How to make great podcast cover art – TAP191

Podcast cover art is often a potential subscriber's first impression of your podcast. Here are the technical specs and ten elements of great podcast artwork.

UPDATED 9-24-2014: The following has been revised in accordance with Apple's latest specifications. Please note that the minimum is now 1,400 × 1,400 (no longer just a recommendation). But contrary to popular belief, PNG is still a recommended option, as long as it (or JPEG) are in the RGB color space.

Click here to download the Podcast Cover Art Toolbox

The current podcast cover art specs from iTunes

Check back with this post as I'll keep these specs updated on the latest standards from iTunes.

Core requirements

• Minimum 600 × 600 1,400 × 1,400 pixels (maximum 3,000 × 3,000)
• RGB color space (not grayscale, CMYK, 8-bit indexed, or transparent)
• Hosted on a server that supports HTTP HEAD requests
• JPEG or PNG file format (JPEG is more highly recommended)

Here are some things to avoid in your cover art.

• Explicit or self-censored explicit language in podcast titles, subtitles, or descriptions
• References to illegal drugs, profanity, or violence in the title, description, or cover art
• Images or language that could be construed as racist, misogynist, or homophobic
• Images depicting sex, violence, gore, illegal drugs, or hate themes
• Third-party trademarks without authorization or usage rights
• The words “iTunes Store,” “iTunes,” or “Apple Inc.”
• iTunes Store logo, Apple logo, or the term “Exclusive” without prior authorization from Apple

Requirements to be featured

Apple has extra requirements for anything they'll consider featuring.

• Attractive, original cover art that does not include Apple-branded content. Include a 1400 × 1400-pixel JPEG or PNG file in the RGB color space for your cover art to be eligible for promotion.
• A robust and accurate description for the podcast and all related episodes
• A clear and complete author listing
• Proper tags regarding language, category, and explicit language or content
• New episodes being posted regularly

The cover art, and all other podcast elements must be original and cannot contain any of the following:

• Pixelation, artifacts, high-contrast background art, blurry or hard crops (unless stylistic), or other style issues
• References to illegal drugs, profanity, or violence in the title, description, or cover art
• Images or language that could be construed as racist, misogynist, or homophobic
• Images depicting sex, violence, gore, illegal drugs, or hate themes
• Third-party trademarks without