There is no single best time to post illustrations that works for everyone. In the recommendation code X has made public, the posting time itself earns no bonus or penalty, and posts past a certain age are cut from the candidate pool — so what matters is posting when your own followers tend to respond, and getting those first reactions (early engagement) in quickly.
This article briefly walks through the mechanics behind that, then shows how artists who post their own illustrations can track their results to find the time slots that suit them. Nobody can promise that a particular time will make a post take off, but deciding your posting time from your own data is something you can start today.
The short answer: there is no fixed best time
You will often hear advice like "weekday evenings are best" or "post on weekend mornings." In reality, the right time depends on when the people who look at your work actually open X. Are they mostly working adults or students? Where do they live? A different audience means a different window for reactions.
That is why borrowing someone else's "best time" may not work for you. What you should decide is not a specific hour, but how to post during the window when your followers are active, so your first reactions come in.
What the recommendation system tells us
X has published the code for the recommendation algorithm that powers its recommended timeline. Reading it for anything related to posting time, three points stand out:
- There is no gradual time-based penalty: The final ranking step contains no process that steadily lowers a post's score as time passes. The posting time itself does not add or subtract points either.
- Posts drop out of the candidate pool after a set age: Instead, there is a hard cutoff that removes posts older than a certain age from the candidates. Older posts do not become slightly less favored over time — at some point they simply stop being considered.
- New posts from accounts you follow are lined up newest first: When the system gathers posts from accounts a user follows, it takes the newest ones first.
In other words, freshness works not as "the older it gets, the more it is penalized," but through a cutoff that removes posts after a set time and a source that picks up newer posts first. The public code does not reveal how long that cutoff is. What we do know is that gathering reactions while your post is still a candidate makes sense.
What "early engagement" means
In this article, early engagement means the first reactions — replies, likes and so on — that a post receives between going live and being cut from the candidate pool. Replies, likes and reposts are treated as positive signals in the recommendation system.
Because a post only stays a candidate for a limited time, posting while your followers are asleep or busy may let that time run out before they ever see it. Posting while they have X open, on the other hand, is likely to give your post more chances to collect its first reactions. That is the real point of thinking about posting time: making early engagement easier to get.
How to find the right time for you
The most reliable way to find your time slot is to look at the record of your own posts. Work through these three steps:
- Write down when your past posts got quick reactions: Go back through your posts and note the posting time of the ones that received replies or likes soon after going up. Write down the actual date and time rather than relying on memory.
- For two weeks, post the same kind of content and change only the time slot: Keep the post format the same — a single finished illustration, a process comparison and so on — and vary only when you post. If you change the format and the time together, you will not know which one made the difference.
- Compare early reactions in a tracking sheet: Record how long it took for the first reaction to arrive and how many reactions came in that day, then compare the results by time slot.
A tracking sheet with these four columns is enough:
| Date and time posted | Post format | Time to first reaction | Reactions that day |
|---|---|---|---|
| The date and time you posted | Single finished illustration, process comparison, etc. | Time from posting to the first reply or like | Number of replies, likes and reposts received that day |
Do not judge from a single result. Post in the same time slot several times before comparing. Reactions also change with the artwork itself and with whatever people are talking about that day, so keep going until a pattern appears.
What matters more than timing
Posting time is only one of the conditions that make early engagement easier. What tends to matter more is getting people to stop scrolling when your post appears, and giving them a reason to respond.
Make your first image clear enough that people can tell what the piece is and where to look without opening it full size. Then add a short question that is easy to answer — "Which color scheme do you prefer?" — or a note about something you struggled with while making it, so there is an obvious way to respond. Process posts are one of the simplest ways to create that opening.
Another way to make the first image stop people is to use a turntable video of a 3D model made from your illustration, or a side-by-side comparison of the sketch and the finished piece. With Figmee, you can turn your own drawing into a figurine-style image and a 3D model (GLB / 3MF), then export a turntable video. That said, a turntable video or a comparison will not necessarily bring more reactions. Treat it as one more way to present your work. For ideas on showing your process, see How to Post Your Art Process.
Note: Figmee currently offers figurine-style images, 3D model data (GLB / 3MF), and turntable videos of your 3D models. Ordering physical 3D prints is Coming Soon.
FAQ
Are scheduled posts at a disadvantage?
Within what can be confirmed from the public code, there is no process that penalizes a post for being scheduled. The question to ask is whether the scheduled time falls in the window when your followers tend to respond. If you can schedule posts for the time slots you found with your tracking sheet, treat them the same way as posts you publish by hand.
Can I post the same illustration again at a different time?
The recommendation system includes processes that make it less likely to show a post again to someone who has already seen it or been served it. For viewers, seeing the same picture in the same form again also feels less fresh. If you want to share it again, change how you present it first — crop a detail, pair it with your process, or turn it into a turntable video.
What if most of my followers are in another country?
If many of your followers live in another region, their day runs on a different schedule from yours. Keep in mind which regions your reactions come from, add posts made during that region's daytime to your tracking sheet, and compare them with posts made during your own local time.
Summary
There is no universal right answer for when to post illustrations. In the recommendation code X has made public, the posting time itself earns no bonus or penalty, and posts past a certain age drop out of the candidate pool, so what matters is posting while your followers are active and getting early engagement. You can find your own time slots by listing past posts, spending two weeks varying only the time slot, and comparing results in a tracking sheet. And give stopping people with your first image and giving them a reason to respond as much attention as the timing itself.
