The LinkedIn photo standard for professional services firms

A profile photo is shown in a circle, at full size on the profile page and far more often at thumbnail size: in search results, in the feed beside a comment, in a message list, in a connection request. Most of the decisions people make about a profile photo are made at the small size, which is why the rules below are about reading clearly when small rather than looking impressive when large.

LinkedIn crops the photo to a circle. A face that sits off-centre, or too high in the frame, loses the top of the head or the chin. The eyes should sit a little above the centre of the square, the head should have air above it, and the shoulders should fill the bottom of the frame without the crop cutting through an elbow. A photographer working to a standard locks the eye line so every face in the firm sits in the circle the same way, which is why a firm's people look consistent in a comment thread when they have been photographed to one standard and look like strangers when they have not.

Upload a square. The file should be at least 400 pixels on each side; 1,600 pixels gives room for the platform's own resizing without softening. Keep it under 8 MB and in sRGB, as a JPEG. A 4:5 version is useful for the firm's own page and for posts announcing a hire or a promotion, where the image is shown as a rectangle rather than a circle. A 16:9 crop can carry the firm's banner artwork if the firm supplies it.

At thumbnail size, the background does one job: it separates the face. A mid-grey backdrop does this for almost every complexion and every colour of clothing. White works when the lighting is controlled and the sitter is not wearing white. Black is distinctive and suits some firms, but a dark suit on a black backdrop at thumbnail size becomes a floating face. Office environments, blurred behind the sitter, read well at full size and can turn to mush when small; if the firm chooses an environmental look, the photographer should check it at thumbnail size before it is approved.

A professional services profile photo is a first meeting in miniature. The expression that works is the one a person would use across a table: open, settled, with the eyes engaged and a small amount of warmth. Big smiles read as retail; no smile reads as a passport. A photographer's job in the ten minutes is to find that middle register for each person, which is why direction matters more than the camera.

Whatever the person would wear to meet a client. Solid colours in the mid-tones photograph best; fine patterns can shimmer at small sizes; white shirts are fine with a jacket. Glasses are fine if the photographer controls the reflections, which is a lighting problem solved at the set, not in retouching.

LinkedIn is where a firm's inconsistency is most visible, because its people appear side by side in search results and in the firm's page. A firm cannot control the platform, but it can control the photographs: one backdrop, one crop, one finishing profile, and a calendar that photographs joiners to the same standard. The firm's own LinkedIn page benefits twice, in the team it features and in the posts that announce changes.

A looping portrait, three to six seconds of a person turning to camera and settling, is used on the firm's page and in announcement posts where a still would be ordinary. It is photographed on the same set as the still, so the first frame matches, and delivered as MP4 for posts and as a GIF for places that need one.

Square and 4:5 versions for everyone, at least 1,600 pixels, sRGB JPEG. The eyes on the same line in every image. A background that separates the face at thumbnail size. One finishing profile. Files named per person so they are easy to find. A date for the next day, so the set does not drift.

Next step: see LinkedIn-ready delivery and the finishing standard.