Introduction
The thumbnail of your YouTube videos is as important as the video itself. It will determine how many people click on your video, view it, give likes or dislikes, subscribe to your channel, share your video and more. if you are confused about how to make thumbnail on YouTube, then this article is just for you.
How to Make Thumbnail on YouTube
Making a thumbnail on YouTube is a fun and exciting process. Here are some ways you can use to make thumbnails:
- Use a free online thumbnail maker for YouTube.

There are several free online thumbnail maker softwares such as Canva, FotoJet, Adobe Spark, Crello, etc. They have several templates and ready-made designs you choose from, create your new template or take inspiration from the templates as well. Software tools are great for beginners as well as experts. If you are a novice and do not have any knowledge about high-end designing tools such as Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop, then do not worry about how to make thumbnail on YouTube. These online softwares make your work very easy and you don’t even need to have any experience in designing to make a thumbnail on one of these softwares.
- Upload a custom photo or choose one from the given templates.

You are not restricted to choosing a picture only from the given templates. If you find one that suits your purpose, then click on it; otherwise, you can upload one from your computer as well. Keep in mind that the thumbnail icon contributes a lot to make good or bad first impressions on the viewers. It will also determine if viewers click on your video after seeing the thumbnail or not. Many times, the thumbnail does not match the content of the video and no one has a second to spare to click on your video and check if it is relevant. Therefore, remember what the content of that video is about and whether it reflects your channel also or not.
- Make your thumbnail visually attractive.

Once you have decided which image to use as a thumbnail for your video, you can make it more attractive by adding text, a good background or even clipart to it. Whatever you choose, it should match the content of the video. Make sure that you consider the aesthetics of the thumbnail as well. for example, if your thumbnail is bright with light colors, do not add text in light colors on top of it as it will not be visible. You can place it on a darker background instead to enhance it. The color contrast will attract viewers; this can be done in the reverse order as well.
- Download your thumbnail.
Once you have completed your thumbnail, click on the Save button. You will see export options that you can choose from. Make sure to properly name your thumbnail and save it in JPG or PNG format. This is the recommended file format for YouTube thumbnails as its resolution matches that of YouTube. In simpler words, you will not have to resize the thumbnail later to match YouTube’s size.
After going through these steps, we hope that you aren’t still worried about how to make thumbnail on YouTube. Have fun designing!