MotionShine01 / Background
Pick the backdrop
A bright gradient, or a screenshot from your video, darkened so text stands out.
Free tool
YouTube thumbnail maker, bold and readable.
Make a thumbnail people click: a bright background or your own screenshot, a cut-out photo of you with the white outline thumbnails use, and big titles with a thick outline and shadow. Drag everything into place and download a JPG at 3840 x 2160, the size YouTube now recommends, or a small 1280 x 720. No watermark, nothing uploaded.
A photo of yourself with the background removed (a PNG with see-through edges) gets a white outline automatically. Make one with the background remover.
Layers
Background
Save
The thumbnail is made in your browser. Your pictures are never uploaded.
How it works
Three layers, one click-worthy picture.
02 / You
Add your face
A cut-out photo gets a white outline and shadow. Drag and size it.
03 / Title
Write three words
Big, bold, outlined. Download a 4K JPG ready for YouTube.
Questions
Good to know.
What size is a YouTube thumbnail?
YouTube's help page (checked 16 October 2026) recommends 3840 x 2160 pixels for videos, at least 640 pixels wide, as JPG or PNG, up to 50 MB from a computer and 2 MB from a phone. This tool saves 3840 x 2160, or 1280 x 720 kept under 2 MB if you upload from the YouTube app.
How do I cut myself out of a photo?
Use the background remover to get a PNG with a see-through background, then add it here as a picture. It gets the white outline automatically.
Can I use a frame from my video?
Yes. Save a frame with extract frames from video, then use it as the background picture.
Are the fonts free to use?
Yes. All five are under the SIL Open Font License, which allows use on YouTube and in ads.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The thumbnail is drawn in this browser tab.