As of January 15, Facebook is changing it’s policy for Cover Photos for Pages and Newsfeed Advertisements.

You will NOT be allowed to have Text of more than 20% of the image area (1/5) on the Cover Photo, and just remember your Profile Image is where your Business Name and Logo should appear. See the image above for reference on size of text allowed.

These boxes are only a reference as text can also be a combination of smaller areas that make up to 20%, time to use your imagination and get very specific.

The Facebook Rules for Timeline Cover Photos are;

1. All Cover Photos are Public and should be 851pixels wide x 315pixels high.

2. Covers CANNOT be Deceptive, Misleading, or Infringe on anyone else’s copyright, if they are you may find it disappears.

3. You may NOT encourage people to upload your cover to their personal timelines.

4. Cover Photos MUST NOT Include;

• Images with more than 20% text
• Price or Purchase Information, such as “40% off” or “Download it on yourwebsite.com”
• Contact Information such as a Website Address, Email, Mailing Address, or Information that should go in your Page’s “About” section.
• References to Facebook Features or Actions, such as “Like” or “Share” or an Arrow Pointing from the Cover Photo to any of these features or Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends.

Here is Facebook’s own information on sizes and allowance and their reasons for changing the text allowances for your reference:

The company is developing a grid-based text overlay detection tool to identify non-compliant images. A version of this tool will be available within Power Editor to help advertisers know in advance whether their images will be approved. Advertisers should keep in mind that text within logos will also count toward the 20 percent limit.

Ads and sponsored stories for News Feed that originate from Pages may not include images with more than 20% text (effective January 15th, 2013)

Facebook people react negatively to content that they perceive as inauthentic or impersonal. Since text is rare in photos from friends, text in brand photos triggers negative emotions in people. Instead of introducing text in your images, choose photos that send a message or tell a story on their own without words.

Box 1: 59 pixels x 15 pixels = 885 square pixels
Box 2: 59 pixels x 15 pixels = 885 square pixels
Box 3: 41 pixels x 20 pixels = 820 square pixels
Box 4: 130 pixels x 30 pixels = 3900 square pixels
Box 5: 105 pixels x 23 pixels = 2415 square pixels
Box 6: 402 pixels x 15 pixels = 6030 square pixels
Total: 14,935 square pixels – well below the 20% or 53,613 square pixels maximum limit.

Cover photos must be at least 399 pixels wide* and may not contain:

Price or purchase information, such as “40% off,” “Download it at our website,” or “Free Sunglasses All Summer Long.”
Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page’s About section.
References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or other Facebook site features.
Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends.”
In addition, cover photos may not be in violation of the Facebook Terms. source