How to Make a YouTube Thumbnail (From What's Already Working)

Most of us spend hours making a YouTube video, then throw a thumbnail together in the last few minutes before it goes live. I've done it more times than I'd like to admit.

In this post I show you how to make a YouTube thumbnail the other way round. You start from what's already working, build the thumbnail and title first, then make the video to match. It's a simple three-step process using a free Chrome extension, one link and Canva's Magic Layers.

Key Takeaways

• Packaging comes first: decide the thumbnail and title before you make the video, because they decide whether anyone clicks.
• The vidIQ Chrome extension shows views per hour on YouTube, so you can see which videos (and which thumbnails) are taking off right now.
• Grab a working thumbnail at full size, split it into layers in Canva, and model the strategy behind it rather than copying it.

Why I Make the YouTube Thumbnail First

On YouTube, it's all about packaging. Nobody sees the hours you put into a video. They see a small picture and a title, and they decide in a second whether to click.

So I now work in reverse. I start with a thumbnail idea, or at least a title and a thumbnail idea, based on what's already working. Then I make the video to match what the packaging promises.

It's the same thinking I use for picking topics. I start with topics people already search for rather than guessing, and the thumbnail deserves the same treatment.

Step 1: Find Thumbnails That Are Already Working With vidIQ

The first tool I add to Chrome is the vidIQ extension. Search Google for "vidIQ Chrome extension", open the listing in the Chrome Web Store and add it.

Once it's installed, go to youtube.com. You'll now see a number on each video called VPH, which stands for views per hour. It shows the volume and the speed at which a video is picking up views right now.

• High VPH (for example 54): the whole package is working. Title, thumbnail and video are pulling people in.
• Low VPH (one to ten): ticking along, but not one to learn from.
• Sponsored results: ignore them. They're paid placements, not a sign of what works.

You can also search your own favourite keywords on YouTube and check the VPH on the videos that come up. What you're looking for is a thumbnail that is clearly performing, ideally in your niche. I found similar patterns when I studied 300 YouTube videos: the packaging does a lot of the work.

Step 2: Grab Any YouTube Thumbnail at Full Resolution

Once you've found a thumbnail you'd like to learn from, you can download it at full size with one link. No downloader site, no extra extension.

1. Get the video's link. Click the three dots under the video and choose Share, or open the video itself.
2. Copy the video ID. In a share link it's the code after youtu.be/ and before the question mark. In the address bar it's the code after v= (leave the v= itself out).
3. Paste the ID into this address in place of VIDEO_ID: img.youtube.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/maxresdefault.jpg
4. Press Return. You'll get the full high-resolution thumbnail.
5. Right-click it, choose Save Image As and save it to your downloads.

Copy and paste the ID rather than typing it, as some letters (a lowercase L and a capital I) look the same. If you only get a grey placeholder, that video has no full-size version, so swap maxresdefault for hqdefault to get the smaller one.

Build a Thumbnail Mood Board With Pinterest

Another option is the Pinterest Chrome extension. Search Google for "Pinterest Chrome plugin" and add it.

When you hover over any thumbnail you like, click Save to add it to a Pinterest board. Over time you build a mood board of thumbnails whose look and feel you like. I keep one for my own channel, and it's a quick place to go for ideas before I make a new one.

Step 3: Pull It Apart in Canva With Magic Layers

This is where it gets useful. Canva's Magic Layers takes a flat image and splits it into separate pieces you can edit.

1. Open Canva and click Magic Layers.
2. Upload the thumbnail you've just downloaded.
3. Run Magic Layers, then click Open in editor.

Canva extracts the layers in the thumbnail: the background, the people and objects, and the text. Each one can be clicked, dragged and moved, so you can see exactly how the thumbnail was put together.

Model the YouTube Thumbnail, Don't Copy It

One important caveat. Don't just copy the thumbnail. It won't work for your channel, and someone else's thumbnail is their work.

The idea is to find a thumbnail that's doing well, preferably in your niche, pull it apart in Canva and identify the strategy behind it. Is it the simple text? The minimal imagery? Where the face sits? Use those ideas in your own creation, with your own face, words and colours.

Model it, don't copy it.

Putting It Together

That's the whole process for making a YouTube thumbnail from what's already working. Find what's performing with vidIQ, grab a full-size copy of the thumbnail, pull it apart in Canva's Magic Layers, then build your own from the strategy behind it.

Next time you plan a video, try doing the thumbnail and title first. If you want to test which title works best once it's live, I cover the risks in my post on YouTube title A/B testing.