YouTube Thumbnail Maker: Make a YouTube thumbnail from a cut-out photo, a bold headline and a background. Input: Text you type or paste, files from your device and values you enter. Output: Results shown on the page and a downloaded JPG file. Privacy: Runs in your browser: inputs and files stay on your device and are not uploaded.
How to make a YouTube thumbnail
- Remove the background from your photo first, so you have a cut-out (a transparent PNG).
- Drop the cut-out on the box above. Drop a second photo too if you want it as the background.
- Type a short headline: three to five words read best at small sizes.
- Drag the photo and the headline into place on the preview, and check the small preview: that is about the size people see in search.
- Download the JPEG and upload it as the custom thumbnail in YouTube Studio.
Why the big outline and the small preview
Most people see a thumbnail at a fraction of its size, next to a dozen others. Heavy capital letters with a thick dark outline stay readable when the image is shrunk, and a white "sticker" outline separates a face or product from a busy background. The small preview beside the editor is drawn at 168 × 94 pixels, close to a thumbnail in a search list, so you can check the headline still reads.
The dashed frame marks a safe margin, and the dark box in the bottom-right corner is where YouTube shows the video's length: keep the headline and faces clear of it.
Size and file limits
YouTube recommends 3840 × 2160 pixels for video thumbnails, with a minimum width of 640 pixels, in JPG or PNG, and limits the file to 2 MB when you upload from a phone (50 MB from a computer). The tool saves 3840 × 2160 by default and, with Keep under 2 MB ticked, lowers the JPEG quality only as far as needed to fit.
Private by design
Runs in your browser. Your files are not uploaded.
What size should a YouTube thumbnail be?
YouTube's help centre recommends 3840 × 2160 pixels (16:9), with a minimum width of 640 pixels. 1280 × 720 is still accepted.
Which font is used?
A heavy condensed sans-serif from your device: Impact where available, otherwise Arial Black or your system's boldest sans-serif.
Can I use it for Shorts?
This tool makes 16:9 video thumbnails. Shorts thumbnails are 9:16 and are picked from the video or set in YouTube Studio on a computer.