How to Make an X (Twitter) Header with Claude Design: 1500x500, the Crop and the Avatar

An X header made with Claude Design is a 1500x500 px (3:1) image whose text and key visuals sit in the middle band, at least 60 px from the top and bottom edges and clear of the lower left, where your profile photo overlaps. X's help centre says headers may be cropped by around 60 px on both the top and the bottom, depending on device and browser, so the area you can rely on is 1500x380, not 1500x500. Ask Claude Design for the exact canvas and those margins, then export a PNG.

What size is an X header in 2026?

No change to the header has been reported in the past year, so older guides are still right about the size. The file limit is the gap: X's own help page does not give one, and the 5 MB figure comes from third-party guides. If your export is bigger than that, convert it to JPG before uploading. The Claude Design size guide covers X post images and every other platform.

Which parts of the header get hidden?

The crop and the photo are documented in X's help centre; the buttons in the app you can see for yourself on your own profile.

X does not say how much of the lower left the photo covers, and it shifts with screen width. A rule of thumb that holds on desktop and on phones: keep the left 450 px of the bottom half free of anything people need to see. Size matters too. On a phone the whole 1500 px width is squeezed into the width of the screen, so text needs to be at least about 50 to 60 px tall on the canvas to stay readable.

Should an X header have text at all?

Often, less is better. Your name, bio and pinned post sit right under the header and already do the explaining, and the header is seen in a glance while someone decides whether to follow you. Headers that work tend to do one job:

• A positioning line of six words or fewer, in the middle band.
• A visual identity: brand colours, a pattern or a photo, with no text at all.
• A current launch or offer, swapped out when it ends.
• Social proof such as a row of client logos or one number, kept right of centre.

Whichever you choose, match it to the profile photo. A header whose colours clash with the circle sitting on top of it looks unfinished. If your photo has a plain background, use that colour somewhere in the header so the two read as one.

What prompt makes a good X header?

This prompt writes the crop and the avatar into the brief, so Claude Design lays the header out around them instead of putting a headline where it will be cut off. Leave the copy line blank if you want a header with no text.

Design a 1500x500 header image for my X (Twitter) profile.

Copy, exactly this and nothing more: [one line of six words or fewer, e.g. Brand design for climate startups]. If I leave this blank, use no text at all.

Safe areas:
- Keep all text and key visuals between 90px and 410px from the top. X crops about 60px off the top and bottom on some screens.
- Keep the left 450px of the bottom half empty of text and detail: my profile photo covers it.
- Keep text away from the top corners, where the mobile app draws its buttons.
- Make any text at least 56px tall, so it reads on a phone.

Layout: text right of centre, vertically centred in the safe band. The background can run edge to edge.

Style: [brand colours, e.g. deep navy with one coral accent], [font]. Use [the background colour of my profile photo] somewhere so the header and photo match.

Leave out: small text, handles, URLs, busy patterns behind the text, and any copy I have not given you.

The same structure, with the copy given word for word and a "leave out" list, works for other formats too: see 12 Claude Design prompts for social posts.

How do you export the header and upload it?

In Claude Design, export the artboard as a PNG from its menu on the canvas (PNG 2x gives a sharper file), or, in a Claude conversation, use Share > Export > PNG (image). Check that the file is exactly 3:1; any other shape forces a crop when you upload. On X, open your profile, choose Edit profile and select the header, then adjust the position if X asks and save. If the file is over 5 MB, convert it to JPG first with a free tool such as Squoosh.

For your own header made in Claude Design, the built-in export does the job. If the header reaches you as an HTML file (from a designer, a client or another AI tool), or the PNG picks up stray editor elements, Renda's X header preset renders the HTML or .zip export at 1500x500 at 2x, a 3000x1000 PNG, with the editor chrome removed.

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