Google Plus Profile Photo Template for Square Logos | FREE Download PSD Photoshop

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Google Plus Doesn't Like Square Logos

In the first major design change to Google Plus earlier on this year, the social network's profile photos were changed from a square to a circle. While a circular shape works well for head and shoulder photos  of individuals and plenty of company logos, if your logo is a square shape - like mine for 500 Social Media Marketing Tips  is - then, by default, it doesn't fit... some proper squarelogoism going on from Google! As you can see from the examples in the image above, uploading a square logo sees it being cropped on all four corners, and it just looks messy. Even if you play around with the site's cropping or scaling tools, you really fix it.

The Solution: A Google Plus Profile Photo Template

As a work around to this problem, I have built a simple template for Photoshop or GIMP that will allow you to create and upload a square logo that fits inside    the default circular parameters, as in the image above. Of course, you stand to lose a smidgen profile photo "real estate," but what you gain is logo that will display without cropping on your cover photo, and next to every post and comment you make around the site.

The template is 1000 x 1000 pixels big - four times the minimum size that Google+ recommends - meaning your logo will enlarge into a nice, large image when clicked on from your page. 

How to Use the Template

When you first open the template, this is what you will see. The green circle represents the Google+ profile photo circle, while the red square shows the "safe" area in which you can add your square logo design. You've got some leeway in all four directions outside of the red square, but anything that passes into the white area will not be visible. So, first of all, hide my "Place your logo within this red square" layer and insert your logo on top of the red square layer instead.

Note: I have chosen a white background for this template to match and blend seamlessly the white of the Google+ layout, though you may choose to experiment with different colours if you wish.  If you delete the background and make it transparent, Google+ will not recognise it, and replace your image with a black background by default.

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Once you have inserted your logo, hide the red square layer and you'll have something like this. 

To finish, hide the green circle layer to remove all traces of the template, as above, and save your image as a PNG or JPEG file.

Uploading the Profile Photo

Visit your Google+ page and click on your existing profile profile photo to upload your new one in its place. When you select the file and it uploads, make sure to drag the cropping lines all the way out to the corners , as above. If you don't, your logo will not look right. When you're done, click the "Set as profile photo" button.

The Finished Result

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Here's that finished result once again. Hopefully yours will look very similar! 

Download the template

This Google+ template (and several others for all the biggest social networks - expertly measured, simple to use, and up-to-date) is available instantly as a downloadable zip file via the purchase link above. For more information on all my social media templates, click here.

Note: Payment is fast and secure via PayPal, but you do not need a PayPal account to buy and download. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrew Macarthy is the author of the #1 Amazon Web Marketing Bestseller, 500 Social Media Marketing Tips, available for Kindle and in paperback.

Buy 500 Social Media Marketing Tips

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007L50HE6
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007L50HE6

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10 Examples of Terrible LinkedIn Profile Photos | Bad LinkedIn Profile Pics

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Whatever your aims are on LinkedIn - to make new connections with professionals in your field, to tout yourself to potential employers, or just to demonstrate how generally awesome, friendly, and talented you are to anyone who comes across your profile - arguably the most important primary factor in achieving your goal is an eye-grabbing profile photo.

I'm going to save examples of great LinkedIn profile images for another blog post - in short, they should be simple, clear, and professional - but for now, the following examples are the kinds of images that you should definitely avoid uploading.

1. Cropped and blurry

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2. Just a screen grab

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3. Proportions squeezed

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4. Subject miles away! 

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5. Unprofessional photo

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6. Photo not a square

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7. Can't see person's face

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8. Poor lighting

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9. Logo instead of photo

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10. Tiny photo!

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For a lot more advice and information about using LinkedIn to its full potential, check out my book, How to Build the Ultimate LinkedIn Profile in Under an Hour.

How to Create A Seamless Twitter Header Background and Profile Image

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One of the most inventive ways to utilise your Twitter header space is to create a header background image that blends seamlessly into the profile photo that overlays it, as shown in the examples above.  If you'd like to do something similar, it's really not too difficult, even if you are a photo editing newbie. All you need is to download my Twitter Header Template .psd file for Photoshop or GIMP (link opens in a new window), and follow the simple step-by-step instructions below:

Alternatively, if you'd just like me to do it all for you or your business, get in touch and hire me via the Contact Me page or purchase using the Shoplocket widget above.

1. Open the template.

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When you first load the template, this is what you will see. The grey area represents the size of your Twitter header's background image, while the orange boxes represent the different sections that sit on top of it - name, bio, website address, etc..

