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Forums and listing sites
Forum signature, 650x250
A signature is read while somebody is reading something else. That changes what belongs in it.
For Forums and listing sites · 650×250
Shown at the real ratio with the Neon Shore Anime design. Hover to animate. Previews are watermarked.
- Target size
- 650 × 250 pixels
- Still render
- 1300 × 500 PNG
- Animated render
- 1300 × 500, GIF 18fps, 3.6s
- Transparency
- Opaque
- Set in
- Your forum profile's signature field, usually as a linked image
- Platform
- Forums and listing sites
What forum signature is for
650x250 is the size most gaming and roleplay boards allow for a signature image, and it is roomy by the standards of everything else in this list. The temptation is to use the room. The thing worth remembering is that a signature is never the thing somebody came to look at: it sits under a post they are reading, in a thread they are following, and it gets about a second of attention.
That makes the useful contents narrow: the server name large enough to read at a glance, the tagline as a single short line, and the invite. The full scene has room to breathe at this ratio, which is why signatures tend to be the nicest-looking format in a pack, but the lockup is still the point.
File size is the practical constraint. Boards enforce signature limits far more strictly than they enforce dimensions, and a limit between 500KB and 1MB is common on older vBulletin installs. The animated signature is built at 18fps over 3.6 seconds with a 192-colour palette and comes in under 6MB, which suits modern XenForo and Invision boards. If your board is stricter, upload the still PNG, which is a few hundred kilobytes and loses nothing but the motion.
Check your board's rules before you upload. Some cap width at 500 pixels rather than 650, some disallow animation in signatures entirely, and a few count the signature against your post's image allowance. A board that strips animation will show the first frame, which is composed to stand on its own for exactly that reason.
File size budget
- GIF 18fps, 3.6s, built under 6.0MB
- 650x250 is the common board ceiling; some boards cap width at 500
- Animated GIF at 18fps over 3.6 seconds, under 6MB
- Many boards enforce a signature image limit between 500KB and 1MB
Mistakes that cost people a re-upload
- Uploading a 650 wide image to a board that caps signatures at 500
- Exceeding the board's file size limit, which usually fails silently
- Filling the space with rules, links and a member count nobody reads
- Animation that loops fast enough to distract from the thread
Forum signature questions
What is the standard forum signature size?
650x250 is the common ceiling on XenForo and Invision boards. Older vBulletin installs often cap at 500 pixels wide, so check the board rules first.
Will an animated signature work on my forum?
Most modern boards allow animated GIFs in signatures, with a file size limit. Some disallow them, in which case the board shows the first frame, which is composed to work on its own.
What should a server signature say?
The server name, one short tagline and the invite. A signature gets about a second of attention from somebody reading a thread.
Designs that suit 650x250
The roomiest ratio in the catalogue, which is where a painted scene gets to be a scene rather than a texture.
Neon Shore Anime
from $12Neon Shore rendered as anime artwork, with live motion, drifting particles and a chromed wordmark. Every format in the catalogue, still and animated.
20 formats, 46 filesNeon Shore Grunge
from $12Neon Shore rendered as grunge artwork, with live motion, drifting particles and a chromed wordmark. Every format in the catalogue, still and animated.
20 formats, 46 filesNeon Shore Painted
from $12Neon Shore rendered as painted artwork, with live motion, drifting particles and a chromed wordmark. Every format in the catalogue, still and animated.
20 formats, 46 filesNeon Shore Photoreal
from $12Neon Shore rendered as photoreal artwork, with live motion, drifting particles and a chromed wordmark. Every format in the catalogue, still and animated.
20 formats, 46 filesVice Pier Anime
from $12Vice Pier rendered as anime artwork, with live motion, drifting particles and a chromed wordmark. Every format in the catalogue, still and animated.
20 formats, 46 filesVice Pier Grunge
from $12Vice Pier rendered as grunge artwork, with live motion, drifting particles and a chromed wordmark. Every format in the catalogue, still and animated.
20 formats, 46 files
