Album covers offer a wide variety of sizes as they significantly differ according to the music producer, the artist, and the purpose of the album. Whether you’re creating digital or printed album covers for an artist, musician, band, or musical group, you must be fully aware of the appropriate sizes to use to develop your album covers.

album cover sizes

Album cover sizes are crucial for making a strong first impression and maintaining visual consistency across digital and physical music platforms. The right dimensions ensure your artwork looks sharp, fits platform requirements, and enhances your music’s identity. In this guide, we’ll explore standard album cover sizes for streaming services, vinyl, and CDs. Perfect for musicians, designers, and labels aiming to create eye-catching, professional covers that resonate with listeners everywhere.

Album Cover Sizes

Standard Album Cover Sizes 

Album Cover Sizes

Format Type Size (inches) Size (mm) Use Case
CD Cover 4.724″ × 4.724″ 120 × 120 mm Standard jewel case cover
Vinyl (12″ LP) 12.375″ × 12.375″ 313 × 313 mm Classic vinyl record sleeves
Vinyl (7″ single) 7.08″ × 7.08″ 180 × 180 mm Small vinyl or EP releases
Cassette Cover 2.75″ × 4.25″ 70 × 108 mm Front cover of cassette J-cards

Physical CD

The physical CD covers should have a size of a perfect square, approximately 4.75 in x 4.75 inches. For the image resolution, it should be at least 72 DPI, but the best quality is at 300 DPI.

Vinyl LP

The standard album cover size for LPs is 12 ? inches (about 31.43 cm square) or 12.375”x 12.275”. This size provides enough space to get the vinyl album in and out of the album cover and a large canvas to fully display the album cover artwork. Nowadays, 12-inch vinyl LPs can hold around 30 minutes of audio per side.

Digital Album for Streaming Services

There are various digital album cover sizes for different kinds of streaming services. For Spotify, the image resolution should be 1500 x 1500 pixels, with file size of 4 MB in JPG, PNG, and TIFF formats, while Amazon on Demand Store requires image size of 1600 x 1600 pixels, with file size of 10 MB in PNG/JPG format. Also, SoundCloud images must be in 800 x 800 pixels, with file size of 2 MB, in JPG or PNG format, and album cover images for iTunes should be in 3000 x 3000 pixels, with 300 DPI, RGB color mode, in JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and GIF formats.

Album Cover Sizes For Digital

Platform Recommended Size (pixels) Aspect Ratio Use Case
Spotify 3000 × 3000 px 1:1 (square) Album & single cover art
Apple Music 3000 × 3000 px 1:1 High-resolution digital covers
SoundCloud 800 × 800 px (min) 1:1 Profile or track artwork
Amazon Music 1600 × 1600 px (min) 1:1 High-quality image upload
YouTube Music 1280 × 720 px (min) 16:9 Video thumbnail for songs
Bandcamp 1400 × 1400 px (min) 1:1 Track or album art

Apple iTunes Album Cover Size

The recommended sizes of an album cover for Apple iTunes are 13.3” x 13.3” inches, 33.8 x 33.8 cms, 1058 x 1058 mm, and at least 4000 x 4000 pixels. The ideal image resolution value is 300 DPI and you should use the highest-quality RGB color mode, plus your image file format should be in JPEG, PNG, TIFF, or GIF.

Apple iTunes Album Cover Size

Band camp Album Cover Size

According to Band camp, the recommended album cover art size should be at least 4.6”x 4.6” inches, 11.85 x 11.85 cm, 370.3 x 370.3 mm, and 1400 x 1400 pixels. Also, note that the album cover should be square.

Bandcamp Album Cover Size

SoundCloud Album Cover Size

The standard album cover sizes for SoundCloud are 2.6”x 2.6” inches, 6.6 x 6.6 cm, 66.04 x 66.04 mm, and 800 x 800 pixels, plus an aspect ratio of 1:1. It is required that your album cover image is 2 MB, available in either JPEG or PNG formats.

SoundCloud Album Cover Size

Spotify Album Cover Size

Based on Spotify’s official recommendations, the ideal Spotify album cover art size is 1600 x 1600 pixels. This is an aspect ratio of 1:1, which means it should be a perfect square. Make sure that your image file size is 4 MB, the file format should be either in JPG< PNG, or TIFF, and it should be encoded with sRGB color space at approximately 24 bits per pixel.

