A blog cover may appear as a wide strip on the article page and a small card on the list. Using both ends of a coastline can look striking in the wider design. If the main cliff disappears when the card crops the centre, consider the overlap between the two layouts while choosing the photo.

Inspect both slots at their actual size

Open the article and list previews with the same photo. If one frame is 16:9 and the other 4:3, the narrower shape may remove more from the sides. For a centred crop, imagine the area shared by both frames. Keep the important object or face inside it with some room to spare.

Try a focal point if available

Some editors let you specify a focal point. For the coast, mark the main shape of the cliff instead of centring the hill. Then reopen both layouts. A focal point can guide the crop but cannot fit the entire scene into a very narrow frame.

Check text and the small preview

If text sits over the photo, see where it moves on a narrow screen. Dense details can make the text hard to read. Using the page’s real heading gives the photo more flexibility across crops. Build the cover around a subject readers can recognise at card size.

Export separate versions if you need them

If one picture cannot do both jobs, make wide and compact crops from the same scene. Distinguish their roles in their file names. Open each at its intended size to check the subject, edge spacing, and relationship with the heading. Shared alt text should describe something visible in both versions.

Start with the narrowest placement

Imagine a coastal photo with a rocky point on the left and a small boat on the right. A wide cover may show both. A square card that drops the boat can change the story the picture tells. Decide which element matters in that placement. If the article is about the boat's journey, keep it in the square and let part of the rock go. If the article is about the landscape and needs both objects, you may want a master with a wider field of view. Look at the narrowest placement first, then return to the full cover. This makes a missing subject easy to spot. Export each placement at its own proportions and dimensions. Stretching a square crop to fill a wide space distorts the scene. If a headline accompanies the small card, the photo can let go of details the text already explains. Judge the picture and heading together before committing to the crop. Keep enough room around the subject for the crops you actually use.

Review the edges and the headline together

If the cover carries text, keep an unlettered master. A translation may take up more room, and a layout update may move the heading. Leave a quiet area for the text without placing it over the subject. Check white letters against a bright sky and dark letters against a shaded rock. Test readability at phone size as well as on a desktop. When a card becomes tiny, its separate headline may do a better job than words baked into the picture. Look for preview placements that may still use an older thumbnail after the artwork changes. For a final comparison, put the wide cover, the square card and the narrow phone view side by side. They should all feel like parts of the same article, with a natural frame and a clear subject in each placement. Give the exports names that describe where they belong. If a new card size arrives later, return to the unlettered source to make its own crop.