# How to make a social media post in five minutes

[Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/first-design-in-five-minutes)

A good post is mostly decisions, and most of them take seconds once you know what they are. Here is the five minute method, one minute per step, with the sizes and a worked example.

## The short version

- To make a social media post quickly, decide one message, choose the platform's size, set a background, write a headline of a few words and check it reads on a phone.
- A portrait post at 1080×1350 fills more of the screen than a square in Instagram, Facebook, Threads and LinkedIn feeds.
- One message per post is easier to read in the second or two a scroller gives it.
- Words should be legible at thumbnail size, so headlines need to be large and short.
- In Gradiently, a Mark keeps text readable on its own, and the Designer can lay out a post from a one line request.

To learn **how to make a social media post** in five minutes, give each minute one job: decide the single message, pick the platform's size, set a background, write a short headline, then check it on a phone and export. Most of the time people lose goes into starting with a blank canvas and no decision about what the post is for. Make that decision first and the rest is quick.

## Minute one: decide the message and the size

Write the post's point as one sentence before you open any tool. *We open late on Friday.* *The spring menu starts Monday.* *New episode out now.* If you cannot say it in one sentence, you have two posts, or a [carousel](https://gradiently.design/guide/instagram-carousel-design).

Then choose the size for where it will be seen. Portrait is the safe default for feeds because it fills more of the screen than a square.

- Feed portrait 1080×1350: 1080 × 1350
- Square 1080×1080: 1080 × 1080
- Story 1080×1920: 1080 × 1920
- X post 1600×900: 1600 × 900

The four sizes that cover most posting. Portrait works on Instagram, Facebook, Threads and LinkedIn; the story size covers Stories, Reels covers, TikTok and WhatsApp status.

| Platform | Best post size | Ratio |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Instagram | 1080×1350 | 4:5 |
| Facebook | 1080×1350 or 1200×1200 | 4:5 or 1:1 |
| LinkedIn | 1080×1350 or 1200×1200 | 4:5 or 1:1 |
| X | 1600×900 | 16:9 |
| Threads | 1080×1350 | 4:5 |
| Pinterest | 1000×1500 | 2:3 |

Recommended upload sizes. The full list, including covers and banners, is in [social media image sizes](https://gradiently.design/guide/social-media-image-sizes).

## Minute two: set the background

The background is most of what people see, and it is what makes a run of posts look like one brand. Pick something calm enough to carry words and distinctive enough to be recognised. A single photo works if there is a quiet area for text; a flat colour works but blends into everyone else's; a gradient or material gives depth without fighting the words.

In Gradiently the background is a **Mark**, a living gradient and material recipe that renders behind the whole design. Anyone can design with any Mark nobody has claimed, for free. Search the [Market](/market) with colour words like "deep teal" or "warm sand" and open the Studio on the one that feels right. Use the same one every time and your feed becomes recognisable without a logo on every post.

## Minute three: write a headline that fits on a phone

Feeds are read at thumbnail size while scrolling. Aim for a headline of three to eight words, set large, and at most one supporting line underneath with the detail: a date, a time, a price, a place. Cut adjectives first. "Our delicious new seasonal spring menu" becomes "Spring menu, from Monday".

### Avoid

- A paragraph on the image
- Three fonts and four colours
- The logo as the biggest thing
- Text running to the edges
- Important words in the bottom strip of a story

### Do

- One headline, one detail line
- One typeface in two weights
- A small logo or handle in a corner
- Generous margins all round
- Words in the middle of the frame

Hierarchy does the rest: the headline is the biggest thing, the detail is clearly smaller, and anything else is smaller again. [Text hierarchy for social posts](https://gradiently.design/guide/text-hierarchy-social) goes deeper if you want the reasoning.

## Minute four: check that every word reads

Shrink the design to the size of a thumb, or step back from the screen. If any word is hard to read, fix it now. On a photo or a gradient, contrast changes across the frame, so a headline can be clear at one end and lost at the other.

A portrait post announcing a spring menu, with part of the headline lost against a bright area of the background

Background running straight through the words: the brightest colour lands behind the headline.

The same spring menu post with a calmer, higher contrast area behind every line of text

The same post with the Mark making room: a calmer region behind the words, ink chosen line by line.

This is the step Gradiently does for you. A Mark knows where the words are: its calmest, best-contrasting region moves behind the text, colours near the letters deepen or lift, and **Auto ink** picks light or dark type for each line from the Mark's own palette. No boxes, shadows or blur. For other tools, [text on a gradient](https://gradiently.design/guide/text-on-gradient) has the manual fixes.

## Minute five: export and post

1. **Export at the exact size** PNG for text and gradients, which survive the platform's compression better; JPG for photographs.
2. **Write a caption that adds something** Do not repeat the headline. Add the one detail the image could not hold, and a clear next step.
3. **Add alt text** Describe the image and type out its words, so people using screen readers get the message too.
4. **Make the other sizes** If the post also needs a story or an X version, lay it out again for that frame rather than cropping.

In Gradiently, exporting needs the design's Mark to be yours, so claim it first; claiming makes you its only owner, which is also what keeps anyone else from posting in your look. Free exports are PNG or JPG at 720p with a small watermark. Pro exports up to 4K with no watermark and resizes a finished design to every size in one step, as [one look, every size](https://gradiently.design/guide/one-look-every-size) shows.

## A worked example: a café's Friday post

Message: *open late this Friday*. Size: 1080×1350 for Instagram and Facebook, plus a 1080×1920 story. Background: the café's usual warm Mark. Headline: "Open till midnight". Detail: "This Friday, live jazz from 9". Check: readable at thumbnail size. Caption: "Bring a friend, the kitchen stays open too." Total time, about five minutes.

A portrait café post reading Open till midnight, This Friday, Live jazz from 9, on a warm living gradient

The feed post at 1080×1350.

The café post as a vertical story with the words centred and the background filling the frame

The same post laid out again as a 1080×1920 story, words kept in the middle band.

Short on even five minutes? Ask the **Designer**, Gradiently's AI: describe the post in a sentence and it asks what it needs, writes the words, lays the design out in your Mark and makes the other sizes. [The Designer guide](https://gradiently.design/guide/designer-ai-guide) shows what to ask for.

## FAQ

### What size should a social media post be?

1080×1350 portrait is the best default for Instagram, Facebook, Threads and LinkedIn feeds. Use 1600×900 for X and 1080×1920 for stories.

### How much text should a social media post have?

A headline of three to eight words and at most one short supporting line. Put everything else in the caption.

### Should I export a post as PNG or JPG?

PNG for designs that are mostly text, flat colour or gradients, and a high-quality JPG for photographs.

### Can I make a social media post for free in Gradiently?

You can design with any unclaimed Mark for free and keep up to three designs. To export, the design's Mark must be yours; free exports are 720p PNG or JPG with a small watermark.