Squarespace Image Size: Limits, Banners and Blurry Fixes

The Squarespace image file size limit is 20 MB per image, with a 120-megapixel cap. Squarespace also recommends uploading images of 500 KB or less so pages load quickly. The figures below come from the Formatting images for display on the web page, and the other Help Center pages named in the table, all read 11 October 2026.

Two details trip people up. The 20 MB cap is generous, so the practical limit is the 500 KB recommendation, a 40-to-1 gap. And HEIC is not on the accepted list, so iPhone photos need to become JPG first. The page also says color mode should be RGB with an sRGB profile, and that DPI is not relevant for web display, so never chase 72 or 300.

Upload images about 2500 pixels wide. Squarespace says that width is ideal for most images.

Behind the scenes it makes up to seven copies at 100, 300, 500, 750, 1000, 1500 and 2500 pixels wide, and converts uploads to WebP by default, a switch you can turn off in Image Settings. A 4032 × 3024 iPhone frame is about 12 million pixels; at 2500 wide it keeps about 38% of them. That is a big cut before any quality setting is touched. Anything you send beyond 2500 wide only adds to the 20 MB total and to upload time.

What is the right Squarespace banner image size?

For a Squarespace banner image size, Squarespace gives a range, not a rectangle: section background images should be between 1500 and 2500 pixels wide. We found no height figure on the help pages we read, so we do not publish one. Pick a shape that suits the section, since the template crops to fit, and keep the subject away from the edges.

Squarespace images often look blurry because they are under 1500 pixels wide, as the Help Center warns, or because text sits inside a JPG. Squarespace also says text in a JPG often becomes blurry when compressed and recommends PNG for images with text.

• Too small: a 1200 px image stretched across a full-width section has to be enlarged. Start from the original and export at 2500 wide.
• Too compressed: if you shrank the file to hit 500 KB, raise quality a few points and check again at full screen.
• Text in JPG: logos, price lists and screenshots with writing look better as PNG.
• Wrong profile: Squarespace says images that look wrong on mobile may lack an sRGB profile.
• Already small: if the only copy you have is under 1500 px, compressing cannot add detail; Smol can upscale 2×, 3× or 4× to PNG, JPG or WebP, but treat the result as a rescue, not a camera original.

Set the maximum dimension to 2500, output JPG, quality 75 to 80, then read the output size. Smol sets quality and pixels, not output bytes, so you check the result against 500 KB.

Squarespace converts uploads to WebP itself, so you do not need to hand it WebP. Smol can write AVIF, but AVIF is not on Squarespace’s accepted list, so stay with JPG or PNG. For the measured case for why quality 75 matters, see our benchmark: on 24 small 768 × 512 photos, default settings made high-quality JPEGs 69.3% smaller. Camera-size files will differ.

If one file stubbornly misses 500 KB, Smol has a target-file-size mode (Neural) that accepts 4 to 4096 KB. It aims for a band, not a ceiling, and is slow, about 28 seconds for one 768 × 512 image, so keep it for stragglers.

Drag the folder into Smol, set JPG at quality 75 to 80 with a 2500 maximum dimension, compress, and sort the outputs by size. The whole batch runs in one pass.

1. 1

   Copy your photos to a working folder

   By default Smol writes a copy with a _compressed suffix next to each original and never overwrites it.

2. 2

   Drag the folder into Smol

   HEIC, JPG, PNG and RAW files (CR2, NEF, ARW, DNG) can go in together; RAW is compressed and converted, not developed.

3. 3

   Choose JPG, quality 75, maximum dimension 2500

   Use PNG for logos and text images. Leave fit mode on so nothing is cropped.

4. 4

   Compress, then sort the outputs by size

   Open Finder, sort by size, and rerun any file still above your target at a few points lower quality.

5. 5

   Upload the _compressed copies

   Then look at the live page at full screen and on a phone. If it looks soft, raise quality and redo that one image.

Do this once a month or per shoot and the habit is cheap. The Finder Quick Action compresses a selection with a right-click, and a Core Web Vitals guide explains why smaller images help your LCP.

The Squarespace video size limit is 500 MB for video blocks and section backgrounds and 5000 MB for video pages, in .mp4, .m4v or .mov, at 360p or higher. Video blocks allow 30 minutes; section backgrounds allow 60 seconds.

Per the upload requirements, you can upload videos totaling up to 30 minutes on any site. For backgrounds, Squarespace recommends under 40 seconds, 1080p and a bitrate of at least 3 Mbps, so keep quality from falling too far.

In Smol, choose Compress, output MP4 with H.264, pick the quality label (“Web” is CRF 28, “High” is CRF 24), reduce the resolution if needed, and switch audio off for silent background loops. Smol has no “make this 500 MB” control, so read the output size and lower quality if it is still over. Our guides to compressing video on a Mac and H.265 versus H.264 cover the trade-offs; we recommend H.264 for compatibility.

Free options come first: Squarespace itself resizes and converts uploads, and macOS can export smaller JPEGs. Each has limits, compared below.

Our methods comparison and the sips guide give the detail. For hosting-side tuning across platforms, see Wix image size and WordPress image optimization.

• You need pixel-identical output. Smol always re-encodes images; it has no lossless mode.
• You want SVG logos. Smol does not handle SVG, and Squarespace’s accepted list does not include it either.
• You are on Windows, Linux or iOS. Smol is macOS only.
• You upload one or two photos a year. Preview or Squoosh costs nothing and is enough.
• You need a guaranteed byte count. Smol sets quality and pixels; check the output, or use target-size mode for images and accept a band.