The duration label sits at the bottom right of a YouTube thumbnail and covers up to 312 × 143 px of the bottom-right corner of a 1280 × 720 image. Choose one of five YouTube thumbnail layouts, add your own image and title, and download a 1280 × 720 PNG. Everything runs in your browser; your images are never uploaded.
Choose a layout to load its preset: a ready-made example with title, labels, color and font filled in. Edit anything, then export.
Your 1280 × 720 design · scaled to fit this screenWatch-page sidebar, 1280 px window: 215 px wideSearch results, computer: 500 px wide
These CSS widths come from one computer: first measured on October 10, 2026 and read again on October 17 and 18, 2026 (UTC), as described in how we measured. YouTube may change its layouts, so your sizes can differ. See the display-size measurement table. On a narrow screen, scroll the search preview horizontally: the image remains 500 CSS px wide.
Preparing preview…
Our conservative export line is 2,000,000 bytes, based on the 2 MB mobile limit for video thumbnails in YouTube Help’s Add a custom thumbnail page (currently titled “Add custom thumbnails on YouTube”), checked October 16, 2026 (UTC). The same page lists 10 MB for mobile podcasts and 50 MB for desktop video, Shorts and podcast thumbnails. The decimal versus binary boundary has not been tested. A file at the line is flagged; even a file below it still needs a Studio upload check. Only after a PNG exceeds the line does Download JPG instead appear, at quality 0.9 and the same pixels; PNG is never automatically converted.
1280 × 720 is this tool's fixed 16:9 output, not YouTube's recommended resolution. The same YouTube Help page currently recommends 3840 × 2160 for video thumbnails, with a minimum width of 640 px, and lists JPG and PNG. Read the size and upload-limit guide before uploading.
How we measured the duration label
We made twelve measurements on nine videos in three containers: computer search (seven measurements: five at 1280 × 800, two of them in a signed-out window, and two at 1920 × 1080), the watch-page sidebar (three at 1280 × 800) and mobile web search (two at 375 × 812, phone emulation). We read the label’s getBoundingClientRect relative to the thumbnail container on October 17 and 18, 2026 (UTC), with YouTube set to the US region and English, at a device pixel ratio of 2. The October 10, 2026 first measurement covered the display widths only, not the label corner.
Inside each container the distances never changed: the label was 20 px tall and 8 px from the right and bottom edges on search (thumbnails 500 × 280.5 on computer, 375 × 210.4 on mobile), and 4 px from both edges in the sidebar (214.8 × 120.8). One video, 13:54, was measured in three viewports with the same offsets each time, so on these pages the position did not follow the video or the viewport width. Scaled to a 1280 × 720 image (1280 divided by the displayed thumbnail width, assuming the image fills it), the label and its gap covered 102 × 72 to 129 × 72 px on computer search, 135 × 96 to 159 × 96 px on mobile search and 212 × 143 to 312 × 143 px in the sidebar, the largest we saw.
We measured only search results and the watch-page sidebar, not Shorts or the YouTube app, so check your own surface before relying on these numbers. Some tutorials place the label at the bottom left because they follow the Adobe Express YouTube thumbnail page; that is a template layout, not a rule of how YouTube displays the label.
How to use
Choose a layout. Face + big text and Before and after can each use one optional face or object image; other layouts use the background.
Add your title and, when shown, the labels, big word or number. Change the background, text color, font, outline and character frame.
Check the 215 px and 500 px previews. Download PNG, then check the pixels and bytes read back from the encoded file. Open it in the thumbnail tester for other preview contexts.
When you place text, keep the bottom-right corner of your 1280 × 720 image, up to about 312 × 143 px, free of faces and title words. Turn on Show duration-label area to see the shaded model while you arrange the layout.
Layouts that read at small sizes
Each layout loads its own preset when you choose it: Tutorial face, Repair before and after, One-word result, Countdown number and Plain title card. Face + big text keeps your image in a frame and short text beside it. Before and after uses one image on each side with two one-line labels. One big word puts one word at the center. Numbered puts a series number beside your title. Blank 16:9 canvas is the plain 1280 × 720 background, with an optional title.
At our measured 215 px sidebar width, a long sentence becomes small type, so a thumbnail template YouTube shows at that size needs short words. Check that preview and shorten your wording if needed. The 215 px and 500 px widths came from one computer on October 10, 2026; they can vary on YouTube. See more thumbnail layout ideas. These layouts do not predict viewer response.
YouTube thumbnail template and size template
Check the background behind your title in the YouTube thumbnail background ruler. Use this page as a YouTube thumbnail size template by starting from the blank 16:9 canvas: it is exactly 1280 × 720. That is this tool’s fixed output, not YouTube’s current recommended resolution. For official dimensions and upload limits, see the size guide. If you need a thumbnail template for another finished image, use the thumbnail maker or resizer.
Templates for YouTube thumbnails
Using templates for YouTube thumbnails works best when you choose one structure first. A thumbnail template for YouTube tutorials can use Face + big text; a makeover or repair video can use Before and after. Use a thumbnail template with one big word or a number when the point is a result. You can call a YouTube video thumbnail template a starting arrangement, not a generated design.
Thumbnail mockup
This YouTube thumbnail mockup uses two small images, 215 px and 500 px, with the one-computer limit above. To place your image in fuller YouTube interface drawings, use the thumbnail tester.
Free thumbnail template maker in your browser
This editor is free of charge, needs no account and has no usage counter; export as often as you need. Your images stay in this browser.
No. Image decoding, drawing and export happen locally; the tool does not send your image to a server.
Is it free?
Yes. No account, payment or usage limit is required.
What size should a YouTube thumbnail template be?
This tool exports a 1280 × 720 image. For current official recommendations and device-specific upload limits, see the size guide.
Can it remove the background from a face or object photo?
No. Use your own PNG with a transparent background, or keep the circle or rounded frame. As is preserves existing transparency; it does not remove a photo’s background.
What happens when I choose a layout?
It loads that layout’s preset: a ready-made example with the title, labels, big word or number, text color and font already filled in. Edit any field, add your own image, then export.
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