Facebook Fan Pages: Adding Value With An Oversized Profile Photo

Previously, we discussed getting started o a Facebook Page for your Brand, art, business, etc. If you’ve gotten started, you may have found that starting a Page is a little like falling down the Rabbit Hole.  Facebook  has not always been known for being endlessly customizable, certainly not compared to theme-heavy Myspace, but there are a ton of  options for personalizing your Page!

Today, we’re going to start with one that isn’t readily apparent, but is a lot of fun and adds a great, professional touch to your Page. It’s a technique used by Victoria’s Secret, Fat Dude client Perfectly Paper, and… yours truly (Why yes, we are accepting new fans! Thank you so much for asking, Mr Shameless Q. Pluggerton!). The technique is a little-known feature that I call the Oversized Profile Photo.

The Oversized Profile Photo works like this: Facebook Pages will allow you to upload an image that is up to three times as tall as it is wide, display the entire image on your Wall, and then select a square-sized portion of your profile picture’s thumbnail. The end result looks like this:

What you end up with is a box roughly twice the size of your profile picture (or a little less, I prefer a nice separating strip of white space), right at the top of your Wall sidebar, to fill with anything you want. Fill it with a blurb about your Brand like I did, or fill it with a picture of your best product like Perfectly Paper did. Heck, if you want to fill it with a European lingerie model like Victora’s Secret did, I wouldn’t say no to that either.The possibilities are limitless…. almost. You can’t link this image to anything because it’s already linked to your Facebook photos page (I’ll teach you a way around that a little later).

So, how to get started? By using a handy-dandy template designed just for you by your uncle Fat Dude, of course! The Photoshop templates below will put you on the right path. Notice the margins layer; Facebook clips the sides of your thumbnail image a little and this will keep your content inside the final box. Be sure to hide this layer in your final product.

Oversized Profile Template 1 – Logo box on bottom

Oversized Profile Template 2 – Logo box on top

Once you’ve uploaded your new supersize profile pic, you may find that your mini pic that appears right before every one of your wall posts may not look exactly as you planned:

You’ll want to mouse over your big profile picture there on the left until a popup appears that says “Change Picture.” select that, and a menu will appear. Choose “Edit Thumbnail”

From there it’s just a matter of moving around the selection box until you’re satisfied, and… congratulations! You’ve made a very attractive and useful addition to your Facebook Fan Page. What will you do with your new personalizable ad space? Tell us (or give a link and show us) in the comments.

If I’ve lost you because you don’t have Photoshop or you’re just not sure how to proceed with an oversized profile photo, head on over to Fat Dude Design or drop me a like at thedude@fatdudedesign.com, and I’d love to help.