Facebook Timeline Covers

One of the most interesting things about the new Facebook timeline designs is the large photo area at the top of the screen. This is known as the cover, as it acts as a cover page for the story of your life. When choosing a timeline cover, you want to pick something that reflects you, whether it's a picture of yourself, your family, or an image that showcases a hobby or interest of yours.

The timeline cover is an 850px by 315px image at the top of your timeline (formerly known as your profile). The concept behind the timeline is it gives a more structured view of your life as presented on Facebook. Every time you've added a friend, changed your relationship status or edited your profile information will be placed on the timeline.

The cover acts as the introduction to this story of your life. This is what makes it so important: think of it as your social media first impression. This cover is especially important so everyone, from co-workers to long-lost friends, can get a good idea of who you are in a glance.

The cover also addresses an issue that many people who crossed over from Myspace to Facebook criticized: lack of customization. Myspace allowed users to create completely customized webpages, whereas Facebook only let you upload photos, not edit the appearance of the profile. The Facebook cover adds a new level of personalization to your page.

• Use a photo of that's already in your albums. If you do this, you'll want to use a large, high quality photo — no tiny cell phone photos! This is the first thing people will see when they visit your page, and a grainy distorted image won't make a great impression.
• Download a premade cover from a timeline cover website. TimelineTweak.com is a great source of Facebook timeline covers, with premade designs that showcase tons of movies, TV shows, quotes, patterns and Facebook games. The upside to using these covers is that they are optimized for the cover area, so you know they'll look good and won't be distorted. The downside is that others might have the same cover as you.
• Design your own cover. If you have some graphic design skills, you can create your own cover in whatever image processing program you have. Use photos, drawings and text to create your own work of art at the top of your timeline.

1. Visit your Facebook timeline by clicking "Profile" at the top of the Facebook page.
2. Click the "Change Cover" button. This presents a drop-down menu.
3. If you'd like to use your own photo that's already on Facebook, click "Choose from my Photos." This will present you with all your Facebook photos.
4. Click "Upload a Photo" to choose an image on your computer to use as a cover.
5. Once you've chosen your cover image, click "Reposition cover" if you need to adjust the position of the image.
6. Click the "Done" button when you're finished.