photos
Supply larger, higher resolution source files so Facebook has more data to work with. Use the best camera available to you and shoot at the maximum settings. Image sensors and megapixel count determine how much detail is captured.
Clean your camera lens and pay attention to focus, framing, lighting, and composition. A sharply focused, properly exposed photo will achieve better results than a grainy, distorted, or blurry shot.
Edit and Touch Up Photos
Post-process your photos before uploading them. Cropping, color correction, sharpening, noise reduction, and compression optimization will help them retain quality. Avoid over-processing like excessive saturation or contrast.
Save Photos as JPEG at 90% Quality
Export photos from RAW or edit them in a LOSSLESS format like PNG or TIFF first. Save your final JPEG at 90% quality instead of the default 80% – the difference is minor in file size but improves compression.
Upscale Small Images
If you only have access to lower resolution images, use photo editing software like Photoshop to increase their dimensions first. Upscale small files to around 2000 pixels on the long edge before uploading. Let Facebook scale them down for a better result.
Upload Directly Instead of Screenshots
When possible, transfer photos directly from your camera or device instead of taking screenshots which add artifacts. Use a USB, memory card, or cloud sync instead of email or messaging which recompresses attachments.
Tips for Improving Facebook Video Quality
Record High Resolution Video
Capture video at the highest settings your camera allows for maximum quality. Most smartphones now record great 4K or 1080p HD footage. DSLR or mirrorless cameras offer full HD and 4K recording modes too.
Adjust Bitrate Settings
Higher video bitrates preserve more detail but produce much bigger files. Find the optimal balance for your needs. 10-20 Mbps offers noticeably better HD quality without huge uploads. Go higher if your internet connection allows it.
Use Optimal Encoding Settings
Set your video encoder to maintain details without introducing compression artifacts. In editing software, use 2-pass VBR encoding around 15 Mbps. Minimize noise while retaining sharpness and color accuracy.
Export High Bitrate Files
When exporting final video files, choose Matroska or MP4 instead of AVI, MOV, or WMV. Stick with H.264 video codec and high bitrate. Do not re-compress needlessly before uploading.
Trim Long Videos
Facebook limits video length to 20 minutes and 1GB per file. If needed, split longer videos into parts under the threshold to avoid aggressive compression.
Upload HD Instead of SD
Never upscale standard definition video to HD. But if you have HD footage available, choose it over SD which has less data to start with. Let Facebook do the final scaling.
Facebook Upload Quality Settings
Facebook provides limited compression settings under Settings > Media Quality:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| High | Highest quality, least compression |
| Medium | Balanced quality and file size |
| Low | Maximum compression and smallest files |
Choose the highest Media Quality setting to preserve as much detail as possible. This sends Facebook the message that quality matters to you.
Check File Properties After Uploading
When your upload finishes, click the file name and look under Properties on the right side. This displays the image dimensions, file size, and other data.
Compare properties before and after uploading to see how Facebook altered your file. Depending on the change in file size, you may be able to tweak your source files to improve quality.
Analyze Compression Results
Judge the actual visual results critically. How much quality did Facebook sacrifice for faster loading? Fine details like hair, foliage, brickwork, and text suffer the most.
View photos at 100% zoom on a desktop to see artifacts. For video, watch on the largest available screen to assess loss of sharpness, color, and compression blocking.
common image compression issues:
- Pixelation and banding in gradients
- Blurring and loss of fine details
- JPEG artifacts around edges
- Increased noise and grain
- Posterization and color palette reduction
Common video compression flaws:
- Blocky pixelation in areas of detail
- Luma and chroma noise in solid colors
- Motion blur from lower frame rates
- Mosquito noise around moving subjects
- Macroblocking artifacts in sky and foliage
Try Alternate Upload Methods
If Facebook’s compression disappoints, try uploading the same images or videos via alternate methods and check if the results improve.
For example, adding media to a post or ad may retain better quality than uploading to your general Photos page. Uploading albums through Facebook on desktop may work better than mobile. Or third-party apps connected to your Facebook account may do a better job.
Request Higher Quality Versions
If you notice Facebook ruining contributions from others like event photos, politely ask them to re-upload higher resolution versions. Explain the improvement you hope to see.
Offer easy tips like shooting at maximum camera settings, exporting at 90% JPEG quality, and uploading over wifi to avoid messaging compression.
Downscale and Reupload For Quick Fix
As a quick test, download the compressed files Facebook served you, downscale them further to ~75% size, then reupload. This forces Facebook to upscale instead of downscale, avoiding double compression.
Try on either images or video. The results may be noticeably sharper, with fewer artifacts.
Use Video Thumbnails for Crisp Images
An workaround for over compressed photos is uploading them as thumbnails of videos instead. Facebook preserves thumbnails used in video posts with less harsh compression.
Simply embed your photo in a 1 second video. The quality will surpass Facebook’s usual photo optimization.
Conclusion
Facebook will always balance visual quality against performance. But you can fine-tune uploads to look better within their system constraints. Shoot, edit, export, and upload using the best settings available to you. Analyze the results and tweak your process until satisfied.
With high quality source files and optimal encoding, you can achieve great visuals on Facebook. Compression doesn’t have to ruin the hard work you put into photos and videos. A few small changes make all the difference.