> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.snowdoughnut.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Organic social creative specs
> Creative specs for organic posts: which paid ratios carry over, and the constraints that only exist organically, including the profile grid re-crop and the fact that an organic post has no placement preview before it publishes.
Organic posts use most of the same ratios as paid, so the dimensions in [image and video specs](/image-and-video-specs) carry over. This page covers what that page does not, because it is written for ads.
Use [image and video specs](/image-and-video-specs) for ratios and file sizes. Use this page for the organic-only constraints below. Current as of 10 August 2026.
## What carries over from paid
| Need | Where it lives |
| :-------------------------------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Ratios, dimensions, file sizes, video lengths | [Image and video specs](/image-and-video-specs) |
| Meta feed, Stories, Reels, carousel | [Meta creative specs](/meta-creative-specs) |
| TikTok in-feed and vertical video | [TikTok creative specs](/tiktok-creative-specs) |
| LinkedIn single image, video, carousel | [LinkedIn creative specs](/linkedin-creative-specs) |
| YouTube and Shorts | [YouTube creative specs](/youtube-creative-specs) |
| Interface safe zones on vertical video | [Image and video specs](/image-and-video-specs#a-note-on-safe-zones) |
## The profile grid re-crop
This is the constraint with no paid equivalent, and the one most often discovered after publishing.
An ad is seen once, in the placement it was made for. An organic post is seen twice: in the feed at its native ratio, and again in your profile grid at whatever ratio the platform crops the grid to. The grid crop is centered and automatic, and you do not get to choose it.
**Design so the post works in both.** A portrait post or Reel whose subject sits low in the frame reads correctly in the feed and gets its head cut off in the grid.
| Do | Don't |
| :---------------------------------------------------------- | :-------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Keep the subject and any key text inside the central region | Put the hook text at the very top or bottom of a portrait frame |
| Check the grid preview before publishing, not after | Assume the feed crop is the only crop |
| Design the first Reel frame as a deliberate cover image | Let the platform pick a frame from the middle of the video |
| Keep faces and product centred in the frame | Compose to the edges of a 9:16 canvas |
Platforms have changed the grid ratio before and will again: Instagram moved its profile grid off square in 2025. Don't design to a fixed pixel figure from a page like this one. Compose so the important content survives a centre crop in either direction, and confirm the current grid shape in the app before a launch depends on it.
## Covers and thumbnails
A grid is read as a set, which paid never is.
| Item | Why it matters organically |
| :---------------------- | :--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Reel cover frame | Chosen deliberately, it is the grid tile. Left to the platform, it is a random mid-video frame |
| Carousel card 1 | Both the feed image and the grid tile, so it carries two jobs |
| Video thumbnail | On YouTube it is the click decision; on a Reel it is the grid |
| The set of recent posts | Someone landing on the profile sees nine at once. They should look related without looking identical |
## No preview, no rollback
A paid ad has a placement preview before it runs and can be paused in seconds. An organic post has neither in the same way.
* **Preview in the tool you publish from**, and on a phone rather than a desktop browser, since that is where it will be seen.
* **A published post cannot be edited into a different image.** Correcting a visual error means deleting and reposting, which loses whatever engagement it had gathered.
* **Deleting and reposting resets everything**: the URL in the [content calendar](/content-calendar) row, the engagement, and any link somebody already shared.
That asymmetry is the argument for running the [pre-publish checklist](/organic-social-pre-publish-checklist) on organic even though it feels heavier than the post deserves.
## Accessibility
| Requirement | Detail |
| :----------------- | :-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Alt text | Every image and every carousel card. Limits are in the [copy template](/organic-social-copy-template) |
| Burned-in captions | Most feed video plays muted, so captions are the default rather than an accommodation |
| Contrast | Text over image has to clear the same contrast rule as everything else, see [visual identity](/visual-identity) |
| Text size | Readable at the size the grid renders, not at full screen |
## Related resources
* [**Image and video specs**](/image-and-video-specs) The ratios and file sizes, shared with paid.
* [**Organic social copy template**](/organic-social-copy-template) The words side of the same post.
* [**Organic social post brief**](/organic-social-post-brief) Where the creative is specified.
* [**Organic social pre-publish checklist**](/organic-social-pre-publish-checklist) The pass before it goes live.
* [**Visual identity**](/visual-identity) and [**brand assets**](/brand-assets) The standard organic is held to, same as paid.