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Is it possible to have CLEAR text in Facebook ads? (11)

11-10-2015 02:20 AM #1 alfiss (Member)
Is it possible to have CLEAR text in Facebook ads?

I've tried all sorts of ways to compress, or even upload a sharper, bigger file, but after uploading, the image looks like utter shit.

This is an example

This is the original image


This is how it looks like after uploading to FB


Pardon the size, due to comp's resolution, but you get the idea.

Is there any way I can make the text WAY clearer than that?

11-11-2015 03:22 PM #2 Chunk (Member)

Is this a screenshot of your preview inside ads manager or is this a preview in actual facebook? (click see post )?

Apart from that i would suggest to use 1200 x 628, always.

11-11-2015 08:55 PM #3 cptncrnch (Member)

Dimensions = 1186 x 620 <-------- that's your problem

make a properly sized image and THEN add text.

11-12-2015 01:08 PM #4 alfiss (Member)

I'm not sure why the image isn't showing as 1200x628, was certain it is.

Anyway all my images has already been set at 1200x628. Attached another example

Original:



After Facebook's magic



I've tried compressing it down to even 50kb, played around with DPI, still doesn't make a difference. It's as though FB just wants to compress my images.

Anyone have experience with this? Or if anyone has successfully uploaded ads that FB didn't mess with, could you PM me your file? (take away your adcopy etc)

11-12-2015 06:45 PM #5 mr_smiley (Member)

My guess is you are creating these including adding text at like, 3000 pixel dimensions and then using save for web to get down to the FB ad size? If you do this in Photoshop it will mess up your text. You need to make the actual image at FB size or save it to FB size from a larger image, and then add the text as a last step. Though I am suprised they allow it on that example due to the 20% rule anyway.

11-12-2015 10:41 PM #6 anurag007 (Member)

Are u using these images for FB ads ? How do you get them approved ? I thought FB disapproved all images which had like 20% text on them.

11-13-2015 01:44 AM #7 alfiss (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by mr_smiley View Post
My guess is you are creating these including adding text at like, 3000 pixel dimensions and then using save for web to get down to the FB ad size? If you do this in Photoshop it will mess up your text. You need to make the actual image at FB size or save it to FB size from a larger image, and then add the text as a last step. Though I am suprised they allow it on that example due to the 20% rule anyway.
What I do is
1. Find image
2. Open in photoshop
3. Crop it to exactly 1200 x 628 / 72DPI
4. Add my editing/text
5. Save as JPG. Double check it's still 1200x628.
6. Upload to FB, and I blow up everytime because it looks like shit

PS: Look at the top hurricane image. That's the original image I upload to FB.


Quote Originally Posted by anurag007 View Post
Are u using these images for FB ads ? How do you get them approved ? I thought FB disapproved all images which had like 20% text on them.
Lol the text is just a placeholder for example to show blurness.

11-13-2015 04:39 AM #8 zeno (Administrator)

Quote Originally Posted by cptncrnch View Post
Dimensions = 1186 x 620 <-------- that's your problem

make a properly sized image and THEN add text.
Uhh, false. Page link post ads are most certainly recommended as 1200x628 for upload (https://www.facebook.com/business/help/103816146375741). You can use other sizes but I am not sure why you would deviate from FB recommendations on this, they are there for a reason, and it won't fix this issue.

That aside, I think the core issue here is one that no one has mentioned (or is perhaps aware of).

Facebook has a dynamic image delivery system. The reason you upload a 1200x628 image is so that Facebook has a source image that is the largest it will ever use - e.g. on a 5K iMac screen. For smaller screens like 1920x1080 monitors with typical scaling, Macbook Retina screens, mobile displays etc., Facebook actually outputs images on the fly to suit that source, with those images being output at a lower resolution (e.g. 470x246) and being optimised for file size to improve delivery.

The best way to get around this is to use a PNG image instead as it will not suffer from JPG compression artefacts which are most noticeable to you and will maintain crisper line art like text. You can pass PNGs through Kraken to optimise (save as 24 bit!) but FB will do this anyway.

Some other notes:

1. Don't use text with borders the way you have at the moment if you are worried about rescaling. With borders so soft and all touching each other you are going to get terrible downscaled results. Opt for sharper text without borders and darken the background, use a sharp drop shadow instead, etc.

2. The images you posted of the news feed are almost double size, so you have rescaled it upward and made it look far more terrible than it actually looks in the news feed.

11-13-2015 08:15 AM #9 h0mp (Member)

5. Save as JPG.
right. maybe try something else first.

Because of the compression method, JPG formats have some issues with contrasting edges in photos. This is most prevalent with text, signs, etc – but if you zoom in far enough even into a nice, high-quality image, you can see the quality reduction along those straight edges in the form of a sort of “shadow” along the edge.

However, zooming into a PNG image, you can see that there’s no “shadow” effect or any significant distortion of the contrasting edges.

The PNG compression algorithm is non-lossy. When you save this PNG file again, the quality of the saved image is identical to the original.

11-13-2015 02:16 PM #10 matt t (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by zeno View Post
The best way to get around this is to use a PNG image instead as it will not suffer from JPG compression artefacts which are most noticeable to you and will maintain crisper line art like text. You can pass PNGs through Kraken to optimise (save as 24 bit!) but FB will do this anyway.
Does this apply also mean that it is advisable to use PNGs on mobile landing pages as they will rescale better to different browsers or is this a different method of rescaling?

11-14-2015 06:10 PM #11 zeno (Administrator)

For mobile landers I would use whatever image type is most appropriate for the object.

If things are scaling, use a high resolution source.

Image rescaling by a browser is different, you won't get the same effects as the source data is still high (i mean downscaling).

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