YouTube thumbnail maker
A thumbnail is designed at 1280 x 720 and seen at about 350 pixels wide on a phone. That gap is the whole problem. The ones that work do three things: a face or subject cut cleanly off its background, three or four words at a size that feels absurd on your monitor, and enough colour separation that it does not blend into the row above it.
- Size
- 1280 x 720 (16:9)
- File size
- Under 2 MB - YouTube's upload limit
- Text
- Three or four words maximum
- Export
- JPG or PNG; compress if it lands over 2 MB
What makes it work
- Cut the subject out of its background A person or product on a flat colour reads instantly at small size; the same shot with its original busy background turns to mush. The background remover does this on your device in a click, and the result drops straight onto the canvas.
- Three words, enormous The title is already next to the thumbnail, so the thumbnail should not repeat it. A few words that add something, set big enough to read at phone size.
- Fight the row, not the design Your thumbnail sits beside competitors. Pick colours that separate from the ones around it and from YouTube's own white or black interface.
- Check it at 350 px Zoom out until the thumbnail is about a quarter of its full width. Anything you cannot identify at that size is not in the thumbnail as far as the viewer is concerned.
- Watch the 2 MB ceiling YouTube rejects thumbnails over 2 MB. A detailed PNG can exceed it, so run it through the compressor and re-check the size before uploading.
Templates that fit: Before and After, Side-by-side duo
Open the editor · Browse the how-to guides
- What size is a YouTube thumbnail?
- 1280 x 720 pixels (16:9), and the file has to be under 2 MB. The same 16:9 shape works for a video cover on other platforms.
- How do I cut a person out of a photo for a thumbnail?
- Use the background remover - it detects the subject on your own device and gives you a transparent PNG you can place over any colour. It is free, with no upload and no per-image limit.
- My thumbnail is over 2 MB. What now?
- Run it through the image compressor and lower the quality until it fits, watching the before/after preview. A thumbnail is viewed small, so the quality you can afford to lose is more than you would think.