Album Cover Size: Dimensions for Every Platform

The standard album cover size is 3000×3000 pixels — a perfect square at 1:1 aspect ratio. That single size works for Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and Bandcamp. Get this one right and your artwork looks sharp everywhere.

Here is the quick reference table, then the specifics for each platform.

Quick Reference: Album Cover Size by Platform

Upload 3000×3000 to every digital platform and you cover every minimum requirement with room to spare.

Album Cover Size in Pixels

Spotify

Spotify accepts uploads from 640×640 px, but that minimum is for distributors — it is not a quality bar. At 640 px, your artwork looks blurry on desktop and terrible on high-density displays. Spotify recommends 3000×3000 px and that is the size you should upload, no exceptions.

Accepted formats: JPEG and PNG. Maximum file size: 10 MB. JPEG at quality 90–95 is the right call — smaller file, visually identical to PNG at these dimensions.

Apple Music

Apple's minimum is 1400×1400 px, which is higher than Spotify's floor but still not ideal. On a Retina display or Apple TV, artwork smaller than 3000 px looks noticeably soft. Apple's distribution guidelines explicitly recommend 3000×3000 px for best results.

Apple also enforces a color space requirement: sRGB. If you design in a wide-gamut space (Display P3, Adobe RGB), convert to sRGB before exporting. Colors outside sRGB get clipped and shift unpredictably.

Amazon Music

Amazon Music requires at least 1600×1600 px. Uploading 3000×3000 means Amazon can downsample cleanly — their algorithm handles reduction better than upscaling, so giving them more pixels is always the right move.

YouTube Music

YouTube Music's minimum is 1400×1400 px, and their player surfaces artwork at multiple sizes depending on whether you are in a playlist, on a channel page, or casting to a TV. 3000×3000 covers every scenario.

One extra note for YouTube: if your distributor submits an official Music Release, the thumbnail and channel art are pulled from the same artwork file. Sharp art at 3000 px looks good in every context.

Bandcamp

Bandcamp accepts JPEG, PNG, and even GIF (for animated art). Minimum is 1400×1400 px. Unlike other platforms, Bandcamp stores your original file and generates its own resized versions — so uploading 3000×3000 gives their pipeline the best material to work with.

Album Cover Size for Print

Digital streaming specs are straightforward — same pixel dimensions everywhere. Print is different because size depends on DPI (dots per inch): the physical dimension of the printed piece and the resolution required for sharp output.

CD Booklet

Standard CD jewel case: 4.724 × 4.724 inches (12 × 12 cm).

For a CD insert you plan to print professionally, use 300 DPI minimum. That means at least 1417×1417 px for the front cover. Most CD manufacturing services ask for 300 DPI artwork with bleed areas — check your printer's spec sheet for exact bleed values (typically 0.125 in = 38 px at 300 DPI on each side).

A 3000×3000 px file exceeds the 300 DPI requirement for CD size, giving you a comfortable margin.

Vinyl (12-inch LP)

A standard 12-inch vinyl sleeve cover is 12.375 × 12.375 inches (including bleed).

For professional vinyl print, you need at least 3713×3713 px at 300 DPI. That is larger than the standard 3000×3000 streaming export. If you are pressing vinyl, either design at 3713 px or larger from the start, or have your designer deliver a print-ready file separate from the streaming master.

Vinyl (7-inch Single)

A 7-inch sleeve cover is approximately 7.25 × 7.25 inches.

Your 3000×3000 streaming master works here — 3000 px at 7.25 inches gives you about 414 DPI, which is more than enough.

How to Resize Your Image for Album Cover

The fastest method: use Pixotter's resize tool. Drop your image, set width and height to 3000, lock the aspect ratio to 1:1, and download. Everything happens in your browser — no upload, no account, no waiting.

If your source image is not square, you have two choices before resizing:

1. Crop to square first — pick the region of the image that works as a centered square. Most design tools and Pixotter's crop tool can do this.
2. Add padding — letterbox or pillarbox the image with a background color so it fills the square without distortion. This preserves the full composition but adds empty space.

