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josiemac
josiemac
Participating Frequently
August 27, 2020
Answered

Document Setup for Social media content; Twitter, FB, IG

  • August 27, 2020
  • 1 reply
  • 6435 views

Hi there ID pros,

 

I have a BIG, BIG question?

 

I'm wanting to create artwork for a social media campaign. It's very basic design concept; text over a photo.

 

What size dimensions should I use to set up the document and is there a way to export the one layout for the various social media platforms - or do I have to create a new layout for each social media platform? If the latter, is there a QUICK method to recreate the master layout without having to manually replicate each element for each different layout? If that makes sense?

 

Help please!

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Jeff Witchel, ACI

You could start by using InDesign's Adjust Layout feature (File > Adjust Layout) to resize a layout to a new size that is a different proportion. The layout may need some minor or major tweaks after this feature is applied. That's where your design skills are needed.

 

Make sure you save your document with a new name, before trying any of this.

 

Another possibily is an older InDesign feature, Alternate Layout (Liquid Layout). Here's a video tutorial I produced a while back: Liquid Layout 

 

Hope this helps!

1 reply

rob day
Community Expert
rob dayCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 27, 2020

What size dimensions should I use to set up the document

 

InDesign pages are vector objects so to convert the page or selection into pixels for social media posts, you’ll need to Export to an image format— JPEG or PNG—or you can also export to PDF, and open the PDF as pixels in Photoshop.

 

Pages do not have a resolution but there is a Pixel Ruler Unit. So, if you want to prepare an page for Instagram’s recommended spec, set up the document width and height to 1080 x 1080 in Pixels, and Export to an image format with the Resolution set as 72ppi, which will give you an image with matching pixel dimensions.

 

Here a social media pixel dimension guide:

https://www.falcon.io/insights-hub/topics/social-media-management/social-media-images-guides/

    josiemac
    josiemacAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    August 27, 2020

    Gosh thanks so much for the advice and link to guide. Wow. Really helpful. 🙏

     

    There's one part of the process I'm stil unsure of. To create a graphic or photo that fits the Instagram square shape/dimensions and that also fits the Twiiter 16:9 aspect ratio do I have to create separate pages in In Design in order to export for the different dimensions required for the different platforms? 

    Is there a faster way to create one graphic design to fit the different aspect ratios?  And avoid having to the lengthy job over manually reformatting the graphic for each platforms specific dimension. Especially when I'm wanting to create 10 - 20 graphics. 

     

    If I want to export the file from the 1080x1080 doc setup as a 16:9 to fit Twitter it will stretch the image - is what I'm guessing.??

     

    Do you see what I'm trying to get at? Lol

     

    Sorry if I'm not making sense. 🤦‍♀️

     

     

     

     

    Jeff Witchel, ACI
    Community Expert
    Jeff Witchel, ACICommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    August 27, 2020

    You could start by using InDesign's Adjust Layout feature (File > Adjust Layout) to resize a layout to a new size that is a different proportion. The layout may need some minor or major tweaks after this feature is applied. That's where your design skills are needed.

     

    Make sure you save your document with a new name, before trying any of this.

     

    Another possibily is an older InDesign feature, Alternate Layout (Liquid Layout). Here's a video tutorial I produced a while back: Liquid Layout 

     

    Hope this helps!

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