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YouTube
YouTube thumbnail, 1280x720
A thumbnail competes in a grid. Consistency across a series is worth more than detail in any one of them.
For YouTube · 1280×720
Shown at the real ratio with the Drift Night Anime design. Hover to animate. Previews are watermarked.
- Target size
- 1280 × 720 pixels
- Still render
- 1280 × 720 PNG
- Animated render
- Still only; this platform does not animate the slot
- Transparency
- Opaque
- Set in
- YouTube Studio, per video, Thumbnail. Also works as a Steam or store capsule
- Platform
- YouTube
What youtube thumbnail is for
A thumbnail is a 1280x720 image under 2MB, and it is almost never looked at on its own. It is looked at in a grid of twelve other thumbnails, at maybe 320 pixels wide, by somebody scrolling. That is the design brief: one readable thing, strong contrast, and nothing fine.
The 1280x720 in a pack is a base plate rather than a finished thumbnail. It carries the scene and your server name composed at 16:9, with clear space where your own episode text goes and the bottom right corner kept empty for the duration badge YouTube stamps on every thumbnail. Dropping your episode title onto it in any editor takes a minute and the whole series then shares one identity, which is the thing that actually builds a channel.
The same file works as a store capsule. A 1280x720 at 16:9 is close enough to what most store fronts and listing sites want for a header card, and because it is a still at full resolution it downscales cleanly to whatever a particular site asks for.
No animated version exists for this format, because YouTube thumbnails are still images and always have been. Animated preview behaviour on YouTube comes from the video itself, not from the thumbnail file.
Constraints
- 1280x720 at 16:9, under 2MB
- The duration badge sits bottom right, so keep that corner clear
- Still only; YouTube thumbnails do not animate
Mistakes that cost people a re-upload
- Putting text in the bottom right, under the duration badge
- Designing a thumbnail that only reads at full size
- Changing the layout every episode, so the series looks like unrelated videos
- Exceeding 2MB, which YouTube rejects
YouTube thumbnail questions
What size is a YouTube thumbnail?
1280x720 at 16:9, under 2MB. It is displayed around 320 pixels wide in a grid, so design for that and keep the bottom right clear for the duration badge.
Is the thumbnail finished or a template?
It is a base plate: the scene and your server branding, with space for the episode text you add per video. That is what keeps a series consistent.
Can I use it as a store capsule?
Yes. A 1280x720 16:9 still at full resolution downscales cleanly to the header card sizes most store fronts and listing sites ask for.
Designs that suit 1280x720
A thumbnail competes in a grid at a few hundred pixels, so high contrast and one clear subject win.
Drift Night Anime
from $12Drift Night rendered as anime artwork, with live motion, drifting particles and a chromed wordmark. Every format in the catalogue, still and animated.
20 formats, 46 filesDrift Night Grunge
from $12Drift Night rendered as grunge artwork, with live motion, drifting particles and a chromed wordmark. Every format in the catalogue, still and animated.
20 formats, 46 filesDrift Night Painted
from $12Drift Night rendered as painted artwork, with live motion, drifting particles and a chromed wordmark. Every format in the catalogue, still and animated.
20 formats, 46 filesDrift Night Photoreal
from $12Drift Night rendered as photoreal artwork, with live motion, drifting particles and a chromed wordmark. Every format in the catalogue, still and animated.
20 formats, 46 filesSupercar Garage Anime
from $12Supercar Garage rendered as anime artwork, with live motion, drifting particles and a chromed wordmark. Every format in the catalogue, still and animated.
20 formats, 46 filesSupercar Garage Grunge
from $12Supercar Garage rendered as grunge artwork, with live motion, drifting particles and a chromed wordmark. Every format in the catalogue, still and animated.
20 formats, 46 files
