Social media images for your app launch: a checklist

Updated October 30, 2026

For a launch, make one hero image and three or four feature images in a single visual style, then export each in the shapes the platforms want: 16:9 for X, 4:5 for Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads and Bluesky, 9:16 for Stories, 1270 × 760 for a Product Hunt gallery and 1200 × 630 for your link preview. Add a short demo clip if you have one, write alt text for every image, and have all of it ready the day before.

Launch day is busy. You’re answering replies, fixing the bug someone found in the first hour, and posting in five places. The images are the part you can finish early, so finish them early.

Start with one set of images

Don’t design for each platform from scratch. Decide on a small set first, then resize it.

A hero image. Your app’s most recognizable screen, framed, with a one-line headline that says what the app does. This is the image most people will see, and the one that shows in link previews.
Three or four feature images. One feature each: a screen, a short headline, nothing else. These go in threads, carousels and the Product Hunt gallery.
A short demo. A 10 to 30 second screen recording of the main flow, if you have one. Video gets attention in most feeds, but keep the images too: they show up where video doesn’t, like link previews and gallery thumbnails.

Five images and a clip cover every platform below.

Keep one visual style

People will see your launch in several places within a day. If every image looks related, the second and third sightings register as the same product, and that’s what makes a launch feel bigger than it is.

Use the same background color or gradient on every image.
Use the same device, frame color and angle throughout.
Put headlines in the same position and type style.
Use your app’s own colors. If your accent color is orange, an orange background or highlight ties the image to the app.

Our guide to making screenshots look good covers backgrounds, padding and shadows in more detail.

What each platform needs

The full list of sizes, with sources, is in image sizes for sharing app screenshots. Here’s what to prepare for launch.

Where	Shape	What to post
X	16:9, 1600 × 900	Hero image with the launch post; feature images in the replies
LinkedIn	4:5, 1080 × 1350	Hero image with a short story of why you built it
Threads	4:5, 1080 × 1350	The same images as Instagram
Bluesky	4:5 or 1:1	Hero plus up to three feature images in one post
Instagram feed	4:5, 1080 × 1350	A carousel: hero first, then the features
Instagram Stories	9:16, 1080 × 1920	The hero, with a link sticker to your site
Product Hunt gallery	1270 × 760	Hero first, then features; a square 240 × 240 thumbnail
Link preview (Open Graph)	1.91:1, 1200 × 630	The hero, set as your website’s `og:image`

X

A 16:9 image shows uncropped in the timeline. One phone in the middle of a 16:9 canvas leaves a lot of empty space, so either put a headline beside it or show two or three screens side by side. Post the hero with the announcement and the feature images as replies in a thread. See how to share app screenshots on X.

LinkedIn, Threads and Bluesky

A 4:5 portrait image takes the most room in these feeds and suits a phone screenshot. One export at 1080 × 1350 works on all three. Bluesky caps each image at about 2 MB, so export JPEG rather than PNG.

Instagram

Use a carousel for the feed: hero first, then one feature per slide, all 4:5. Our Instagram carousel guide covers how to sequence the slides. For Stories, use 9:16 and keep the top and bottom clear, where Instagram draws its own controls.

Product Hunt

Product Hunt’s posting guide recommends 1270 × 760 for gallery images and a 240 × 240 thumbnail; a GIF thumbnail is allowed if it’s under 3 MB. The gallery needs at least two images before it shows. Make the first one your hero: it’s what people see before they click.

Your link preview

Every post that links to your website shows its Open Graph image. Make it the hero at 1200 × 630, and check it before launch day. Our guide to Open Graph images for your app’s website lists the tags and how to test them.

Write the alt text now

Alt text describes an image for people who use screen readers, and it’s easy to skip when you’re posting fast. Write it the day before, in the same document as your post copy.

Say what the screen shows and why it matters: “The Earnings Call file transcribing at 28%, with 7 minutes left” says more than “App screenshot”.
Include the headline text if the image has one.
Keep it short. Buffer’s alt text guide lists a 300-character limit on LinkedIn and recommends staying under 200 characters everywhere.

Making the images in FeatureFrame

FeatureFrame is a Mac app built for this. Drop in an iPhone or iPad screenshot and it detects the device from the pixel size and puts it in a 3D frame of that model. To make a launch set:

Make the hero: one screenshot, the background and angle you’ll use for everything, on a 4:5 canvas.
Switch the canvas to 16:9, 9:16 or 1.91:1 for the other platforms. For Product Hunt, use Custom with 127:76.
For X, add up to three screenshots and use the Row layout so they sit side by side.
Export each at 1080p as JPEG (the Social Media setting), or copy it with ⌘C and paste it straight into the post.

For a consistent look, keep the same device and color on each image. The device frame library shows every model and finish.

The day-before checklist

Hero image exported at 16:9, 4:5, 9:16, 1270 × 760 and 1200 × 630.
Three or four feature images at 4:5, and at 16:9 if you’ll post them on X.
A 240 × 240 thumbnail for Product Hunt.
The demo clip, under each platform’s length limit.
Alt text for every image, next to the post copy.
Your website’s og:image updated and tested.
No private data in any screenshot: names, emails, notifications, a test account’s real data.
Everything in one folder, named by platform, so you’re not searching for files at 9 a.m.

Then get some sleep. The images are done.