2. Hide every layer except the profile photo box.

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In this instance, we're only concerned about the position of the profile photo because we want it to overlay on top of our background image in exactly the right position. So, go ahead and hide every layer except the orange profile box layer, as above.

3. Insert your background image behind the profile box layer.

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I want my header image to show this ferocious grizzly bear. Whatever image you choose, insert it into the template and move the layer so it is positioned behind the profile box. To make sure the image is lined up as you want, lower the opacity of the profile box to get a better look. 

4. Select the profile box layer, then copy from the background layer

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Here's where we create the profile pic that will sit above your background image. Choose the profile box layer and use the Magic Wand tool to select the orange box, as above. With the selection made, highlight the background image layer from the Layers panel, and copy the selection.  

5. Create a new image file and paste the copied selection into it.

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With your selection copied, create a new image file and paste the selection in - if done correctly, it should be 195 x 195 pixels big.  Save this file as a PNG and keep it safe for later.

6. Save your Twitter background image

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Return to the Twitter background template, hide the orange profile box layer and save the image as a PNG.  You should now have two images - this one, and the profile image you created in the last step.

7. Visit Twitter and click 'Edit' on your Header image

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It's time to upload your seamless header image! Visit your Twitter account, hover your mouse over the header and click the "Edit" button that appears.

8. Upload your profile and header background images.

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Click the "Change photo" and "Change header" buttons to upload your profile photo and header images. Don't adjust the position and zoom of them when prompted, just save them as is.

9. Tweak background image position if necessary

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If, as above, your background image doesn't line up with the profile pic seamlessly when you upload it, no worries. Head back to the template file and shift the position of your background image up or down a four or five pixels, then upload it again. It might take a try or two, but you'll get there :)

10. View the finished product! 

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Here it is, the finished header and profile image, perfectly lined up with each other and looking great!

Want me to do it for you? 

If you'd like me to create a Twitter header image like the ones above for you or your brand, please get in touch via the Contact Me page for more information. 

Case Study: Top Brands' Twitter Background Design Fails

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In a recent blog post, I offered my new Twitter background template as a free download so that you can easily optimise your profile's design to be viewed as intended on whichever screen resolution a desktop viewer is using. That got me wondering... with teams dedicated to design and social media management, how do the Twitter background designs of some of the world's biggest companies fare?

Across a random sample, I screen grabbed the 1920 x 1200 (the biggest screen resolution at which people are likely to view a Twitter profile) and 1366 x 768 (currently the most common screen resolution, according to global statistics). The results were pretty surprising...

The Bad

Where the companies I came across had attempted specific Twitter branding on both sides of the news feed, i.e. not just a single-image background), lots of the designs had not been optimised for viewers on different resolutions. Here are a few examples: 

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Here's the Twitter page for Gillette. At 1920 x 1200 pixels, the design looks great but for the big black bar on the right-hand side which reveals that the navy gradient hasn't been made big enough to accommodate for large displays. And at 1366 x 768 pixels, the "Get the Look Women Want" branding is hidden behind the feed, while the image on the right-hand side of the feed completely disappears! 

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Onto SmartWater now. As with Gillette, its Twitter profile suffers from a big empty space  on the right-hand side at high resolutions. At the most common resolution, however, a "SmartWater" brand logo appears... well, most of it.

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 Last up, here's fast food company, Wendy's, who get things half-right. At high resolution, its left-hand side Twitter branding is fine, but a second large image is obscured by the news feed. At 1366 x 768 pixels, the design looks as it was probably intended to. 

The Good

It was surprisingly difficult to find good examples of optimised Twitter backgrounds from the hour or so I spent looking at the feeds of big brands, so props go to Gap and Sprite (kinda) for these examples!

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Gap's Twitter background works at both the biggest resolution, and at the most commonly viewed resolution. While one person is chopped off either side in the reduced view, the design still looks great.

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Finally, here's Sprite. Okay , the logo is chopped off the side in both examples, and the lemon-sipping-a-drink graphic is missing in the high resolution review, but both designs still mostly  work! 

Conclusion

From my terribly unscientific experiment, it seems that a significant proportion of big brands, while keen on branding their Twitter accounts, have not done so in a way that takes into account all of the different resolutions that people will be viewing their pages at on desktop computers, resulting in branding that is unusually slack for such big commercial voices. 

If you want to stay one step ahead of Gillette, SmartWater, Wendy's, and many others with an optimised Twitter background design, have a read of my Twitter background Template blog post and grab a link to download the template there too.

