One Session, Three Platforms

Shoot Wider Than You Think You Need

Cropping only ever removes pixels. If you frame tightly in-camera, every subsequent crop is a compromise; if you frame a little loose, you get to choose later.

Practically: leave a palm's width of space above your head and enough on each side that your shoulders are not touching the frame edge. It will look slightly empty on the preview screen. That emptiness is your crop budget.

The exception is if the studio only supplies fixed-crop prints - in which case ask what ratio they print at before you shoot.

Instagram: 4:5, and Why Not Square

Instagram's feed displays portrait images at 4:5, which occupies more vertical space than a square and therefore more of the viewer's screen. If you are choosing one ratio for social, choose 4:5.

Crop so your eyes sit roughly a third of the way down the frame. That is the position the eye expects and it looks composed rather than centred. Stories and Reels want 9:16, which is far taller - almost always a different crop, and often a different frame entirely.

LinkedIn: Tight, Square, Head High

Profile photos display as small circles, so anything below your chest is wasted and anything busy in the background becomes noise. Crop square, from roughly mid-chest up, with the top of your head close to the top of the frame.

Because it renders as a circle, check that the crop does not clip your ears or shoulders at the corners. Neutral backdrop, direct-to-lens gaze, minimal props. Our profile photoshoot guide covers the full brief.

Print: Leave It Alone

Print is the one output where you want the full original file at native resolution. Standard photo sizes - 4R, 5R - are close to 3:2, so a photo shot at 3:2 prints without cropping.

The mistake to avoid is printing from a file you already cropped for Instagram: you have thrown away pixels and changed the ratio, so the lab either crops again or adds borders. Always print from the original, and check the file is large enough - which we cover in resolution, file size and blurry prints.

A Five-Minute Workflow

Pick your three or four favourite originals. Duplicate each one three times. Crop copy one to 4:5, copy two to 1:1, copy three not at all. Name them clearly. Done.

Doing this once, immediately, is worth more than any editing app - it means that when you need a profile picture in six months you are not re-cropping from scratch. If you also want a strip version for printing or sharing, our free photo strip maker builds one from photos you already have.

Frequently asked questions