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YouTube thumbnail templates
Customize an eye-catching YouTube thumbnail template to maximize clicks and multiply viewers. It's easy in Shutterstock Create.
How to make a YouTube thumbnail
1. Click a template or blank canvas you like, from the gallery above, and it'll appear in the Create editor.
2. Time to customize: change out the photos and graphics, if you like — add your own or choose a free image from our massive library.
3. Change the text and add text effects like drop shadows, outlines, or colors. You won't find text tools this good anywhere else.
4. Download your design. It's yours, free, forever. Whatcha gonna make next, design pro?
Become a master YouTube thumbnail maker
With millions of videos competing for attention, it all comes down to your Youtube thumbnail. Make something that gets clicks—even on a crowded feed—by starting with a YouTube thumbnail template from Shutterstock Create. Whether you want to mimic the ubiqitous outline style or start a totally new trend in cover art, our YouTube thumbnail maker is easy for anyone to master. Choose a pro-created template to kickstart your channel, or open a blank canvas and build out from scratch. Millions of stock assets, trendy fonts, and pro-looking graphic effects are available in a matter of just a few clicks. Beauty influencer, unboxer, product reviewer, comedian—whatever type of creator you are, make your content stand out with Create.
Beautiful visual assets and creative intelligence
Make the most of your designs and feel confident in your creative direction, with Shutterstock Predict. AI discovers which images work best for your goals. Creative insights explain why they work.
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Frequently asked questions about Youtube thumbnails
The best YouTube thumbnail size (according to the platform itself) is 1280 × 720 pixels. At the very least, your thumbnail should be 640 pixels wide—anything less, and you may start to see pixelation or strange warping and resizing. If you start with a YouTube thumbnail template from Create, then you'll already have the correct size and dimensions—no thought required. In addition to the recommended dimensions, note that a YouTube thumbnail has a maximum file size of 2MB.
To make a good Youtube thumbnail, it's critical to remember where thumbnails are seen: in a sea of other thumbnails, each competing to earn the viewer's click. The key to a great YouTube thumbnail, then, is to pack in the most visual information in that tiny, tiny format! Here are a few rules of thumb. Keep it as simple as possible, use high-contrast colors, and add text to summarize the video content. As much as possible, focus on faces in the imagery; high-impact expressions and gestures will help spark curiosity and convey the emotional content of the video. To put all of these components together in just a few minutes, open a YouTube thumbnail template in Create. Upload a still from your video, add text overlay, and apply creative effects like outlining, photo filters, or hand doodling. There's a perfect built-in editing tool for every type of YouTube creator.
You can change the thumbnail of any Youtube video by logging into YouTube and going to YouTube Studio, which is accessible under your account settings. (If you use the YouTube Studio app, then go directly there instead.) Click Content, click on any video from your library, and then click Edit Thumbnail and upload your new thumbnail. Of course, these instructions presume that you already have a thumbnail ready to upload. If you don't, you can make one quickly—in just a few seconds, really—by starting with a YouTube thumbnail template in Create. Open the template, customize with hundreds of powerful design tools, and export as one of YouTube's recommended file types: PNG, JPG, or GIF.