Twitter Background Template PSD 2014 | 1920 x 1200 Photoshop Download

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STOP! THE TWITTER LAYOUT HAS CHANGED AND THERE IS AN UPDATED BACKGROUND TEMPLATE AS OF APRIL 2014. CLICK HERE:

http://andrewmacarthy.com/andrew-macarthy-social-media/new-twitter-background-template-2014-psd-1920-x-1200-photoshop-download

 

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NEW 2014 TWITTER BACKGROUND TEMPLATE NOW AVAILABLE: CLICK HERE.

Free Twitter Background Template Introduction

As with so many a hunt online for free social media templates, I couldn't find one for a Twitter background that provided everything I needed - specifically, a template that took into account how I might go about designing my Twitter background to cater for the many different resolutions at which it would be viewed on desktop screens (only the Twitter header, not the background can be seen on mobile devices). So, after lots of screen capturing, measuring, and testing, I designed my own and I'm giving it away for you to use too.  

I know this post is long and you're probably eager to just download the template and get started, but I urge you to have a quick read to understand how the template works and how it will help you design as good a background as possible. 

The Trouble With Twitter Background Branding

Twitter profile backgrounds are a a prime piece of real estate for brands, but creating one that is optimised to be seen as intended by as many users of the site as possible can be tricky due to the wide variety of screen resolutions that the site is browsed at on desktops. Problems include:

  • Design hidden behind news feed
  • Design looks different from one screen to another (brand message hidden)
  • Design not optimised for largest resolutions, leaving blank areas (see image above).

If you've had any of these problems, my free Twitter background template will help.  But, before we get to it, let's take a look at the relationship between Twitter, screen resolutions, and Twitter background designs so that you can use the template as effectively as possible. 

Explained: The Anatomy of A Twitter Page

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No matter what resolution people view Twitter on their desktop monitor, the news feed - which is always 865 pixels wide - will always sit in the centre of the page. That leaves an equal amount of space either side of it for visible background design (the rest being hidden behind the news feed itself). How much of the design is visible by a user, then, depends on the resolution of their display.

Therefore, in designing your Twitter background, you should aim to cater to as many people using as many different resolutions as possible, especially if you want branding on either side of the feed that isn't just a plain or patterned background (promotions, slogans, product images, etc).

Global Stats For Screen Resolutions

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According to the most recent global statistics, the most popular screen resolution for viewing the web is 1366 x 768 pixels (around 24% of the total) followed by 1024 x 768 (around 16%). From these stats (and those for less common sizes), we can deduce that for the vast majority of people viewing your Twitter profile will be able to view a background design optimised for a 1366 x 768 pixel resolution. Anything designed for bigger resolutions will be wasted on the majority of users.

Using the Template to Cater for the Majority

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Now, let's look at the template I have designed. For display resolutions of 1024 x 768 pixels, 1280 x 800 pixels, and 1366 x 768 pixels (represented by the green, yellow and orange boxes in the cropped image of the template above), the amount of your background design that will be visible on either side of the news feed is 66 pixels, 194 pixels, and 238 pixels respectively. 

Optimising Your Twitter Background Design

The biggest resolution people are likely to view Twitter at is 1920 x 1200 pixels, so the template is offered at this size and I urge you to design with people viewing at this resolution in mind, but optimised for the majority who only see up to 1366 x 768 pixels, i.e. when using the template, put your most important branding elements - logo, products, offers, URLs within the orange box. View the gallery above for examples of how the Twitter background will appear for users at different resolutions. 

Of course, while 1366 x 758 is the most popular screen resolution for now, this is likely to change in future and so you may want to change your Twitter template with it.

How to Use the Twitter Background Template

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When you open up the Twitter Background template in Photoshop or GIMP, it will look like the image above. Work above and/or hide the layers representing the Twitter news feed and screen resolutions, then remove them all before saving your design as a PNG before uploading it to Twitter. Remember to work using the whole space, but optimize your design for 1366 x 758 pixel resolutions.

Note: The Twitter navigation bar does not appear in the template. This sits above your background when it is uploaded, not on top of it.  And while every effort has been taken to make this template as accurate as possible, prepare yourself for minor tweaking of your background design elements if necessary. Test and tweak is the name of the game!

One Last Thing - Centre Your Background!

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Twitter backgrounds are left-aligned by default, but this template is designed for optimal viewing on all resolutions when the background is centred, so make sure to switch to this option when you upload, as shown above. 

Download the Twitter Background Template

 

This Twitter template (and several others for all the biggest social networks - expertly measured, simple to use, and up-to-date) is available instantly as a downloadable zip file via the purchase link above. For more information on all my social media templates, click here.

Note: Payment is fast and secure via PayPal, but you do not need a PayPal account to buy and download.  it!