Creating Engaging YouTube Thumbnails to Boost Viewer Clicks

One key factor in attracting views is to have a professional YouTube thumbnail with captivating visuals. So, how do you create YouTube thumbnails that stimulate viewer clicks now? Firstly, Mytour and you need to understand that to create YouTube thumbnails that encourage clicks, you must know how to use Photoshop. In this guide, Mytour will use Photoshop for creating YouTube thumbnails. Don't worry; it's not too difficult, so don't stress too much.

Crafting YouTube Thumbnails That Captivate Viewers to Click

Guide to Crafting Engaging YouTube Thumbnails

What is a YouTube Thumbnail?

YouTube Thumbnail acts as the video's face when users browse through YouTube. Apart from the video title, it's the Thumbnail that gives viewers a glimpse of what your YouTube content is all about. Beyond titles and keywords, the Thumbnail is crucial in determining whether viewers decide to click and watch your video or not.

Essential Tools for This Tutorial:

- Get the graphic design software Photoshop by downloading it here.

- Explore a comprehensive collection of beautiful font styles provided by Mytour.

- Prepare your own royalty-free images, or use the ones already available here on Mytour for image editing and manipulation.

Step 1: The current standard for YouTube Thumbnails is 1280x720 px, which is HD resolution. Therefore, there's no need to create a YouTube Thumbnail with a higher resolution than this.

Step 2: Drag any image into this blank file and adjust it to your liking. In this guide, we've chosen a background image from Assassin's Creed Rebellion.

Step 3: On the toolbar, select the Rectangular Marquee tool (shortcut key M) to outline the object.

Step 4: Drag another image file that you want to crop. Here, we'll crop the headshot to create a YouTube Thumbnail that entices viewers to click. So, use the tool to outline the desired area.

Step 5: Then, press the shortcut key C to switch to the Crop tool in Photoshop. Next, hit Enter twice consecutively to remove any excess elements during cropping.

Step 7: Switch to the Magic Wand tool (shortcut key W) to remove the background for the main character image.

Step 8: Click on areas with the same color, then press delete to achieve the result on the right.

Step 9: Copy this image and paste it onto the Assassin's Creed background, then adjust the size and position as desired. Finally, press Enter, and for further adjustments, you can use Ctrl + T.

Step 10: Next, on the Photoshop menu bar, we choose Filter >Blur >Gaussian Blur on the Background Layer.

Step 11: Here, set the Radius to approximately 5.0 or adjust it to your preference. This tool helps blur the background to highlight the main character.

Step 12: Right-click on our main character layer and select Blending options.

Step 13: Here, pay attention to select the parameters as follows in the Stroke section:
- Size: 12 px ( Border thickness).
- Position: Outside ( Border outside).
- Blend Mode: Normal ( Display mode).
- Opacity: 100% ( Transparency).
- Fill Type: Color (Color display)

- Size: 12 px ( Thickness of the border).
- Position: Outside ( Border outside).
- Blend Mode: Normal ( Display mode).
- Opacity: 100% ( Transparency).
- Fill Type: Color (Color display)

>> Choose white as the color.

The result will look like the one below, meaning we've completed 60% of the process of creating a YouTube Thumbnail that entices viewers to click.

Step 14: Now, to make the YouTube Thumbnail engaging, you need to add text. First, open the Character tool by clicking on Windows > select Character.

Step 15: In the Character panel, choose the font UTM Loko. If you've downloaded the beautiful font mentioned earlier, you should have it.

Step 16: Then, use the Text tool to create a letter and rotate it as desired.

Step 17: Right-click on the text layer, choose Blending Mode > tick Stroke and adjust the parameters as shown.

Step 18: Note that the Gradient Editor depends on your preference. Choose the color that stands out to you.

Step 19: Duplicate the text layer and customize it for the second text.

Step 20: Here, Mytour will use the font Event and make it slightly larger than the original Mytour font.

Step 21: To create a YouTube Thumbnail that entices viewers to click, we need a bit of fun in the image. Mytour has added a pair of eyes with the background removed.

The final result after creating the YouTube Thumbnail that captivates viewers to click.

Step 22: Now, proceed to select File >Save to save the image.

Step 23: Remember to use the PNG extension for the best image quality.

For everything else, leave it as default for the best results.

Now, replace your YouTube Thumbnail, as high-viewed videos often result from creating a YouTube Thumbnail that entices viewers to click.

Here is the method to create enticing YouTube Thumbnails that captivate viewers and encourage clicks. You can also check out how to get YouTube thumbnails here. Additionally, Mytour believes that with the tools and techniques outlined in this article, you can quickly create various artworks in Photoshop. In this article, Mytour has utilized several basic techniques such as photo merging in Photoshop, background removal in Photoshop. Especially, photo merging in Photoshop is a fundamental yet widely used and effective technique.