If You Are Creating Content For Youtube, Creating An Attractive Cover Is One Of The Most Important Aspects Of Your Videos That Plays A Huge Role In Attracting An Audience.
Using the right cover is the most necessary measure for the growth of the YouTube channel. An attractive and reliable body related to your video’s topic will play a vital role in attracting viewers. You can use different tools to start designing this image.
In this article, we are trying to introduce you to the method of making attractive covers for YouTube videos.
How to make a cover for YouTube videos
Various tools are available to create covers for the videos you upload to YouTube, which you can use according to your needs or style.
1. Using online tools to make YouTube video covers
There are several free tools for making YouTube video covers, and below we will mention some of the most important and useful ones. The best option on this list is FotoJet because you won’t need to register to use its tools. This powerful web application allows you to create customized images according to your content.
The free version of FotoJet offers the ability to create small and medium-sized image files. Still, you need to purchase a paid subscription to access the large, higher-resolution version. However, with some creativity, you can create high-quality covers for your videos through the free tools of this platform.
2. Upload photos and use templates
YouTube has enabled you to use all the images on your computer’s storage as cover images for channel videos. This platform provides users with more than 23 free templates that can be used as a basis for creating custom covers. If you don’t have a suitable image for your video or want to get inspired by other ideas, the FotoJet tool will also help you in this department.
Note that using a face on the cover of the videos can make it more attractive because the research results showed that the number of likes and comments registered for Instagram photos in which there is a face is 38% and 32% more, respectively.
3. Add text, graphic elements, or background to the cover
After you have chosen your main image and template to create a video cover, you can give a better effect to the desired image by adding text, graphic elements, or a background.
Use related titles in the cover image to provide better visibility into the content of your videos. If your photo, graphic, or text is bright, we recommend using a dark background so that the contrast in color will help make the cover stand out.
4. Save the final image to your computer
After finishing the construction steps and applying different settings on the cover, click the Save button to save a copy on your computer.
YouTube currently suggests that the resolution of the images you intend to use as the cover of your videos should be 1280 x 720 pixels. In this situation, you no longer need to worry about changing the cover’s dimensions to display correctly on all devices. It is better to save the final image file in JPG or PNG format.
The best free online tools for making YouTube video covers
As we mentioned, you can use different tools to make YouTube video covers according to your taste or need. Maybe some professional users even use Photoshop to make this image. Anyway, if you are looking for a fast, flexible, and free solution to make YouTube video covers, we will introduce you to the best tools designed for this purpose.
1. PhotoJet
FotoJet is one of the best platforms for creating YouTube video covers. It provides preset templates that help you summarize your video in one central image and let viewers know what it’s about at a glance. You can use this tool for free without registration and use various stock images, fonts, and other graphic elements to customize your covers further and save the result in PNG or JPG format.
2. Canva
With more than two million images and hundreds of customizable fonts and backgrounds, Canva provides excellent resources for creating YouTube video covers. The only limit to using this tool is your creativity. With free registration, you can use this platform to make the covers you want. Of course, you can purchase a paid subscription to access all the graphics resources and more advanced tools.
3. Adobe Spark
Adobe Spark allows you to use thousands of web images and various built-in themes with customizable layouts, unique colors, and fonts to create attractive covers for your YouTube videos. It is worth mentioning that the final images created with the accessible version of this tool are saved with their watermark.
4. Crello
Using Crello, you can combine many designs, photos, backgrounds, text, graphics, and more to create attractive covers for your YouTube videos. This platform is an inexpensive option compared to other popular design tools.
5. Visme
Visme offers a wide range of templates, photos, graphics, colors, and fonts to create attractive covers for YouTube videos with your creativity. This program is designed to focus on creating covers for videos, so you won’t have to worry about finding the exact dimensions of the layouts when using it. This program provides various templates for content creators to save time and focus on content creation when creating covers for their videos.
Essential points in making YouTube video covers
To create covers for YouTube videos, it is better always to consider a few critical points to ensure that the created image is beautiful and, at the same time, provides a magnificent view of your content type. Most importantly, your cover should encourage users to click on the video.
1. Stability
Like most popular YouTube channels, it is better to use a template with a fixed design to make your video covers. Clear and recognizable branding on all YouTube images will help your audience find your content more easily. When a fan of your channel visits the YouTube homepage, they should be able to easily recognize your videos and click on them because they have already enjoyed your content.
Visual consistency in cover videos will build trust. Think about what elements, such as font, logo, color, position, etc., should be placed on the main image of your videos. Try to use a general format and format to create this image, and change your available design once in a while.
2. brand
Designing a cover with your brand on it is not a complicated or expensive task; You can easily use the same logo, font, images, or color palettes in all your covers. If the images used as video covers for your channel are too varied, your drain will look like a messy warehouse instead of a bright and organized feed.
In addition, you should pay attention to how the cover of your videos conveys your brand name. Although images that use bright colors may seem appropriate for entertainment content, they won’t impress meditation students or classical music lovers.
For example, in the images below, the video only shows scenes from famous Ted Talks, Nothing more and nothing less. Dark and contrasting thumbnails make the channel take on a more serious theme.
