If you are looking to design your YouTube channel artwork or its banner, it is important to know the right size and dimensions for them. The YouTube banner size, also known as the channel art or cover photo, should be 2560 x 1440 pixels. You can create the banner on any photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop or Canva. Similarly, for the thumbnails, the recommended size is 1280 x 720 pixels.
Thumbnails are used to represent your videos in search results or in the “suggested videos” section, so it is essential to make them visually interesting and high quality. When it comes to other social media banners, each platform has their own specifications that must be followed to make sure your artwork is displayed properly. It is important to research these sizes and dimensions before designing your banner or cover photo.
If you have an account on either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc, then this article will be useful for you since you will be able to know the exact banner dimensions for the particular platform.
We will cover a lot of options here, but the tools and methods we are going to mention in this article, apply to all of them, so it’s better to have all of them at one place.
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What Should Be Youtube Banner Size and Dimensions?
The banner image dimensions for the YouTube Channel art is ideally 2560 X 1440 pixels.
It is quite a large image, so you might not be able to get hands-on an image with such dimensions. You will have to crop out a large photo coming from a DSLR camera, which won’t be appropriate for a YouTube Channel art as it might not get the subject to appear properly to be visible on the Channel art.
The best thing you can do is, create an image yourself, you can use any of the image editors which lets you choose the size of the Canvas. The most commonly used app is Photoshop.
You can create a new Canvas with the said resolution of 2560×1440 pixels.
The YouTube channel banner is responsive and behaves differently on different devices, you will have to edit out in a way that the graphics you want to show are visible on every device
If you want to edit it out in Photoshop, this should be the safe area where you should be putting all the graphics if you want to show it on every device.
What Should Be Youtube Thumbnail Size and Dimensions?
When it comes to YouTube thumbnails, size matters. It’s important to choose the right size for your thumbnail so that it doesn’t appear blurry or pixelated. YouTube recommends that your thumbnail be 1280 x 720 pixels with a minimum width of 640 pixels. This size ensures that your thumbnail is high quality and looks great on any device.
Additionally, it’s essential to keep in mind that YouTube requires that your thumbnail be in a 16:9 aspect ratio. You can use photo editing software or online tools to create and optimize your thumbnail for the best results. A high-quality thumbnail may increase the number of clicks on your video, so selecting the right size and aspect ratio is crucial for the success of your YouTube channel.
This one is pretty easy to remember since the thumbnail size is in the same aspect ratio as the video.
It is mostly 1280×720 pixels, which can be easily created in any image editor. Mostly the thumbnail would contain the visuals included in the video, so you can simply Grab a screenshot of any of the frame of your video, put it in your image editor and start working on it.
What is a YouTube Banner, and Why it is Important to Have it?
A YouTube banner is an image placed at the top of a YouTube channel page that represents the channel’s brand or identity. The banner occupies a significant amount of screen space, making it a crucial branding element for any YouTube content creator. This visual introduction sets the tone for the channel and helps attract new viewers.
A compelling banner can immediately convey what a channel is about, what type of content it offers, and what style it has. Essentially, a YouTube channel banner serves as the first impression viewers encounter when they come across a new channel page. Therefore, it is crucial to create a banner with an engaging design that captures the essence of the channel’s content and branding. Having a strong banner can help a channel build a sense of community and attract loyal viewers, making it an important tool for success on YouTube.
What is a YouTube Thumbnail, and Why it is Important to Have it?
A YouTube thumbnail is a small preview image that appears alongside a video’s title on the site. The standard YouTube thumbnail size is 1280 x 720 pixels. A well-designed thumbnail can make a video standout and entice viewers to click on it. It is important to have a visually appealing thumbnail as it directly affects the click-through rate of your video. A higher click-through rate leads to increased views and engagement on the platform. The thumbnail can also be used as a branding tool to communicate the message or theme of the video. Therefore, it is essential to put effort into creating an attention-grabbing thumbnail that accurately represents your content and brand.
Here’s a Chart for Youtube Banner Dimensions and Other Social Media Banners
| Platform and Image Type | Dimensions (in pixels) |
|---|---|
| YouTube Channel Art | 2560 x 1440 |
| YouTube Thumbnail | 1280 x 720 |
| Facebook Post | 1200 x 630 |
| Facebook Video Thumbnail | 1280 x 720 |
| Facebook Cover | 820 x 312 |
| Twitter Cover | 1500 x 500 |
Pre-Built Youtube Banner Size Template
Canva, Pickmoney, and Fotor are some examples of user-friendly editing tools to make custom Youtube banners. They offer a variety of templates, pre-designed layouts, images, and fonts, making it easy to create a unique and appealing banner. Following the banner size guideline and using templates saves time and ensures the best presentation for your Youtube channel.
Get Inspired to Create Unique YouTube Channel Art
On the internet there are a lot of sources available from where you can get inspiration to create a unique Youtube Channel Art. One of my favourite platform for inspiration is Pinterest. Such as this collection for Youtube Channel Art features some stunning designs you can take inspiration from.
While a lot of youtube channels have got a permanent Channel Art uploaded, some creative Youtube channels also use it to feature there upcoming releasees to create curiosity for a particular video that is going to be premiered on their family.
And obviously this article doesn’t only help you for creating creative for youtube but also other social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Below you will find the information about the image dimensions for Facebook post and Facebook cover image
Facebook Post and Cover Image Dimensions
The photos used in a Facebook post can be of any size since Facebook will accommodate it in the newsfeed by resizing it. But you should mostly go for a square image.
If you want the image to be of high quality, try it making larger than 800 x 800 pixels. And for the Facebook cover photo, the dimensions are 820×312 pixels.
Facebook has got an inbuilt tool where you upload any photo as your cover image and it will give you the option to make modifications. So you don’t have to be precisely correct about the cover photo you want to put on Facebook. Same goes for twitter cover photo as well. But since the size of twitter cover photo is so big, you really need some kind of reference to utilise the space creatively.
Twitter Header Cover Photo dimensions
Apparently, Twitter also uses a rather bigger image for its profile header. It is also a little unusual dimension which won’t be easy to find.
You might have to create an image from scratch by selecting the dimensions. Which are 1500px by 500px. Or if you want to be more precise and don’t want Twitter to resize your image then you can use 1263×421 pixels.
Thankfully, you don’t have to pay as much as attention as you would have to give while creating a YouTube Channel art.
Here is an example of the Twitter Header so that you have an idea to work on.
Like I said earlier, Canva offers a better solution with preset dimensions for different images on different social media platforms.
Creating any of the banner images we discussed above is as easy as signing up for Canva, and then clicking the preset dimensions to start working on it.
Good thing is that you get everything you want inside the image editor, from a variety of fonts to different graphic elements.
It is free to use the tool, they make money every time you purchase an image, that costs somewhere from $1 to $5, but if you do not want to pay for stock images, you can check out these resources to download stock images for free to use on your projects.
