Spotify playlist cover maker: square 640×640, under 256 KB

How to make a Spotify playlist cover

A good playlist cover is square, readable at thumbnail size and small enough to upload. This page crops your photo to a square, adds a title if you want one, and saves a 640×640 JPEG that fits Spotify’s API limit.

1. Drop a photo. A sample cover is already made from a CC0 night-city photo, so you can see the result first.
2. Zoom and slide the crop until the square shows what you want; add a title and a small line, or leave them empty.
3. Pick a look (title band, text only or CD case) and a size: 640×640 by default, or 300 or 1000. The status shows the JPEG bytes and the base64 characters against Spotify’s 256 KB API limit.
4. Download the JPEG and set it in Spotify: on a phone, Edit → Change cover image; on a computer, click the cover of a playlist you created. Or copy the base64 for the Web API.

What Spotify says about playlist covers (read October 24, 2026)

All read in a browser on October 24, 2026. Gridloom is not affiliated with Spotify.

So what size should a Spotify playlist cover be?

Spotify doesn’t say for uploads in the app. Neither help article gives a pixel size, an aspect ratio or a file size. The numbers that do exist are in the developer docs: the API takes a JPEG whose base64 text is at most 256 KB, and the playlist images Spotify hands back come in 640×640, 300×300 and 60×60. All of them are square.

That is why this page makes a square JPEG at 640×640 by default: it matches the largest size Spotify documents, and it is small enough for the API. 300×300 (the size in the “Get Playlist Cover Image” example) and 1000×1000 are one click away. If you upload a photo that isn’t square, you don’t control how it gets fitted into those square sizes. Cropping it yourself, with the zoom and position sliders, means you pick what stays.

The 256 KB limit, in bytes

The limit applies to the base64 text, not the JPEG file. Base64 turns every 3 bytes into 4 characters, so a JPEG of 166,169 bytes becomes 221,560 characters. To stay under 256 KB of base64 the JPEG has to be at most 192,000 bytes if a KB is 1,000 bytes, or 196,608 bytes if it is 1,024. Spotify’s reference doesn’t say which, so this tool aims for the smaller one: base64 of at most 256,000 characters, which passes either way. With the box ticked it lowers JPEG quality step by step (92, 88, 84…) until the cover fits, and the status line shows the exact byte and character counts.

Measured on the sample photo

Sample: “Neon streets” by JINDONG H (Unsplash), CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, resized to 1600×1068. Measured in Chrome with this page’s own code; a busier photo needs a lower quality to fit.

Cover too large, or it won’t upload?

Spotify’s help pages we read don’t list an upload limit or explain upload errors, so we can’t tell you what the app’s cutoff is. What we can say: a 640×640 JPEG under 192,000 bytes is the file Spotify’s own API is built to accept, so it’s the safest one to try. A photo of several megabytes is many times that size. If the upload still fails, try the other device: on a computer Spotify’s steps are to click the cover of “a playlist you created”.

Why can’t I change my Spotify playlist cover?

The computer steps only cover playlists you made (“Click the image on a playlist you created.”), and the phone steps start from the playlist’s Edit button. We found nothing in Spotify’s help about changing the cover of a playlist made by Spotify or by someone else. The article names the phone menu item two ways, “Change playlist cover” in the Create cover art steps and “Change cover image” in the upload steps, so look for either. Images that break the rules get removed: Spotify’s guidelines say “Basically, don’t post an image of someone without their consent.” If you only want to stop seeing covers, the same help article says: “Use the compact library layout to hide cover images from Your Library.”

CD covers, text and GIFs

The CD case look puts your photo in a jewel case with a hinge strip and a glossy front, on a background taken from the photo’s own colours. It’s a style, drawn in the browser; it doesn’t use any album art. For a cover with text, type a title and a small line; the shaded band keeps white text readable on bright photos. Spotify’s own Create cover art (phone and tablet) can also add text and stickers, if you’d rather do it in the app.

GIF and PNG: the API takes image/jpeg only, and the help articles don’t mention GIF, PNG or animated covers at all, so we can’t say whether the app keeps an animation. This tool always saves a still JPEG; a GIF becomes its first frame.

Uploading with the Web API

Click “Copy base64 (for the API)” and send it as the request body, with a token that has the scopes Spotify lists for this endpoint (ugc-image-upload, playlist-modify-public, playlist-modify-private):

curl -X PUT "https://api.spotify.com/v1/playlists/YOUR_PLAYLIST_ID/images" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: image/jpeg" \
  --data "$(cat cover.b64)"

Spotify’s reference lists a 202 response with an empty body. Image URLs returned later by “Get Playlist” are temporary: the docs say the URL “is temporary and will expire in less than a day.”

What this tool doesn’t do

It doesn’t upload to Spotify or log in to your account; you save the JPEG and add it in the app (or send the base64 yourself). It doesn’t generate images with AI; it crops and lays out a photo you choose. It makes still JPEGs only. Covers over 1000×1000 (2000 and 3000 px) are Pro, and Spotify doesn’t document any need for them: they’re for printing or other services. For a YouTube thumbnail use the YouTube thumbnail resizer; for a round profile photo, the LinkedIn profile picture resizer.

Frequently asked questions