Podcast Artwork Validator

Knowledge Base

Apple Podcasts and Spotify Artwork Requirements

• Dimensions: Square image, minimum 1400×1400px, maximum 3000×3000px.
• Format: JPEG or PNG.
• Colour space: RGB (not CMYK), browsers automatically decode images to RGB for display, so a colour-space mismatch in the original file isn't something this tool can detect directly. If colours look off after upload, re-export from your design tool in RGB mode.
• File size: Most podcast hosts cap artwork around 512KB to 2MB even though Apple's own spec doesn't set a hard limit. Check your specific host's requirement if this tool flags your file as large.

Why the Small Preview Matters Most

Your artwork gets seen at app-icon and search-result scale far more often than full-size. A design that looks great at 3000px can become an illegible blur at 55px. Check the small preview above specifically for text legibility and whether the main subject is still recognisable.

FAQ

Q: My image is 1200×1200, can I still use it?
A: No, Apple Podcasts requires a minimum of 1400×1400px. Re-export or upscale carefully from your original design file rather than the small version.

Q: Does a non-square image get rejected automatically?
A: Podcast platforms specifically require square artwork. A rectangular image will either be rejected or cropped unpredictably, so always export it square from your design tool.

Artwork that survives being small

Apple requires square artwork between 1400 and 3000 pixels on each side, in JPEG or PNG, using RGB colour. Those are hard requirements and a submission failing any of them gets rejected rather than corrected. Supplying the maximum 3000 by 3000 is the safe choice, since every smaller size a platform needs gets generated from it.

The requirement people miss is colour mode. Artwork exported from print design software often carries CMYK colour, which looks correct on the designer's screen and is rejected outright. Converting to RGB before export takes seconds and prevents a rejection that can otherwise take days to diagnose.

Design for the smallest size, not the largest. Listeners meet your cover as a thumbnail in a list, often under 100 pixels. Anything you would need to zoom into is decoration rather than information. That rules out taglines, episode numbers, website addresses and long show names in small type, all of which are illegible at the size where the decision to tap actually gets made.

One strong idea reads at any size: a short title in heavy type, a single recognisable image, and enough contrast between them to survive a dark interface and a light one. Check by shrinking the artwork to thumbnail scale and looking at it beside other covers rather than on its own, because that is the comparison a listener makes.

Episode artwork is separate from show artwork and follows looser rules. Most hosts accept a per-episode image, which appears in some apps and is ignored by others. Treat it as a small bonus rather than somewhere to put essential information, and keep the show cover consistent, because listeners recognise a show in a crowded list by its cover long before they read its name.

Vocabulary

RGB and CMYK. Two ways of describing colour. RGB mixes red, green and blue light and is what screens use. CMYK mixes inks for print. Podcast artwork must be RGB, and CMYK files are rejected on submission.

Thumbnail. The small version of your artwork shown in listings and search results, often under 100 pixels square. The size at which almost every listener first encounters a show, and therefore the size the design has to work at.

Aspect ratio. The proportion of width to height. Podcast artwork must be exactly square, so a rectangular image is rejected rather than cropped, and cropping it yourself keeps control over what stays in frame.

Colour depth. How many bits describe each pixel's colour. Standard 8 bit per channel artwork is expected. Higher depths bring no benefit at these sizes and occasionally cause compatibility problems on submission.