Why Your Etsy Banner (or Social Media Header) Looks Blurry — And How to Fix It!

How to Export Sharp, Crisp Header Images for Etsy, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest & More

Have you ever designed a beautiful header — only to see it turn blurry or pixelated the moment you upload it?

Or worse — Etsy throws an error and refuses to upload it at all?

I’ve been there. In fact, this exact thing happened to me while updating my Etsy store banner. It looked perfect in Photoshop — but on Etsy? Blurry. Then I got an odd "upload failure" error.

After testing (and a lot of trial and error), I figured out the solution — and now I’m sharing it with you!

Here’s how to make sure your Etsy banner — or ANY social media header — looks sharp, crisp, and beautiful every time.

1️⃣ Common Problems You’ll See

✅ Blurry banner after upload ✅ Banner colors look dull or wrong ✅ Upload fails completely (Etsy PNG error) ✅ Text looks fuzzy ✅ Facebook crops the image weirdly ✅ Pinterest header looks low-res

2️⃣ Why This Happens

👉 Banner images are subject to:

• Platform size requirements → each platform has its own header dimensions

• Automatic compression → Etsy, Facebook, YouTube compress your image

• Export settings mistakes → interlacing, wrong DPI, incorrect scaling

• File size limits → Etsy = max 10 MB, others vary

3️⃣ Case Study: My Etsy Banner Nightmare

I created a multi-layered Photoshop file, exported as PNG, and tried to upload to Etsy.→ Blurry!→ Then failed to upload entirely with a GCS Bucket error.

After lots of testing, I discovered the culprit was file and export settings. Once fixed, the banner looked sharp and uploaded instantly.

4️⃣ How to Export a Sharp Etsy Banner In Photoshop:

✅ Design at 3360 x 840 px ✅ Set 72 ppi (pixels per inch — important even though PNG ignores DPI) ✅ Flatten the image first (optional but often improves results) ✅ Export using File → Export → Export As → PNG → Save ✅ Or export as high-quality JPG → 80–90% quality

👉 JPG often uploads more reliably to Etsy and looks great for solid banners.

In Canva:

✅ Set canvas to exact header size (Etsy: 3360 x 840 px)✅ Download → PNG or JPG → High quality

Why JPG sometimes works better:

• Etsy re-compresses PNGs

• JPG avoids transparency issues and upload glitches

• For banners without transparency, JPG is perfectly fine and smaller

5️⃣ How to Troubleshoot Upload Errors on Etsy

✅ If PNG upload fails → try saving as high-quality JPG instead ✅ If file is over 10 MB → optimize or flatten layers ✅ If text looks blurry → check that text layers are at 100% scale and sharp in source file ✅ Avoid uploading scaled-up images 6️⃣ Tips for YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, Blogs

Platform	Recommended Size	Notes
YouTube Channel Banner	2560 x 1440 px	Safe area: 1546 x 423 px
Facebook Page Cover	1200 x 628 px	Facebook compresses JPG heavily
Pinterest Profile Banner	800 x 450 px	Light compression
Blog Header	varies	Match blog theme pixel size exactly

For all:→ Flatten image→ Export at exact pixel size→ Use PNG or high-quality JPG→ Avoid transparency unless needed

7️⃣ Summary Checklist

✅ Use correct pixel/document size for each platform ✅ Flatten before export ✅ Set 72 ppi ✅ Export as PNG (non-interlaced) or JPG ✅ Don’t scale up small images ✅ Check text sharpness before export

👉 Bonus tip: Use TinyPNG or ImageOptim to optimize files without losing quality.

8️⃣ Final Thoughts

A blurry banner can ruin the first impression of your shop or channel.→ 90% of the time, it’s a simple setting!→ Follow this checklist and your headers will shine everywhere — Etsy, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, and your blog.

Cheers!