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Basics · Jul 8, 2026

What is an OG image?

An OG image is the picture social apps attach to a shared link. The name comes from the Open Graph protocol. You put an absolute HTTPS URL in an og:image tag; crawlers fetch that file and draw a card.

Without a dedicated image, Facebook, LinkedIn, Slack, Discord, and WhatsApp guess. They pick a random photo from the page, a favicon, or nothing. That is why a carefully written post can still look broken in Slack.

OG image vs the rest of the tags

The image is one field. The card also needs copy:

  • og:title — the headline on the card
  • og:description — one or two lines under it
  • og:url — the canonical page
  • twitter:card — on X, summary_large_image is what shows a large picture

Search engines read <title> and meta name="description". Social crawlers prefer the og:* properties. Set both; do not assume one fills the other. Limits and the tags worth setting: which Open Graph tags still matter.

Where it shows up

The same 1200×630 file is reused more than people expect:

  • Facebook and LinkedIn link previews
  • Slack and Discord unfurls
  • WhatsApp and iMessage (when the file is small enough)
  • X, if twitter:card is summary_large_image

Each network crops a little differently. A 1.91:1 image (1200×630) is the boring, correct default. Read OG image size if you need the pixel math.

What an OG image is not

It is not the HTML snippet you paste into <head>. Tag generators emit markup; they do not draw pixels. It is not Meta’s AI image model, and it is not a screenshot of your homepage unless you deliberately render one.

OGForge is an OG image generator: templates in, PNG (free) or JPEG/WebP (Pro) out. Save the file and put the /u/… URL in og:image. If you need to render from code, the dynamic OG image API is the same engine (API key or x402 — not a public query URL).

Check the page you already shipped

Paste a URL into the OG image checker. You will see approximate Facebook, X, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and Discord cards, a copy-paste tag snippet, and a checklist (missing image, HTTP instead of HTTPS, title too long, twitter:card not set). Those previews are CSS mocks from the tags we fetched — not Facebook Graph.

If the checker says the image is missing, start in the OG image templates gallery, save the image, and put the /u/… URL in og:image.

Need the actual image?

Open the OG image generator — PNG export is free. Pro is $19.99/mo for JPEG/WebP, CDN URLs, and an API key. Or paste a live URL into the checker first.

OG image templates Pricing OG image checker

More OG image guides