Reading export limits: what 2048px really means
"Export up to 2048 px on the longest edge" sounds either generous or stingy depending on what you make. Here is what it works out to for screens, social media, print and wallpapers, with the arithmetic to check any size yourself.
Free image editors and web tools often limit export size. Miyu Paint's free tools, for example, export PNG and JPEG up to 2048 pixels on the longest edge. Numbers like that are hard to picture. Is it enough for Instagram? For a slide? For a printed photo?
The answer depends on the destination, and it takes a line of arithmetic to work out.
What "longest edge" means
The limit applies to whichever side is longer. The other side is scaled in proportion.
| Shape | Maximum size | Megapixels |
|---|---|---|
| Square (1:1) | 2048 × 2048 | 4.2 |
| Landscape 4:3 | 2048 × 1536 | 3.1 |
| Landscape 3:2 | 2048 × 1365 | 2.8 |
| Widescreen 16:9 | 2048 × 1152 | 2.4 |
| Portrait 4:5 | 1638 × 2048 | 3.4 |
| Portrait 9:16 | 1152 × 2048 | 2.4 |
A modern phone camera captures 12 to 48 megapixels, so a 2048-pixel export is a considerably smaller version of the original.
Social media: comfortably enough
Social platforms display images at modest sizes and resize everything you upload:
- Instagram feed images are displayed at up to 1080 pixels wide — a 4:5 portrait is 1080 × 1350.
- Stories are 1080 × 1920.
- Link preview images for most platforms are around 1200 × 630.
Every one of these is below 2048. Uploading more pixels than the platform uses does not improve quality; the platform resizes it anyway.
Websites and slides: enough for most uses
- A blog or article image is rarely displayed wider than 800–1200 CSS pixels. On a high-density (Retina) screen, that needs 1600–2400 real pixels to look perfectly sharp. 2048 covers most layouts; a very wide full-bleed banner may want more.
- A slide in Keynote or PowerPoint at the standard 1920 × 1080 is fully covered by a 2048 × 1152 image.
- Email images are usually displayed at 600 pixels wide or less.
Screens and wallpapers: depends on the screen
Here the limit starts to show:
- A 1080p display (1920 × 1080): covered.
- A MacBook Air display is 2560 pixels wide or more; a 27-inch 5K display is 5120. A 2048-pixel wallpaper on those is enlarged and looks soft.
- A 4K TV or monitor is 3840 × 2160.
For a full-screen wallpaper or a presentation on a large, high-resolution display, you want export at the screen's native resolution.
Print: this is where it matters
For print, pixels become physical size. The standard for sharp prints viewed up close is 300 pixels per inch.
Print size = pixels ÷ PPI.
| Use | PPI | 2048 pixels prints at |
|---|---|---|
| Photo held in the hand | 300 | 6.8 in / 17.3 cm |
| Acceptable photo print | 200 | 10.2 in / 26 cm |
| Poster viewed from a distance | 150 | 13.7 in / 34.7 cm |
So a 2048-pixel image makes a sharp postcard or 5 × 7 inch print, and a reasonable A5. For A4 at full sharpness (about 3508 pixels on the long edge at 300 PPI) or anything larger, it is not enough.
Checking any size yourself
Two formulas cover every case:
- Is it enough for a screen? Compare the longest edge with the display width in real pixels. On high-density screens, that is twice the size in CSS or "looks like" pixels.
- Is it enough for print? Divide pixels by 300 for the sharp print size in inches, and multiply by 2.54 for centimetres.
Why limits like this exist
Export limits on free tiers are a common way to let people use an app fully for everyday work while keeping something to pay for. The honest version, in our view, does three things: states the limit clearly, sets it where it affects demanding work rather than everyday tasks, and never adds a watermark to what you do export for free.
Measured against the tables above, 2048 pixels covers screens, social media and the web — what most people make most of the time — while print and large high-resolution displays need more.
What Miyu Paint does
Miyu Paint's free tools — open, crop, resize, draw, brushes, pencils, erasers, fills and selections — export PNG and JPEG up to 2048 pixels on the longest edge, with no watermark. For the social, web and slide uses above, that is the whole job.
Full access adds full-resolution export, advanced formats and printing, along with layers, masks, adjustments and effects, editable text and shapes, and .mpaint projects. It comes from a fourteen-day trial that you start yourself and that never renews into a charge, or a one-time Lifetime Unlock. After a trial ends, the free tools remain available and layered drafts are preserved.
Editing happens on your Mac, with no account, advertising, analytics or tracking.