Marketing & Growth

Which tool should I use to make YouTube thumbnails?

Make the thumbnail in Canva or Photopea, use AI only for the parts you cannot draw, and let YouTube's own test pick the winner. Canva has a free plan, and Pro from $12 a month billed yearly; Photopea does the same free in the browser with Photoshop-style layers and masks. For a background, a product shot or large lettering, ask ChatGPT or Gemini, both free with limits, or Ideogram, built for text inside images, whose free plan can use all its models. Then upload up to 3 versions to YouTube Studio's A/B test on a computer, and YouTube shows everyone the title and thumbnail with the most watch time. YouTube recommends 3840 x 2160 pixels for a video thumbnail and 2160 x 3840 for a Short, at least 640 pixels wide, in JPG or PNG, and custom thumbnails need a verified account. Rule: design it in Canva, test three, keep the one viewers chose.

Part of YouTube on eChai Explore.

On the AI map, 29 October 2026 Video generation Images Avatars and voice Music and audio Video editing

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