The short version
- A LinkedIn banner for founders is a 1584×396 pixel cover image with one line about who you build for.
- The round profile photo covers the lower left, and the crop changes with the window, so the line sits in the middle of the banner.
- LinkedIn lists a company page cover at 1512×256 pixels, a flatter shape, so it needs its own layout even when it shares the profile's colours.
- The useful lines name the product and the people it is for. Quotes, skylines and a second portrait waste the strip.
- Export JPG or PNG under 8 MB for the profile, check it on a phone, and replace the line when the launch or the hire is over.
On this page
A linkedin banner for founders is the 1584×396 cover on your profile: one short line about who you build for, set clear of the photo that sits on the lower left. LinkedIn calls this image a cover image. JPG or PNG, under 8 MB, is the file it asks for. The full measurement, and the company page beside it, is in LinkedIn banner size.
People open your profile after a demo, a comment or a cold note, and they read the banner in the same glance as your name and headline. A skyline, a quote or a row of logos does not say what you are building. The line should agree with the headline, not repeat your title.
LinkedIn banner ideas for founders
Give the banner one job. Say what you are building and for whom, in words a stranger can repeat. If the line needs a second sentence, that sentence belongs in the headline or the About, not in a strip this short.
Weak line
- Founder | CEO | Advisor | Speaker
- Empowering the future of work
- A skyline, a beach or a stock office
- Your face again, next to your profile photo
- An email address in small type
Line that works
- Payroll for independent clinics
- Harbor: booking software for small marinas
- Shipping a notes app for research teams
- Hiring one product engineer, Europe hours
- The product's colours and nothing else, if the headline already says the offer
Pick one. An offer names who you help. A product line pairs a name with a promise, as in "Harbor: booking for small marinas." A chapter line, such as a launch or a hire, comes down when that chapter ends. A wordless colour field only works when the headline already states the offer.
An offer line on a 1584×396 profile banner. The words sit in the middle and to the right, so the lower left can stay empty for the photo.
A current-chapter line. It is useful while it is true, and it should come off the banner when the round closes.
A product line with almost no extra words. The name is the small line. The promise is the large one.
A founder's banner is not a job seeker's banner. Theirs often names a role they want. Yours names a product and a customer. The other pattern is in job seeker personal brand. How the banner sits with your headline and your posts is in LinkedIn personal branding.
Where your photo covers the banner
On a profile, the cover sits behind your round photo, which lands on the lower left. LinkedIn's cover image help says the crop can change with the window and the screen, so keep every edge clear and treat the lower left as taken.
Keep the words in a horizontal band through the middle, starting to the right of the photo. Leave a margin above and below so the letters never touch the frame. The same habit, on other networks, is covered in social media safe zones.
Profile banner and company cover
Your profile and your company page are different shapes, so they are different files. LinkedIn's page image specifications list the company cover at 1512×256 pixels, both the minimum and the recommended size, as a PNG or JPEG up to 3 MB. That is about 5.9:1, flatter than the profile's 4:1. The same page says the cover may be trimmed, and that key details should stay off the edges, especially the lower right, with the words in the centre.
Profile banner 1584×396
1584 × 396
Company cover 1512×256
1512 × 256
Link image 1200×627
1200 × 627
The founder profile speaks as a person: who you build for, in the first person if that is how you write.
The company cover speaks as the product. Same colours, fewer words, because the strip is shorter.
Upload size
What to change
Upload size
What to change
Upload size
What to change
2256×382 is the same wide proportion as 1512×256, with more pixels. That sharper size is the one in LinkedIn company page banner size. If you design the larger file, scale it to 1512×256 before upload, then check the edges. Do not upload the profile banner and hope it will crop into a company cover. The company logo also covers the lower left, so that corner stays empty on both files.
One ground for you and the product
The profile banner, the company cover and your posts should share one field of colour, so a visitor who met you recognises the product. Put the darker end on the left, behind the photo or the logo, and the calmer end behind the words.
linear-gradient(90deg, #12324a 0%, #1f6f8b 46%, #e7eef2 100%)The line has to stay readable with no box, shadow or blur behind the letters. How to test that is in text on a gradient. A Mark in Gradiently is a gradient ground with its own colours. Use one Mark for both banners and let auto ink pick a light or dark colour for each line. Try on your brand shows your name on a LinkedIn banner in that ground before you export. How auto ink chooses is in auto ink legibility.
How to make the banner
- 1
Write the line first
One sentence, under about 40 characters, naming who it is for. It should agree with your headline.
- 2
Start at 1584×396
Set the profile file to that size from the first pixel. Do not design a square and crop it. The height is the scarce part.
- 3
Leave the lower left empty
No letters, no logo and no second face. The profile photo covers that corner.
- 4
Set one line in the middle
Large type, right of the photo, with space above and below. If you cannot read it at about 360 pixels wide, cut words.
- 5
Export and check two screens
JPG or PNG, under 8 MB. PNG keeps letter edges clean on flat colour. Open the profile in a wide window and on a phone.
- 6
Build the company cover apart
New canvas at 1512×256, same colours, a shorter line, both lower corners quiet, under 3 MB.
- 7
Retire a chapter line
When a launch or a hire is over, put the standing offer back. A stale line reads as a stale company.
Shared colour stops the profile looking like a personal page with a product taped on. A single look for a young company is in startup branding, and the wider system is in personal branding.
Questions people ask
What size is a LinkedIn banner for founders?
LinkedIn recommends 1584×396 pixels for a profile cover, JPG or PNG, under 8 MB. A company cover is separate: 1512×256 pixels, PNG or JPEG, up to 3 MB.
What should a founder write on a LinkedIn banner?
One line naming who you build for, or the product name and its promise. A list of titles, a quote or a skyline does not answer a visitor's first question.
Can I use the same banner on my profile and my company page?
No. The profile is 4:1 and the company cover is flatter, so one file crops badly on the other page. Share the colours and the offer, and export two layouts.
Should my face appear in the LinkedIn banner?
No. Your profile photo is already your face and covers the lower left. A second portrait competes with it and steals space from the offer.
How often should a founder change their LinkedIn banner?
Change it when the offer or the chapter changes, not every week. Take a launch or hiring line down when that chapter ends.
Does a gradient work as a LinkedIn background for founders?
Yes, if the line stays readable and the left side stays calm behind your photo. Put the busier colour on the left and check it on a phone after upload.
Written by Gradiently
The team behind Gradiently, a design tool built around Marks: living gradients that make everything you design look like yours.
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