Create a Cool Profile Picture & Cover Photo Combo for your Facebook Timeline Page 2015

Create a Cool Profile Picture & Cover Photo Combo for your Facebook Timeline Page 2015

As you’re probably aware, Facebook has again changed the layout of the Timeline for Personal Profiles, and has been rolling it out gradually for the past month or so. Yesterday the changes hit my own Personal Profile, which allows me to update my previous tutorial on integrating your Facebook Cover Photo and Profile Picture so that they appear to be part of the same image.
NOTE: This layout change HAS NOT rolled out to Facebook Pages, only Personal Profiles. To create this effect (and get the Photoshop template) for a Facebook Brand Page, read the Timeline Cover Photo / Profile Picture tutorial and template for Facebook Pages.
Here’s my new Timeline masthead with the new layout. Notice the “swoops” in the Cover Photo continue into the background of my Profile Picture.Check my Profile 

OK, let’s get started!

Download the Updated Photoshop Template to Integrate Cover Photo & Profile Picture

Click HERE to download the updated Photoshop Timeline Personal Profile template.
Once you have unzipped the file and opened the .psd in Photoshop, do the following:
1) Download, unzip and open the template file in Photoshop. Note the transparence where the Cover Photo and Profile Picture will go:

2) Create the main image for your masthead at 958 x 419px (or larger so you can experiment with different positions).

3) Drag your image into the Cover Photo Template, and move the template layer to be ON TOP of your image layer:

4) Add any additional graphic elements:

After you designed your masthead to your satisfaction, it’s time to export the Cover Photo and Profile Picture and upload them to Facebook.

Export the Profile Picture image as GIF, JPEG or PNG

1) With the layer called “TEMPLATE BORDERS” selected, select the Magic Wand tool — set to “0” tolerance, “contiguous” checked, and “Anti-alias” UNchecked — and click inside the Profile Picture (the inset box) area so that it’s selected (this will be 180 x 180px).
2) From the top menu, select: Image > Crop — and crop the image;
3) Export this Profile Picture image, either as a JPEG, GIF or PNG.
4) Undo (Mac: Command+Z; Windows: Control+Z) until you’re back to the full template image.

Export the Cover Photo image for your Timeline masthead

Now it’s time to export your Cover Photo.
1) Disable the “TEMPLATE BORDERS” layer;
2) Export your Cover Photo image — which, if you’ve done everything correctly, should be 958 x 419px. Facebook will resize it to 851 x 315px, and display from the top of your image. So once your image is resized to 315px in height nothing below that will be displayed.

Upload the images to your Facebook Timeline Page

Uploading your Cover Photo and Profile Picture to your Facebook Page is fairly straightforward, and chances are you’ve done this before. Here’s a quick rundown….

1. If this is the first Cover Photo you’ve created for your Page, just click on “Add a Cover” to locate it on your computer and upload it.
2. If you’re replacing an existing Cover Photo, just mouse over the Cover Photo and click “Change Cover”.
3. Repeat for the Profile Picture, mousing over it and selecting: Edit Profile Picture > Upload Photo.
4. Adjust position of your Cover Photo – You will probably need to move your Cover Photo down to align it with your Profile Picture. Mouse over the Cover Photo, click “Change Cover”, then select “Reposition”. You can now drag the photo downwards until it correctly aligns with your Profile Picture. Just make an adjustment, then Save to check. Repeat as necessary!

If you’ve followed the above instructions to the letter, it should look just as you planned it.