What's in the thumbnail editor
Everything below is part of the manual editor, which works on a free account:
- Text layers with 17 fonts, outline stroke, drop shadow, highlighter or pill backgrounds, letter spacing, line height and all caps
- Arrows, circles and image layers, including transparent PNG cutouts you upload
- Backgrounds in a solid color, a gradient (vertical, horizontal, diagonal or radial) or an image with blur, darken and vignette controls
- A paint layer and retouch brush for covering details, plus an eyedropper that samples colors from the canvas
- Layer tools: lock, hide, duplicate, reorder, snapping to the center and to other layers, and undo and redo
- A brand kit for your colors, fonts and logo placement, which can be read from your channel in one click without AI credits
- Up to 60 layers per design
Free account vs. Plus
A free Vidfora account gets the full manual editor as one complete attempt: you can keep one saved design and download it once. That first download completes the free attempt, after which saving and image uploads are locked and further downloads ask you to upgrade. Saving reusable templates is a Plus feature.
Plus adds the AI tools, which run on the monthly AI credits included with the plan: AI concepts that suggest a headline, palette and layout and apply them as editable layers, AI background images, AI-generated subjects on a transparent layer, reusable personas for a consistent face across thumbnails, and a thumbnail score with suggested fixes.
YouTube thumbnail size and requirements
YouTube recommends custom thumbnails at a 16:9 aspect ratio and as large as possible: 3840 x 2160 pixels for videos, with a minimum width of 640 pixels. Files can be JPG or PNG, up to 2 MB when you upload from mobile or 50 MB from desktop, and your account has to be verified before you can upload a custom thumbnail.
This editor exports at 1280 x 720. That's 16:9 and well above YouTube's 640-pixel minimum, but smaller than the 3840 x 2160 YouTube now recommends. JPG gives a smaller file; PNG keeps every pixel sharp.
Thumbnail design tips from YouTube
YouTube suggests starting from who the video is for. A video aimed at your subscribers might highlight familiar features, like a person your viewers already know, while one aimed at casual viewers might lean on actions and emotions anyone can read, like a shocked face. Use the rule of thirds to place your subject, then overlay your branding and some descriptive text in a font that's easy to read, and don't let the design get too complex.