Spotify Album Cover Size

YouTube Music Album Cover Size

All album cover images should have a maximum size of 4098 x 4098 pixels and a minimum size of 1400 x 1400 pixels at 300 DPI to guarantee optimal visual quality. They must be in JPEG or PNG format.

YouTube Music Album Cover Size

Album Cover Sizes For Print

CD Album Cover Size

A physical CD cover image should have finished dimensions of 4.724 x 4.724 inches, with a resolution of at least 72 or a max of 300 DPI, and it should be printed in CMYK color mode. While the bleed dimensions should be 4.974 x 4.974 inches, having a bleed area or extra space of ? inches for the design elements or backgrounds to be extended beyond the finished size of the album cover.

LP/Vinyl Record Album Cover Size

For LPs or vinyl record albums, the album cover art size should be 7 x 12 inches with at least 300 DPI and it also needs to be printed in CMYK color mode. It must have a 5 mm bleed around the edges of the cover. LPs usually have 33 RPM record sleeves with dimensions of 13 x 13 x 1.5 inches, which are transparent plastic outer sleeves to protect vintage vinyl from dust, dirt, scratches, and dirt.

Album Cover Sizes For Print

Album Cover Sizes For Email

The ideal dimensions for a typical digital CD album cover that you can easily send through email are at least 1600 x 1600 pixels up to 3000 x 3000 pixels. Ensure that the album cover image size is in the best quality RGB color mode, including black and white images. If you are planning to distribute your music on several music streaming services, your album cover image should have an image resolution of 300 DPI.

Album Cover Sizes For Email

Album Cover Sizes For Business

For businesses, album cover sizes have standard dimensions of at least 1500 x 1500 pixels and a maximum image size of 3000 x 3000 pixels.

Album Cover Sizes For Business

Album Cover Sizes For Adobe Photoshop

The recommended album cover sizes for Adobe Photoshop are around 4.75 x 4.75 inches or at least 1600 x 1600 up to 3000 x 3000 pixels at 300 DPI. It is important to get an album cover template to have the specifics concerning the required image size. Consider if other formats are necessary like the 12-inch LP or vinyl record.

Album Cover Sizes For Adobe Photoshop

Album Cover Sizes For Adobe Illustrator

The standard album cover sizes for Adobe Illustrator are 12 x 12 cm, 120 x 120 mm, or around 4.72 x 4.72 inches with 300 DPI. The image file should be in PNG or JPEG format and choose the highest image resolution as much as possible.

Album Cover Sizes For Adobe Illustrator

Album Cover Sizes FAQs

What is the Recommended Album Cover Size?

The top recommended album cover sizes are 4.72 in x 4.72 inches for physical CD album covers and at least 1600 x 1600 to 3000 x 3000 pixels for digital CD album covers for multiple music streaming services.

What is the size of the album cover in inches?

The album cover size in inches is about 4.75 inches across and 4.75 inches tall, with an aspect ratio of 1:1 for a perfect square.

What are the Dimensions of a Record Album Cover?

The typical dimensions of a record album cover are about 12.375 in x 12.375 inches, 31.43 x 31.43 cm, and 314.32 x 314.32 mm.

What is the size of an album cover in centimeters?

The size of an album cover in centimeters is about 12 x 12 cm.

What are the CD album cover dimensions?

The CD album cover dimensions are 4.7 x 4.7 inches (120 x 120 mm) for CD front insert cover , 5.9 x 4.6 inches (151 x 118 mm) for CD back insert cover , 9.5 x 4.7 inches (242 x 120 mm) for CD front double insert cover, and 6 x 4.7 inches (154 x 120 mm) for slim CD insert cover.

What is the size of the album cover in pixels?

The standard size of the album cover is 3000 x 3000 pixels.

How to change the size of the album cover?

Open the image of your album artwork in Photoshop or other photo editing software, navigate the options, click the resize option so that you are able to modify the image size and resolution, and maintain the aspect ratio at 1:1 to keep your album cover a perfect square.

What does an album cover measure?

An album cover measures 4.72 in length and 4.72 in width.

What is the perfect resolution for an album cover?

The perfect resolution for an album cover is 300 DPI.

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