Custom branding is a powerful way to make your community feel like your own. Heartbeat gives you several flexible places to add branded images, logos, colors, and headers — all with recommended sizes so your content looks clean across devices.

For crisp results on retina screens, design at 2x — the sizes below show both the 2x design canvas and the actual size the image displays at.

Here’s a breakdown of where and how to add branded content throughout your community:

🖼️ Splash Page & Logo

• Splash Image (Homepage background)
  Appears when members land on your custom domain.
  Design size (2x): 512 × 252px · Displays at: 256 × 126px (2:1 ratio)
  → Edit under Settings > Community > Theme

• Community Logo
  Appears in the sidebar, top bar, and as your site favicon.
  Design size (2x): 512 × 512px · Displays at: 256 × 256px (square)
  This image also becomes your favicon at a much smaller size, so make sure it still reads clearly when shrunk down.
  → Edit in Settings > Community > Theme

📢 Channel Banner Images

You can add visual banners to individual discussion channels to clarify their purpose and add polish.

• Where to add: Edit the channel → Toggle on “Display banner”

• Design size (2x): 1216 × 608px · Displays at: 608 × 304px (2:1 ratio)

• Tip: Keep text minimal. Use this space to highlight rules, tone, or examples. If you're branding several channels at once, one template with swappable text works well.

Learn how to add channel banners →

🎓 Course Images

Courses let you display rich branded content on the course card, the course page itself, and inside lessons.

• Course Cover Image (the wide banner on the course page itself)
  Design size (2x): 2112 × 528px · Displays at: 1056 × 264px (4:1 ratio)
  → Edit under Course settings

• Course Preview (the card shown in course listings)
  Design size (2x): 1216 × 608px · Displays at: 608 × 304px (2:1 ratio)

• Lesson Content (optional images embedded inside a lesson)
  Flexible height — cap the width around 1344px so images stay sharp and load fast.

📄 Document Headers

Each document collection in Heartbeat can have a banner image for added clarity and brand consistency.

• Design size (2x): 1216 × 608px · Displays at: 608 × 304px (2:1 ratio)
  → Edit when creating or editing a document group

🗓️ Event Banners

Events also support large, visual header images — great for workshops, webinars, or cohort-style sessions.

• Design size (2x): 2112 × 528px · Displays at: 1056 × 264px (4:1 ratio)
  → Edit while creating or editing an event
  Tip: Keep these lightweight and on-brand — they show up prominently on mobile and desktop

🎨 Sidebar Themes & Colors

Beyond images, you can fully customize the look and feel of your community:

• Update accent colors

• Customize sidebar sections

• Adjust fonts and layout settings (coming soon)

→ Explore this in Settings > Community > Theme

💡 Pro Tips

• Design everything at 2x (retina) so images stay crisp on high-resolution screens — the “design size” numbers above are the 2x canvas; “displays at” is the actual size shown on screen.

• Heartbeat crops images to fit each ratio, so keep logos and key text centered with some breathing room from the edges so nothing important gets clipped.

• Export as PNG (for logos and graphics with text) or high-quality JPG (for photos), in sRGB color, and try to keep files under ~2MB so pages stay fast.

• All image uploads show recommended dimensions in-app.

• For best results, optimize for desktop (not just mobile).

• Use consistent design language across all banners and sections to build trust and familiarity.