How to Make Awesome Thumbnails

Octa604

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Sound has been my biggest hurdle. It's slowly getting better. I'm using my kitchen so the tiled flooring is reflecting sound back & occasionally my fridge decides to hum! So do I need something like egg carton/pyramid/spikey looking foam on boards to try to cancel out the echos?

Thanks :)
I'm finding it's one of my biggest issues too. something like the foam i think is best, and you can use those cheap room dividers to section off an area.. I have recorded music with a friend this way before.

I've found that thumbnails are just stupid fun to play around with when designing them. Dunno if anyone else feels this way, I just like to fit a section of an interesting still from the episode footage in paint.net, add the watermarks and part #, then see if it works when shrunk in YT.

Obviously first impressions are everything when attracting new views to your videos, but the contents of the video is everything too to me as well.
I have wayyyy too much fun creating thumbnail templates for my videos now hahaha.
 
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StitchzStyle

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Are some more tips for this, depends what program(s) you're using. Might make another thread about this and go into specifics and give some different examples of what thumbnails can/should look like for the best results. Definitely a great post though.
 

Trist

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Are some more tips for this, depends what program(s) you're using. Might make another thread about this and go into specifics and give some different examples of what thumbnails can/should look like for the best results. Definitely a great post though.
Most things apply to all programs - the main things are that any picture is clear & a good indicator of the content, but also fun and engaging, and any text on the image is bold and easy to read. If you do videos which are related, see if you can make them look similar in style (same fonts, or similar type of layout) so they look related as well, familiarity will help people watch more in the same series after enjoying the first one. And just always look at it small to check it still works, as they are often seen as tiny thumbs on mobile phones :)

The thumbnail is like a movie trailer; it's the hook to bring people in to watch the whole thing. Informative, but also intriguing/exciting.

I'm finding it's one of my biggest issues too. something like the foam i think is best, and you can use those cheap room dividers to section off an area.. I have recorded music with a friend this way before.
So does flat bits of foam stuck to boards you can use to dampen echo work? Or does it want to be the egg carton/spikey looking foam that people like me think of as the stuff that's used in recording studios?

Thanks!
 

Madtyper

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I do a lot of my thumbnails on my iPhone. I am not at PC much. Ido all my video edits on iPhone/iPad too.
 

FatalAti

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Cool tutorial man. I have a question. I m a lets player and i usually use my own pictore to make it funny or wierd at the thumbnail. What tips would you give to me about putting my face into the thumbnail.
 

Trist

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Do my thumbnails look good? o.o
Your thumbnails are pretty awesome! The only thing for me was the Resident Evil logos and Conflict logos were a little hard to see at small sizes as they are the same tonal range as the backdrop - bit of a white or black glow behind them or something to give a little more contrast would let them stand out clearer.

Otherwise - top job! :)
 

Tyron Fedrick

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Nice post! I really didn't think about customizing my thumbnails until recently. This post really helps me out with even more tips to implement for future thumbnails.
 
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Elysia

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Hey guys, a lot of people have been asking, so I though I'd share a bit of my knowledge about making thumbnails with PS, and how to make them amazing looking that are bound to get your videos a few more views!
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*Make sure the dimension size is 1920 by 1080 (for best quality)

1). Firstly, make sure not to do what I call typical styles. Now by this I mean don't do what has been done a million times before, like using the same overlays everyone always does. Though some are great and should be used, try testing out with a few and changing them up a bit. By doing this your text will have a smooth, unique look to it

2). Though this is pretty obvious, USE STROKE AND DROP SHADOW! No doubt without these your text will look so much worse. Pretty well everyone uses these, but it truly is vital to use them.

3). Thirdly, be sure to add extra textures and overlays to your text. Download some pattern overlays, and use them with your text. It will look amazing if you put down the opacity of the overlay, so it doesn't distract the viewer from the actual text and the rest of the thumbnail. Download some transparent flashes, and add them to the sides of the text, or behind! All little things like this can make thumbnails incredible... but only if they are done correctly.

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1). For the rest of thumbnail, you must make sure it is clean. By this I mean be sure not to add too much or too little. If you are doing a thumbnail for a let's play, behind your text possibly have a picture of the game (if it is a unique custom drawing it's even better). Don't add lots of text, but enough so the viewer knows what he is watching.

2). If you are doing a custom colour background, possibly and a pattern with low opacity for a great effect!

3). Just make sure no parts are blurry: you want full HD!

I really hope this helped. If you have any problems what so every comment down below! And subscribe to my channel if you like, I do lots of GFX and give free thumbnail, banner, and intro templates!
Awesome! Thank you so much for the tips! I will keep this in mind when creating my next thumbnail :)