GifmojiHow to Pick the Right Photo for a Custom Emoji
The difference between an emoji everyone uses and one nobody recognises is usually the photo, not the animation. Emoji appear at a fraction of their file size: Twitch shows emotes at 28 px in chat, and Slack and Discord show inline emoji at roughly the height of a line of text.
At that size, detail disappears and only shapes, contrast and expression survive. Here's how to choose a photo with that in mind.
Crop closer than feels natural
The single most effective thing you can do is make the subject fill the square. A head-and-shoulders shot that looks fine as a profile picture becomes a tiny face in a lot of empty space at emoji size.
For people, crop to the face, with the top of the head just touching the frame or even slightly cut off. For pets and objects, crop to the recognizable part: a dog's face rather than the whole dog, the mug rather than the table it's on.
Keep the subject centered. Many effects rotate or scale around the center of the image, and overlays like the sunglasses in :deal-with-it: or the beams in :laser-eyes: are drawn in a fixed position, so a centered, straight-on face lines up best.
Choose a big expression
Subtle expressions vanish when shrunk. A polite smile reads as a neutral face at 28 px. What works:
- Wide-open mouths: laughing, shouting, surprise.
- Raised eyebrows and wide eyes.
- Side-eye, squinting or a deliberate frown.
- Clear gestures that stay inside the crop, like a thumbs up or a facepalm.
Think about what the emoji will be used for. A shocked face pairs naturally with :shake: or :intensifies:, a big grin with :party-parrot: or :confetti-drop:, and a deadpan stare with :deal-with-it:.
Light and contrast
Even, front-facing light is ideal. A window or lamp behind the subject turns the face into a dark silhouette, and strong side light leaves half the face in shadow that turns muddy when the GIF is reduced to 256 colors.
Contrast between the subject and the background matters twice: it helps the emoji stand out at small sizes, and it makes background removal far more accurate.
Resolution and focus
You don't need a high-resolution photo. The final emoji is 112 or 128 pixels wide, so a photo where the subject is a few hundred pixels across is plenty. A screenshot from a video call works fine.
Focus matters much more than resolution. A sharp low-resolution photo beats a blurry high-resolution one, because blur softens the edges that make a shape recognizable.
Beyond faces
Some of the best custom emoji aren't people at all. Pets, a team mascot, a well-known office object, a plate of food from the team lunch or your product's logo can all work, as long as the subject has a clear silhouette. Simple shapes with a single bold color survive shrinking best.
If you're using someone else's photo, artwork or logo, check that you're allowed to. Our custom emoji etiquette guide covers asking permission and using brands.
A quick checklist
- The subject fills most of the square crop.
- The face or object is centered and facing the camera.
- The expression is obvious even when you squint.
- The lighting is even, with no bright window behind.
- The subject stands out from the background.
- The photo is in focus.
A good test: zoom out until the preview is about the size of a fingernail. If you can still tell who or what it is, it'll work as an emoji.