Your Easy Guide to Making a YouTube Thumbnail

Sometimes, your YouTube thumbnail just doesn’t cut it. You could’ve uploaded the most interesting video on YouTube, but it might not get the views it deserves if you're relying on a simple freeze-frame to tell viewers what it's about.

Thumbnails, the small, clickable snapshots that viewers see when they search for videos on YouTube, can be just as important as a video’s title. They preview your video and entice viewers to click through.

Creating vibrant YouTube thumbnails can also instantly grab people’s attention -- the brain is programmed to respond to striking visuals -- and it can help you differentiate yourself on a platform clogged with standard thumbnails all screaming for attention.

Since your video’s click-through rate is one of the most important ranking factors in YouTube’s search algorithm, especially during its first hour on the platform, an eye-catching thumbnail can make a huge difference in ranking number one for a query and not ranking at all.

If your video has an ordinary or sub-par thumbnail, it won’t persuade anyone to click through. YouTube could deem the video irrelevant and won’t rank it in their search results or distribute it through the “Recommended Videos” feed.

Fortunately, pulling freeze frames from your YouTube videos isn’t the only way you can create thumbnails. There are online tools, made specifically for people who might not have a ton of design experience, that can help you craft custom thumbnails -- all for free.

Below, we’ll guide you through an easy five-step process for creating visually appealing YouTube thumbnails that will cut through the noise, boost your video’s click-through rate, and lift your rankings.

How to Make a YouTube Thumbnail

1. Visit one of the free online YouTube thumbnail makers featured below.
2. Upload a photo or choose one of the thumbnail makers’ templates.
3. Add text, clipart, or a background to your thumbnail.
4. Download the finished product to your computer.

1. Visit a free online YouTube thumbnail maker.

There are seven free online YouTube thumbnail makers listed below, but we featured FotoJet in this guide because it’s one of the only YouTube thumbnail makers that doesn’t make you sign up for a free account before you can create a thumbnail. Their robust thumbnail maker lets you customize and download your thumbnails completely for free -- no email address necessary.

2. Upload a photo or choose one of the thumbnail makers’ templates.

YouTube will let you upload any picture from your computer as your video’s thumbnail. But if you don’t have a vivid visual on your computer or you need some inspiration, Fotojet’s got you covered. They have over 23 free templates that can serve as your thumbnail’s foundation.

One of the best tactics for creating striking thumbnails is including a talking head in it. People are naturally drawn to human faces because it’s an ingrained survival mechanism to help us quickly gauge someone’s emotions and determine if they’re a threat or friend. Research Gate also discovered that Instagram photos with faces are 38% more likely to receive likes and 32% more likely to receive comments.

3. Add text, clipart, or a background to your thumbnail.

Once you’ve picked your picture or template, you can make your thumbnail stand out even more by adding text, clipart, or a background to it.

Consider adding your video’s title to the thumbnail to further clarify your video’s subject matter. Additionally, if your photo, graphic, or text is bright, consider placing it on top of a dark background. The color contrast will make your thumbnail pop. The same logic applies to dark objects and bright backdrops.

4. Download the finished product to your computer.

After you finish polishing your thumbnail, press the “Save” button at the top of the page.

Title your thumbnail and save it as a JPG or PNG. Its resolution will already match YouTube’s recommended resolution -- 1280 x 720 pixels -- so you don’t have to worry about resizing it.

7 YouTube Thumbnail Makers

Along with Fotojet’s free online YouTube thumbnail maker, there are seven other thumbnail makers that can help you customize your own YouTube thumbnails. Before you create a thumbnail with these tools, though, you need to sign up for a free account on their websites.

1. Canva

With more than 2 million images in their library, hundreds of fonts, and customizable backgrounds and colors, Canva gives you more than enough resources to unleash your creativity.

2. Adobe Spark

Adobe Spark lets you select from thousands of photos on the web and a variety of built-out themes with their own unique layouts, colors, and fonts to craft eye-catching YouTube thumbnails.

3. Crello

With Crello, you can create engaging thumbnails by blending a multitude of designs, photos, backgrounds, text, and objects together.

4. Visme

Choose from a wide selection of templates, photos, graphics, colors, and fonts to create a thumbnail in Visme.

5. Fotor

Fotor provides templates under certain themes to help you create captivating thumbnails.

6. Picmaker

With over 100,000 graphics, 1,000 stock photos, stickers, borders, backgrounds, text, icons, and filters, and an automatic background remover, you can create a gripping thumbnail on Picmaker in plenty of ways.

7. Snappa

Snappa has over 500,000 stock photos, an assortment of professionally designed templates, and customizable graphics, shapes, and text to help you create a YouTube thumbnail. They also have a drag and drop functionality to help you create your own custom thumbnail template.

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