Resize Image for YouTube
Resize images for YouTube thumbnails, channel banners, Shorts covers, community posts, and more. Choose a preset and download instantly. Free, no signup.
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Supports M4A, WAV, FLAC, OGG, AAC, WMA, AIFF, OPUS • Max 100 MB
Your image is uploaded over an encrypted connection and automatically deleted after 2 hours.
How to Resize an Image for YouTube
All YouTube Image Sizes (2026)
YouTube uses different image dimensions for thumbnails, banners, Shorts covers, community posts, profiles, watermarks, and end screens. Using the exact recommended size prevents compression artifacts and awkward cropping across devices.
| Format | Size (px) | Aspect Ratio | Max File Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video Thumbnail | 1280 × 720 | 16:9 | 2 MB |
| Channel Banner | 2560 × 1440 | 16:9 | 6 MB |
| Shorts Cover | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 | — |
| Community Post (Square) | 1280 × 1280 | 1:1 | 16 MB (GIF) |
| Community Post (Landscape) | 1920 × 1080 | 16:9 | 16 MB (GIF) |
| Profile Picture | 800 × 800 | 1:1 (circle) | 2 MB |
| Watermark / Branding | 150 × 150 | 1:1 | 1 MB |
| End Screen Element | 615 × 345 | 16:9 | — |
Supported formats: JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP for most assets. Community posts also accept WebP.
Channel Banner Safe Areas
The channel banner is uploaded at 2560 × 1440 px, but YouTube crops it differently on each device. If your text or logo falls outside the safe area, it will be cut off on smaller screens.
| Device | Visible Area (px) | Crop Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| TV | 2560 × 1440 | Full image, no cropping |
| Desktop | 2560 × 423 | Full width, heavy vertical crop |
| Tablet | 1855 × 423 | Moderate horizontal + vertical crop |
| Mobile | 1546 × 423 | Most aggressively cropped |
1546 × 423 px — centered on the 2560 × 1440 canvas. All text, logos, and key visuals must stay within this zone to be visible on every device, including mobile. Leave at least 60 px margin from safe-area edges for breathing room.
1235 × 338 px — even tighter zone for critical elements like channel name and tagline. Guarantees clean display even on the smallest mobile viewports with UI overlays.
Design the full 2560 × 1440 canvas with a background image or gradient that extends to the edges. Then place all important content (channel name, logo, tagline, social handles) within the 1546 × 423 safe area at the center. The outer regions will only be visible on TVs and wide desktop monitors.
YouTube Thumbnail Design Tips
Thumbnails are the single biggest factor in click-through rate. YouTube displays them at various sizes — from 168 × 94 px in suggested videos to full 1280 × 720 px on TV screens — so your design must read clearly at every scale.
- Upload at exactly 1280 × 720 px — this avoids an extra downscaling step and preserves maximum sharpness after YouTube’s compression.
- Use high contrast — bright, saturated colors stand out in the feed. Dark or muted thumbnails tend to blend in.
- Limit text to 3–5 words — thumbnails are often displayed at small sizes (under 200 px wide). Long text becomes unreadable. Use large, bold fonts.
- Show a face — thumbnails with human faces and expressive emotions consistently get higher click-through rates.
- Avoid clutter — keep the composition simple with one clear focal point. White space helps the eye focus.
- Use JPG for photos, PNG for graphics — JPG at 80–90% quality gives the best file-size-to-quality ratio for photographic thumbnails. PNG preserves sharp text and logo edges.
- Stay under 2 MB — thumbnails exceeding the file size limit will be rejected. Use JPG compression to hit the target.
- Test at small sizes — zoom your browser to 25% and check if the thumbnail is still readable. If not, simplify the design.
Profile Picture
Upload your channel icon at 800 × 800 px (1:1 square). YouTube crops it into a circle on all surfaces. It displays at 176 × 176 px on the channel page, 80 × 80 px next to comments, and 36 × 36 px in search results. Upload at 800 × 800 to ensure crisp rendering on 4K TVs and Retina displays.
- Keep important elements centered — corners are cropped into a circle.
- Use PNG for logos and graphics with sharp edges; JPG for photos.
- Maximum file size: 2 MB. Formats: JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF (non-animated).
Watermark / Branding Image
The branding watermark appears in the bottom-right corner of your videos at 40 × 40 px display size. Upload it at 150 × 150 px (1:1 square). Use PNG with a transparent background for a professional look. Maximum file size is 1 MB. You can set it to appear at the end of the video, from a custom start time, or for the entire video.