How to Make Screenshots Look Good: Background, Frame and Size
Gizke Team · Published · Reading time: 2 minutes
A plain screenshot looks unfinished next to polished product shots. Four things fix it: generous padding, a background that isn't white, rounded corners with a soft shadow, and the right canvas size for where you post it. The free Gizke screenshot beautifier does all four in your browser - paste with Ctrl+V and download a sharp PNG.
On this page
What makes a screenshot look polished
- Padding. Give the screenshot room to breathe - about 6-10% of its width on each side. Crowded edges are the main thing that makes a screenshot look raw.
- A background. A gentle gradient, a brand colour, or a blurred copy of the screenshot itself separates the image from white feeds and slides.
- Corners and shadow. Rounded corners (8-16 px) and a soft shadow make the screenshot read as a window floating above the background.
- A frame, if it helps. A browser frame with your address in it says "this is a website". Use the dark browser or dark window frame for dark-mode apps.
The right size for each platform
- X (Twitter): 1600 × 900 (16:9) shows in full in the timeline.
- LinkedIn posts and link previews: 1200 × 627, or 1200 × 630 for Open Graph images.
- Instagram: 1080 × 1080 square or 1080 × 1350 portrait, which takes up more of the feed.
- Stories and reels: 1080 × 1920.
- Product Hunt gallery: 1270 × 760.
Pick the platform under Size and the PNG comes out at exactly those pixels, with the screenshot centred and nothing cropped.
Step by step
- Take the screenshot (Windows: Win+Shift+S, Mac: Cmd+Shift+4) and paste it into the screenshot beautifier with Ctrl+V.
- Choose a background: one of the gradients, a solid colour, the blurred screenshot, or transparent.
- Adjust padding and corner radius, pick a shadow and, if you want, a browser frame with your URL.
- Choose a platform size, or leave it free and export at 2× for sharp text on high-resolution screens.
- Download the PNG or copy it and paste it straight into your post.
Hide private details first
Screenshots often show email addresses, names or numbers you didn't mean to share. Cover them with the blur tool before you beautify, and if you need several screenshots side by side, put them together with the collage maker.
Frequently asked questions
What size should a screenshot be for X or LinkedIn?
For X, 1600 × 900 (16:9) shows uncropped in the timeline. For LinkedIn and link previews, 1200 × 627 or 1200 × 630 works. Instagram uses 1080 × 1080 or 1080 × 1350, and stories 1080 × 1920.
Is my screenshot uploaded?
No. The Gizke screenshot beautifier draws everything on a canvas in your browser and saves the PNG straight to your device or clipboard.
Should I use a transparent background?
Use transparent when the image goes onto a slide or web page that already has its own background. For social posts a gradient or the blurred-screenshot background stands out better in a feed.