Are you annoyed by the subpar thumbnail choices that YouTube automatically generated for you?
Do you wish to alter (or establish) unique thumbnails for your YouTube videos?
Here are some simple step-by-step directions for:
- How to update the YouTube thumbnail for a video that has already been posted.
- How to add a unique thumbnail while uploading a YouTube video.
How to Modify a Published Video’s YouTube Thumbnail
Uploading custom thumbnails is not a feature that comes with your YouTube account by default. Your account must first have the custom thumbnail option enabled in order to have this capability.
Once enabled, creating a unique YouTube video thumbnail for a published movie is simple and only requires a few clicks.
- Open a YouTube account.
- From the dropdown menu that appears when you click on your profile symbol in the top right corner, choose YouTube Studio(beta).
- Select the ‘Videos’ option from the menu on the left side of the page, and then select the title or thumbnail of the video whose thumbnail you want to modify.
- On the following screen, there is a section titled “Thumbnail” under the “Basic” heading. Three automatically created thumbnail options are available under this area, and there is a button labelled “Custom thumbnail” on the far left. To add a custom image, click this button.
- Click ‘Open’ after choosing the file you wish to use as a thumbnail. Ensure that it complies with all technical guidelines. In the sample below, the chosen image is under 2 MB in size, in PNG format, and has a 16:9 aspect ratio. It has also been optimised for the optimal YouTube thumbnail size.
- Finally, press the ‘SAVE’ button located in the top-right corner of the page. This will apply the thumbnail to your video and save the modifications.
The thumbnail is currently live when you visit your channel! Are you interested in learning how to add a unique thumbnail to a movie before publishing it? Discover how you could achieve it by reading on.
What to Do When Publishing a Video? How to Add a Custom Thumbnail
Setting a unique thumbnail for a video while publishing it on YouTube is simple.
‘VIDEO THUMBNAILS’ is a section with three photos that appears at the bottom of the page after your video has been successfully uploaded. You can choose one of these photos to serve as your video thumbnail because they were created automatically by YouTube and are screenshots from the video you just posted.
You would see a button that says “Custom thumbnail” to the right of these thumbnail images. Simply click this button to upload and pick your preferred image as the video’s thumbnail.
You may view a preview of your custom image once you’ve successfully set it as the video’s thumbnail in the top left corner of the page.
If for some reason you decide you need to replace the image you just uploaded, you can do so by clicking on the identical image at the bottom of the page.
2023’s ideal YouTube thumbnail size
Using better thumbnail photos is one strategy you can use to rapidly increase the number of views on your YouTube videos.
If you really want people to click on the video, thumbnails are just as crucial as the title. Users may be drawn in by the photos themselves, which can make you stand out in a long list of search results. These image thumbnails are crucial to maximising your impressions because they appear on Google’s search engines as well.
Everything you need to know about YouTube thumbnails, including the appropriate size, how to make them, and the one and only best practises list you’ll ever need, will be covered in this piece.
What Size YouTube Thumbnail Works Best?
What are the optimum YouTube thumbnail sizes? is the first query we must resolve before moving on to other issues. According to Google’s own guidelines, your image should have a minimum width of 640 pixels and a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. The appropriate aspect ratio is 16:9 because YouTube players and previews almost always use this format.
Most people are surprised by this, but it makes sense since, while the thumbnail will be small while appearing in searches, it will expand to the full size of the video when it appears as a recommendation for the next view. For this reason, a greater image size that can be shrunk is preferable than a smaller size that must be shrunk.
Other crucial technical information is as follows:
- It must be in the image file types.JPG,.PNG, or.GIF.
- The 2MB file size restriction applies to your image file.
How to Use Snappa to Make a YouTube Thumbnail
With at least some design components that make them appear more professional, YouTube thumbnails are stronger.
We’ve made it simple to get started by providing pre-built YouTube thumbnail layouts. This video we made demonstrates how to make a YouTube thumbnail in about 2 minutes.
Here are some screenshots that will guide you step-by-step through the process of making a stunning YouTube thumbnail for your channel. The first step is to choose the appropriate social media template. It would be the YouTube thumbnail in this instance.
The next option is to either build a thumbnail image from scratch or select one of the pre-designed, fully editable YouTube thumbnail themes.
Even if you select a pre-made template, you may customise anything about it, including the background image, borders, graphics, text, YouTube thumbnail type, and borders.
Finally, if you would want to, you can submit custom backdrop photos (such as a still from the film) and custom graphics (such as your logo or branding).
You may quickly create comparable thumbnail pictures for your next video by duplicating photographs to make things even simpler.
How to Upload a Thumbnail Image to YouTube
Setting a featured image only only a few clicks and is quite simple. Once your video file has been uploaded, Youtube Studio will open a box where you may select “Upload Thumbnail.” You can then select the desired thumbnail from your computer by clicking it.
The unique image preview will appear on the upper right side of the screen when you have uploaded it. Even after the video has been released, you can alter the featured image at any moment.
Ideas for YouTube thumbnails
Here are a few of our favourite Snappa YouTube thumbnails. Each provides a vast range of design options that can be applied in practically any situation. Visit this page to view more of our YouTube thumbnail templates.
YouTube thumbnail for travel
YouTube thumbnail for tech
YouTube thumbnail for fitness
YouTube thumbnail for business
Examples of the best YouTube thumbnails
We can now focus on the creative after working out the technical details.
There are several alternatives available when choosing the kind of image your thumbnail should be.
Many companies may use one of the thumbnails that YouTube automatically selects from their video, however this has limitations for the video. Custom thumbnails can make your video stand out from the competition and pop. Your videos will appear high-quality and professionally produced right away.