Lifestyle influencer Daniel Mansotti always uses a photo of himself, a short video title in cursive, a poofy visual element, and similar pastel coloring on his video covers. He is the star of his blogs; thus, his face is seen on the covers of all the content he produces. The bright coloring and trendy design match Danielle’s feminine, minimal and polished personality.
The cover images for the videos of the traveling journalists, who go by the name The Bucket List Family, feature a photo of their videos with a color title in large letters in the upper left corner. Block letters colorfully communicate with a family adventure and make their brand more memorable.
Covers make your videos more memorable and create a brand that can be used on other websites and social channels. These images are a great way to attract new audiences and viewers who might be interested in your content.
3. Titles
What will people see when they click on a video? Will it change them, provide them with new information, or entertain or inspire them? Cover images for YouTube videos also help loyal viewers know when they’ve missed an episode and hint at the topic of the video.
Many content creators put text directly into their cover images to help summarize their content.
When a user is watching a video, related video cover titles can help guide them to manage more content. This action helps to increase the duration of people’s presence on your channel to contain more content.
Headlines also attract new viewers to your channel through Google search engines. Since users often see video cover thumbnails on the search results page when searching on this search engine, these titles promise the user whether your video will meet their needs and are especially effective for informational videos. will happen
Some important points about video titles in cover images:
- Unlike video descriptions, text embedded in your channel content images will not be translated into different languages. You must ensure that the reader does not cover most of the video thumbnail space to attract viewers in other languages.
- Most people watch YouTube through their smartphones, so the text on the cover of the videos should be large enough and readable enough to be recognized on a small screen.
- On the other hand, some people watch YouTube videos on big screens and TVs. Test your video cover image in different dimensions to ensure it looks good on all devices.
You can use an online photo and video editor to add text to your video cover images. Kapwing’s library has thousands of beautiful fonts that you can customize to your taste.
4. Shock value
If you’re hoping your video will get noticed by many viewers at once, or you’re just experimenting to see what will attract more viewers, use featured covers on your content. Harrowing videos, people crying, natural weapons, and more from a particular cultural trend can draw people to that content. Bright colors, emojis, and colorful text are great ways to attract viewers in the short term.
YouTube allows users to use images known as clickbait; therefore, if you are growing, using covers that try to attract the audience with unrealistic promises can be suitable for testing and seeing the result. However, suppose people click on your video and find out that the content doesn’t match your cover image and promise. In that case, they’ll probably feel cheated, so it’s not recommended if you’re looking to get a loyal and consistent following.
5. Stand out
An inappropriate, dull, or uncreative cover image can discourage people from watching a video. Always make sure you stand out. Use unexpected angles and experiment with new colors. In addition, you can add borders to the subjects of your photos or enhance their contrast. Using artistic or funny graphics can also be suitable for differentiation. Of course, there is no perfect way to create a visually attractive cover image, but here are some tricks to increase its quality:
Humans are social creatures, and close-ups of people’s faces, especially with apparent emotions, are a great way to get people’s attention. According to one content production expert who has made more than five videos with tens of millions of views, a face should occupy about 60% of the video cover.
Choose a clear photo from your video and show a moment of emotion, excitement, or beauty.
Don’t be afraid to apply whimsical design elements and color changes to your video cover layout. To create such images, you can use filter libraries like the Kapwing tool and take advantage of things that help attract art-loving viewers.
Borders are often fun to add branding, color contrast, and originality to YouTube videos. Create a new border pattern or use a thin-colored frame around your videos.
6. Set custom covers on YouTube videos
First, record a nice screenshot for your video cover or use a photo related to your content. Instead of using the default photos that YouTube offers, it is possible to use the screenshot tool to browse videos and record the best moment as a cover.
In the next step, you can increase the attractiveness of your photo and edit it if needed to make it look more beautiful and exciting. You can add a title using custom fonts and colors or other design elements such as watermarks, logos, etc. Ensure your image is created with an aspect ratio of 19:6 (or the same aspect ratio as your video).
If you use cloud graphic design and editing software such as Kapwing, after processing the image, click the Edit button to use the same design as a template for your following covers. In addition, you can create a 1:1 version of the desired image for use on Instagram.
After following the above tips and creating a cover for your YouTube videos, you can upload them as the main image of the desired content. Before clicking on Export Video, find the upload custom cover image button and select the desired image using it. YouTube will now use this new image as your channel’s video cover and display it on the main pages.
Common questions and answers on making covers for YouTube videos
In this section, some of the common questions in making cover images for YouTube channel videos are given along with their answers.
Why should we use custom covers for YouTube videos?
Using customized and attractive images on YouTube videos and attracting more audience will help increase their trust in your channel content. As a result, it is considered the right step in the progress of the YouTube channel.
Is it possible to change the cover after uploading and publishing the video on YouTube?
You can use the image you want as a cover when you initially upload your video and after it is processed. Even after publishing the videos, it is possible to change their body. For this purpose, you can click on the video editing option in your channel and use the cover image registration option.