What is a YouTube Thumbnail?

A YouTube thumbnail is a small image used as a video's main visual element.

Furthermore, thumbnails are essential for video marketing because they are the smallest image that viewers can understand. 

Creating these visuals plays a key role in attracting people to watch your video.  

Why are Youtube Thumbnails Important?

YouTube thumbnails are important because they increase viewers' chance to click on your video. 

Think of them as a video ID that summarizes all the relevant info. A good thumbnail should be creative, well-designed, and informative.

That is why it is so important to have a custom YouTube thumbnail.

Who better than you know your audience and what they’d find intriguing and interesting?

What are the Key Elements of a Youtube Thumbnail?

Thumbnails are the first thing your audience will see. Therefore, they need to be:

• High-quality

• Visually appealing to pique the interest

• Relevant to the video content

• Accurate - don’t use visuals that don’t correspond to the video content. It will only make your audience aggravated and damage your reputation.

• Readable - This aspect is important if you plan to include text in your thumbnail. Go bold and eye-catching.

These are the most important things to pay attention to, but if you feel like exploring this topic more and want to kickstart your creativity, then this read is perfect for you.

When it comes to technical requirements, a recommended size is 1280x720 px, with an aspect ratio of 16:9.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s check 5 tools we think are the best YouTube thumbnail makers.

5 YouTube Thumbnail Makers in 2023

1. Glorify

Glorify launched only two years ago, which makes it a relative newcomer to the graphic design tools scene.

However, it developed quite quickly from its humble beginnings.

So now, with the recently launched 3.0 version, it definitely has a wide array of features suitable for both non-designers and designers. 

In addition, a new dashboard has become even more intuitive and straightforward to use.

Everything you need is neatly divided into two panels, on the left and right, with more detailed explanations when you hover over the icons.

Glorify is unique because it closes the gap between the eCommerce and graphic design worlds by providing tools and features that cater to both worlds.

Glorify Features

Glorify’s features are the best indicators of its versatility, making it robust yet simple to use. So what features are we talking about?

• Infinite canvas - A limitless space to brainstorm, do strategy planning, organize your marketing assets in one place and collaborate

• Mockups - Fully customizable 3D mockups, as well as pre-made scenes to showcase your product realistically,

• Brand Kit - Centralize all your brand assets in one place so you can stay consistent across all the campaigns and social media,‍

• Photo editing tools -  BG remover, shadows and reflections, Smart Resizer are just some of the tools you’ll find here to help you customize and edit your designs and make them optimal for your projects,

• Annotate Tool - If you want to highlight the most specific product’s features, this tool does the work for you. It is also great for creating professional-looking charts and diagrams, 

• Marketing campaign transformation - There is a  wide range of template bundles that will boost your marketing efforts and help you match your style and brand across the platforms,

• Share your designs - No more sending emails with designs back and forth. With Glorify, you can collaborate and brainstorm on a single platform. Once you’re ready, you can also export your designs in multiple formats.

Glorify Pricing

Glorify offers three plans: one Free and two paid ones.

Moving on to a YouTube thumbnail maker number two.

2. Picmaker

Picmaker is an online graphic design software that helps you create designs for:

• Social media

• Business projects

• Other types of designs like invitations, certificate makers, sticker makers, etc.

It is a vibrant platform that functions on the drag-and-drop principle.

When it comes to templates, there are thousands of templates divided into multiple categories such as:

• Social media

• Invoices

• Cards and thank-you cards

• Presentations

• Lesson plans, etc.

Regarding the features, Picmaker primarily offers photo-editing tools like BG remover, a MAD button that provides suggestions on fonts, colors, etc., brand kits, stickerify tool to create stickers, etc.

The downside is that in order to utilize more advanced features, you will have to go with the Pro paid plan. And that brings us to pricing.

Picmaker Pricing

Beside a Free plan, there are three paid plans.

Number three on our list of the best YouTube thumbnail makers belongs to Snappa.

3. Snappa

Snappa is a graphic design software that delivers easy and quick graphics. It offers thousands of pre-made templates that cover categories starting from social media, blogging and infographics, over headers and banners, to advertising.

It also offers more than 5 million high-resolution stock images.

Being primarily geared towards social media posts, most of Snappa’s features have to do with photo edits, adding effects, text fonts, etc.

Overall, it is a nice tool for quick and simple edits.

However, a Free plan is rather limited in terms of features you can use. 

Snappa Pricing

Snappa offers three plans: one Free and two paid ones.

Moving on to number four.

4. PicMonkey

PicMonkey is primarily a photo editor tool, but it definitely offers more than that. With PicMonkey, you can:

• Prepare marketing material

• Design social media material

• Create invitations, cards, banners, etc.

It is user-friendly and functions on a drag-and-drop principle. In addition, its webpage offers many tutorials and tips.

There are really many template categories, let’s just name a few:

• Social media templates

• Planners, lesson plans, worksheets, presentations

• Emails and newsletters

• Posters, brochures, flyers

• And many more.

Unfortunately, as with most tools, PicMonkey provides very basic features if you use the Basic plan. The more advanced features are accessible in Pro and Business plans.

PicMonkey Pricing

PicMonkey offers three plans, with a 7-day free trial for each.

And last but not least on our list of best YouTube thumbnail makers is Thumbnail Maker.

5. Thumbnail Maker

As the name suggests, this app is all about creating thumbnails. 

It helps you create compelling thumbnails for YouTube and other social networks like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. 

You can either upload your own images or choose from many stock images divided into various categories.

When it comes to editing, you can add text, emojis, stickers, effects like neon lights, etc.

You can also add other photos and play with the photo's colors and contrast.

A disadvantage is that you can use it only to create thumbnails and nothing more.

Thumbnail Maker Pricing

This app is free.

After going through our 5 top picks, let’s summarize everything.

Wrapping It Up

YouTube thumbnails are essential if you want to increase the click rate of your videos. Furthermore, they can make your brand more visible and recognizable. 

But you can’t achieve that with generated thumbnails. You need custom ones.

The tools we’ve described help you achieve just that. So how to choose?

It hugely depends on your business needs and preferences. If you ask us, we’d say go for Glorify. Why?

Because it is the most robust of all the mentioned tools. You get full access to all the features, even in the Free plan, so you can see how it works.

Furthermore, it goes far beyond a thumbnail maker and offers possibilities to create product images and mockups, for example.

The other tools either offer limited features in their free plans or don’t cover as many aspects as Glorify does. 

Jump on Glorify’s bandwagon today and see how easy, fun and hassle-free it is to create stunning visuals.