A round picture is still a square file
Image files are always rectangles. A picture that looks round is a square file whose corners are transparent, so whatever is behind it shows through. That is why the format matters when you crop a photo into a circle:
- PNG keeps the corners transparent and opens everywhere. It is the safe choice.
- WebP keeps them transparent too, in a smaller file. Good for websites.
- JPG has no transparency. The corners are filled with white or another colour, so the picture only looks round on a background of that colour.
When you need a circle crop, and when you do not
LinkedIn, Instagram, X and most other platforms take a square photo and cut the circle themselves. There you do not need a round file: use the circle to check what will stay visible, then upload the square.
You need a round file wherever you place the picture yourself: an email signature, the team page of a website, a slide, a CV, a design in Canva or Figma. A PNG with transparent corners sits on any background without a white box around it.
What size should a round profile picture be?
| Platform | Profile picture |
|---|---|
| 400 × 400 px | |
| X | 400 × 400 px |
| 320 × 320 px | |
| 320 × 320 px | |
| TikTok | 200 × 200 px |
| 165 × 165 px |
These are the sizes the platforms ask for. A larger square does no harm: the platform scales it down. For a website or a slide, 800 px is enough for a picture shown at up to 400 px on a sharp screen.
How to frame a face in a circle
A circle cuts away the corners, and with them more of the photo than a square does. Keep the face in the middle, leave a little room above the hair, and let the shoulders run out of the circle at the bottom. A plain background helps: what was in the corners is gone anyway.