Discord is a popular community-centric chat platform that draws in millions of gamers, fandom groups, and loyal followers. Although it began primarily as a chat app for gaming communities, Discord has rapidly expanded into multiple spaces and industries.
With over 196 million monthly active users, it’s clear that Discord is booming. Users who want to get in on the fun will need a properly sized Discord avatar (or profile picture).
It’s easy to set up a great Discord avatar that reflects who you are as an individual or brand. Once you learn your way around the platform, it’s easy to set up or change the image. If you’re wondering about the right Discord avatar size and want to learn how to set your profile picture, read on.
Best Discord Avatar Size
The best Discord avatar size is 128 x 128 pixels with a 1:1 aspect ratio. However, you’ll actually want to upload a larger square image.
Discord will automatically scale your image down to the appropriate dimensions, but using a larger image ensures you retain high-quality resolution.
Discord Avatar Image Requirements
According to Discord, you can upload multiple file formats. Avatars can be in JPG or PNG format, and must be under 10MB in size. If you’re a paid Nitro subscriber, you also have the option of uploading an animated GIF for your avatar.
How to Choose the Right Discord Avatar Image
Like any profile on social media, choosing the right image and optimizing the proper Discord avatar size is important. A picture can convey and communicate so much, so it’s crucial to spend some time thinking about what kind of image you want to represent you or your brand on Discord.
To cultivate brand awareness and help your users recognize you, you’ll want to choose an image that aligns with your brand and is easy to understand at a glance. If your Discord use is more personal, then choose an image that reflects your interests or something about your unique personality.
Eye-catching, colorful images work well for Discord avatars, as well as an image of your face (if you choose not to be anonymous) or an illustration that depicts you or your brand. Design tools like Snappa can help with creating custom avatars for your Discord profile. Let’s take a look at how to create your Discord avatar, plus some best practices.
How to Create a Discord Avatar
To make a Discord avatar in Snappa, you can start by entering in a custom graphic size. Even though Discord’s avatars display at 128 x 128 pixels, we recommend using larger square dimensions.
Enter in 500 x 500 pixels to get started.
Once you’ve entered your image size, click Create. Snappa will display your graphic in the editor, and you can get to work customizing it. You can add pictures, text, icons, shapes, and background patterns.
If you want to use one of our free stock images, click the Background button and type in your search term for a wide selection of photos. Once you’ve chosen an image that aligns with your Discord profile, click on it to add it to your custom graphic.
When you’re satisfied with the positioning of your image, make sure to Save and Download. Keep in mind that Discord avatars are circular, so you’ll likely need to zoom and reposition when you upload your Discord profile picture.
For the best resolution, consider downloading a PNG file from Snappa.
Once you’ve downloaded your image file, you’re ready to head over to Discord and set it as your avatar.
How to Set Your Discord Avatar
Now that you’ve created and downloaded an image with the best Discord avatar size, open Discord and click the Settings cog by your username in the bottom-left corner.
From there, click Edit User Profile.
Then select Change Avatar and upload the image you downloaded from Snappa.
You can now zoom in and reposition your Discord avatar image to fit within the circular crop. After everything looks good, click Apply, then Save Changes to set your Discord profile picture.
NOTE: If you use the Discord mobile app, swipe left as if you’re viewing your channel list. In the bottom right corner of your screen, you’ll see your avatar (or Discord’s default). Click on the avatar to access your User Settings. You can then add your new avatar simply by tapping on the profile icon at the top of your screen.
Discord Avatar Best Practices
There’s more to your profile picture than just the proper Discord avatar size. For the best experience on the app, there are some best practices and guidelines you should follow.
- Use an image that’s clear and high-quality. Even though your Discord avatar will display small on your screen, you still want it to be high resolution so your followers can see it clearly.
- Avoid vague images. Select photos or graphics that make it easy to know exactly what your avatar is supposed to be.
- Choose an avatar that aligns with your brand or your personality (or both, depending on your purpose for using the app).
- Avoid violent, hateful, or inappropriate images that go against Discord’s Community Server Guidelines.
Discord Avatar Ideas
If you want to make a Discord avatar that stands out, our online profile picture maker can help you whip one up in minutes.
Here are some of our favorite profile picture templates from Snappa. Whether you’re an individual or a brand, these templates offer a unique way to display your company logo or photo. You can use any of them for your Discord avatar, just keep in mind that Discord will scale them down to size, and may compress them slightly.
Black & White Discord Avatar:
Text & Photo Discord Avatar:
Logo Discord Avatar:
Aesthetic Discord Avatar:
Patterned Discord Avatar:
Final Thoughts
Setting your profile picture on Discord is easy, especially when you use the ideal Discord avatar size.
Creating a custom Discord avatar will produce better results, just be sure to follow the guidelines, select an image that represents you or your brand, and have fun!
If you need a little help creating a custom image for your Discord avatar, Snappa can help. We offer a library of images, graphics, and fonts to help you create the perfect profile picture. Click here to get started for free!