Other methods:

• Photoshop / Affinity Photo: Image → Image Size. Set both dimensions to 3000 px, resolution to 72 PPI for streaming (300 PPI for print), resample using Bicubic Sharper (for downscaling) or Preserve Details 2.0 (for upscaling).
• GIMP: Image → Scale Image. Width and height 3000 px, interpolation set to Cubic or Sinc (Lanczos).
• Command line (ImageMagick 7.1+): magick input.jpg -resize 3000x3000\! output.jpg — the ! forces exact dimensions regardless of aspect ratio. Remove ! if you want proportional scaling within 3000×3000.

If you are also optimizing file size for upload, compress the image after resizing. Streaming platforms have file size caps (typically 10 MB) and a well-optimized JPEG at 3000×3000 lands under 3 MB without visible quality loss.

Album Cover Design Tips

File Format

Use JPEG for streaming uploads — JPEG at 90–95% quality is visually lossless at album cover sizes and produces files well under the 10 MB limit. PNG is fine too, but adds file size without meaningful quality improvement for photographic artwork.

For print files, use TIFF (lossless) or PDF. PNG is acceptable if your printer accepts it. Never submit a compressed JPEG for vinyl printing — print workflows can amplify JPEG compression artifacts.

For format tradeoffs beyond album art, see the JPG vs PNG comparison.

Color Space

Design in sRGB for digital distribution. Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music all assume sRGB. Wide-gamut files get converted or clipped, and the result is often oversaturated or shifted colors.

For print, work in CMYK if your printer requires it (most professional vinyl and CD printers do). What looks vibrant on screen in RGB can go flat in CMYK — this is a known issue with highly saturated colors and neon tones. Proof in CMYK before finalizing.

Safe Zone and Bleed

For streaming: no safe zone needed. The full 3000×3000 image is displayed as-is.

For print: every printer defines a bleed area (usually 0.125 inches on all sides) where artwork extends beyond the trim line, and a safe zone (usually 0.125 inches inside the trim line) where critical content like text should stay. Keep any type or important visual elements out of the outer 0.25 inches on each edge.

Text Legibility at Small Sizes

Album covers are displayed at thumbnail size — 50×50 px on mobile, 300×300 px on desktop. Test legibility at those sizes, not just at 3000×3000. A great cover reads clearly even as a small square.

For more on sizing images for different display contexts, see standard photo dimensions and photo print sizes.

FAQ

What size should an album cover be? 3000×3000 pixels. That is the standard accepted by Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and Bandcamp. It exceeds every platform's minimum requirement and scales down cleanly to thumbnail sizes.

What is the Spotify album art size? Spotify recommends 3000×3000 px with a minimum of 640×640 px. Always upload 3000×3000 — the minimum is not a target.

Can I use a rectangular image for an album cover? No. All streaming platforms require a square (1:1 aspect ratio) cover. A rectangular image will be rejected or distorted. Crop or pad your image to square before uploading.

What DPI should album cover art be? For digital streaming, DPI is irrelevant — only pixel dimensions matter. Set it to 72 PPI when exporting for streaming and forget about it. For CD print, use 300 DPI. For vinyl (12-inch), you need 3713×3713 px at 300 DPI, which is larger than the streaming standard.

What file format should I use for album cover art? JPEG for streaming uploads — quality 90–95% is the sweet spot between file size and visual quality. PNG works too but produces larger files. For print, use TIFF or PDF.

Why does my album cover look blurry on Spotify? Almost certainly an undersized file. If you uploaded a 500×500 or 1000×1000 image, Spotify upscales it and the result is blurry. Re-export at 3000×3000 and re-upload. Also check that you are not exporting at very low JPEG quality (below 85%) — heavy compression creates visible artifacts at any size.

Resize Your Album Cover Now

Every platform. Every size. Start with 3000×3000 and you are covered.

• Resize to 3000×3000 — the streaming standard
• Compress for upload — stay under the 10 MB limit without losing quality
• Convert format — JPEG, PNG, WebP, and more

For other common image size references, see photo frame sizes, Polaroid photo size, thumbnail size guide, and how to reduce image size.