Our initial suggestion is a plain white text overlay on a background image. Due of its simplicity while maintaining impact, this style is quite popular on YouTube. This image is darker than your text, which creates a striking contrast.
Another well-liked choice is to utilise a specially created image with plain graphics and the title of the video. Many of these photographs will also display the company name or emblem in a low-key but noticeable manner in one of the bottom corners.
A straightforward, basic border can be a fantastic choice, depending on the aesthetic of your channel. You may create a clear, easy-to-read thumbnail by combining this with large letter spacing in your content.
Alternately, you might utilise a still image of your choice from the film as a thumbnail, especially if it is an action image. Some companies will still utilise graphics tools in these situations to add text or their logo to the image.
The final common choice is to put pictures or stills from the video—or ones that were staged for the video—on a background of a single colour. To truly emphasise your title, you might even apply a vibrant drop-shadow on the text. This is especially common when it comes to thumbnail images that feature human portraits, as shown in the illustration below.
No matter what kind of image you use, you should aim for uniformity in their appearance. Even if the image itself changes, many businesses will apply the same distinctive branding to each of their movies. Users can instantly recognise your films thanks to this, and it also makes it easier for them to recognise your material in the video suggestions on the right side of the page. In addition to generating clicks and views, this can greatly enhance brand recognition.
Thumbnail Best Practises on YouTube
There are a few recommended practises you can use to optimise the thumbnail for every movie in addition to some of the concepts we’ve covered previously.
Here are a few recommendations to bear in mind.
Obtain Still Pictures
Have you ever observed that when a video is paused, the person appearing in it almost always has a laughably embarrassing expression on their face even though it wasn’t there when the video was playing? You don’t want your thumbnail images to exhibit the same issue.
Take a genuine photo if you intend to use one as part of your YouTube thumbnail. You’ll be doing yourself a huge favour. You can acquire the high-quality photo you want by stopping and taking a time to pose for a staged picture.
If you pause the movie and try to take a still to use as an image, you will only very seldom and extremely unluckily attain this same high quality. The justification is understandable given that your video is just that—a video—and is continually in motion.
A high-quality, polished image is far more crucial than one that is directly taken from the video.
Utilise colours in contrast
Utilising the appropriate colours will significantly increase the number of views and clicks on your material. Using contrasting colours is part of that.
Contrasting colours will catch the viewer’s attention right away, especially when used for graphics and text on your photographs. This matters a lot when you’re up against a sea of other search results or suggested videos.
Observe how this thumbnail’s white and vivid blue combination definitely draws your attention. Utilising bright colours will also aid in increasing the amount of attention your film receives because they naturally catch our attention. Fortunately, you can quickly brighten any image using our editing features. Additionally, you can draw our attention by slightly increasing the colour saturation.
To stand out from the competition, your image doesn’t need to be very bright or saturated to look unnatural or to diminish the image’s quality; only a few minor adjustments will do. And you don’t need anything else.
Make use of Whitespace
Use whitespace (also known as negative space) to your advantage when employing graphics or any other form of prepared picture. This keeps your thumbnail looking neat and put together. As a result, it has the high-quality appearance of professional pictures.
All of our pre-made templates are well organised, and many of them make good use of whitespace. This makes it easier for the eye to be physically drawn to what you want them to see, which enables the viewer to quickly understand what your movie is about. By doing this, you may be able to grab their attention a fraction of a second earlier than your rivals.
Clearness is Important
In one of my copywriting classes, one of my teachers would assign us the daily assignment of summarising our entire day in one words. After that, we had to reduce it to four words. When it comes to the text you put on your thumbnail image, being succinct is crucial. It makes for terrific copy.
You are nothing more than a picture. Users can view the title of your video by looking at the title itself, which is shown just next to the video. They will either read the title or the description (or, you know, watch it) if they want to learn more about what it is about in-depth.
This means that you must be very succinct when writing the title of your film or any other descriptive language in your featured photos. They only need a few words to get the concept and peak their attention; they don’t require the entire description. Users get all the information they require to be interested in it because it is concise and to the point.
Avoid These YouTube Thumbnail Mistakes
We’ve covered all you can do to maximise the effectiveness of your YouTube thumbnail photos. Let’s now examine what you shouldn’t do.
There are a few mistakes to bear in mind when it comes to avoiding them (apart from simply using YouTube’s default thumbnails or using the incorrect thumbnail size). These consist of:
Excessive text
A little text will help your video run better, but you don’t want to use too much. It’s too much text if readers can’t read it in a single, sideways glance. Only a brief title and, if absolutely necessary, a brief subtitle in smaller type beneath it should ever be used. You only need a small amount of language to make your argument, nothing more.
Text that is too small
Businesses occasionally make an effort to avoid detracting from the image itself by using modest, unobtrusive text on their photographs. Even yet, there are times when we go beyond and make the text difficult for people to see when it appears as a small thumbnail in search results or movie recommendations. This may lower the amount of clicks you receive.
The selection of an irrelevant or deceptive image
Businesses frequently chose attractive stock photographs that never appear in the post, which happens just as some blog entries don’t always have titles.
The title of a YouTube video I once watched was “How to Draw Flowers on Cupcakes.” The thumbnail had a lovely cupcake with a rose on top (don’t judge me, I watched it). It was obvious that the image was a stock photo after watching the entire thing and waiting to see this spectacular outcome; the finished product of the film actually seemed like something I could make, which is not a good thing.
Final Reflections
Instead of creating a personalised featured thumbnail for their videos, many companies just utilise one of YouTube’s automated ones. They lose the chance to pique users’ interest with a compelling thumbnail that might otherwise prompt a click because of this. Make sure your custom photos are sized correctly and that you are adhering to best practises when designing them for YouTube.
