The short version
- App launch graphics work best as one kit made from a single design: launch posts, an Open Graph image, profile headers and gallery images.
- The Open Graph image that appears when your link is shared is 1200×630 pixels, and the X header is 1500×500.
- Launch posts should name the app, say what it does in one sentence and point to where to get it.
- Update your link preview, headers and website hero before you post anything, so every link people share on launch day already looks right.
- A consistent background across every launch graphic helps people recognise the same app as it appears in different feeds.
On this page
Good app launch graphics are one design in many shapes: an announcement post for each network, a 1200×630 link preview that appears every time someone shares your URL, fresh profile headers, and a short set of gallery images for launch sites such as Product Hunt. Make them together, from one look and one sentence, and launch day reads as a single event instead of a scramble of mismatched screenshots.
Start with one sentence and one look
Before any graphic, write the sentence that says what the app does for whom, in under ten words. "Split rent with housemates without the awkward chat" works. "The future of shared finance" does not, because nobody can picture it. That sentence goes on every graphic, unchanged, so the message repeats while the shape changes. Writing copy for visuals has more on cutting a line down.
Then fix the look: the app's icon colours become a background, the app's typeface becomes the headline. A distinctive background matters more than you might expect, because the same screenshots of white interfaces appear on every launch day. Launch day graphics covers this for any kind of product.
The app launch graphics kit, with sizes
Size
What goes on it
What goes on it
Size
What goes on it
Size
What goes on it
Size
What goes on it
What goes on it
Size
What goes on it
Size
What goes on it
Link preview
1200 × 630
X header
1500 × 500
X post 16:9
1600 × 900
Instagram 4:5
1080 × 1350
Story 9:16
1080 × 1920
Why the link preview image matters most
On launch day your URL is pasted into chats, posts, forums and newsletters you will never see. Every one of them shows your Open Graph image, so it is quietly the most viewed launch graphic. Make it 1200×630, put the app name and sentence in the middle, keep text clear of the edges because some apps crop to a square, and check it with a sharing debugger before launch. Open Graph image size has the crops; Open Graph tags has the markup.
<meta property="og:title" content="Rentwise: split rent without the awkward chat" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Now on iPhone and Android." />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://rentwise.app/og/launch.png" />
<meta property="og:image:width" content="1200" />
<meta property="og:image:height" content="630" />
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />How to design an app launch post
A launch post competes with everything else in the feed, so it should be readable in a glance. Lead with the sentence, not the logo. Show one screen, not five. Say where to get the app. On X and Bluesky a thread works well: the graphic first, then a short video, then the maker's story.
The X and Bluesky post at 1600×900: the sentence carries the post.
The story: two words and where to go, on the same background.
Avoid
- A grid of six phone screenshots
- "Revolutionising" anything
- A new colour scheme just for launch
- Text in the outer edges of the preview image
Do
- One screen that shows the main moment
- The plain sentence of what it does
- The icon's own colours, everywhere
- Words centred, with generous margins
Short screen recordings suit apps well, because they show the main moment in motion: the tap, the result. Keep them under twenty seconds, put the sentence on the first frame, and add captions, since plenty of people scroll with the sound off. Product demo video covers pacing and framing.
The order to make app launch graphics in
- 1
A week before: the master design
Sentence, icon, background, typeface on one landscape frame. Everything else comes from it.
- 2
A week before: a coming soon post
Tease the date and a waitlist link. Coming soon post has layouts.
- 3
Two days before: previews and headers
Ship the Open Graph image, X header and website hero early so links shared on the day look right.
- 4
The day before: every launch post
Export all sizes and write captions for each network in advance.
- 5
Launch day: post, reply, repeat
Spend the day answering people, not making graphics.
- 6
A week after: a thank you
A milestone or thank you post in the same look closes the launch.
Gradiently fits this workflow well. Design the master once on a Mark, then, with Pro, resize it to every format in the kit in one step; the Mark keeps the sentence readable on each shape by moving its calmest area behind the words. If you are already working on the launch in ChatGPT or Claude, Gradiently can be connected to both, so the assistant can draft the kit as designs that open in the Studio. Indie hacker launch graphics covers the same kit for web products.
Questions people ask
What graphics do I need to launch an app?
A 1200×630 link preview, an updated X header at 1500×500, launch posts for each network you use, a story, a website hero and gallery images for any launch site. Make them all from one master design.
What size is a Product Hunt gallery image?
Product Hunt lists its current thumbnail and gallery requirements in the submission form. Design them in landscape from the same master as your other launch graphics so the look stays consistent.
What should an app launch post say?
The app's name, one sentence about what it does for whom, and where to get it. Keep everything else for the caption or a thread.
When should I update my link preview image?
A day or two before launch, with a new file name, then test it in a sharing debugger. Platforms cache previews, so a late change may not show on launch day.
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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