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How-to

Create eye-catching YouTube channel art in less than a minute!

Use our easy-to-use YouTube channel art maker to promote your brand and add a personal touch to your YouTube channel.

Create YouTube Channel Art
YouTube Channel Art

Creating a Perfect YouTube Channel Art

If you haven’t thought about using video as a tool to leverage your company’s goals before, now is the right time to do it. Video campaigns can help you connect with your audience and tell your story in a way that would resonate with it. According to recent studies, 54% of consumers want to see more video content from their favorite brands and businesses.

If you're looking to get into video marketing, there's really no better channel than YouTube. If you think that’s not where your audience is, think again. One-third of total time online is spent watching videos, and YouTube boasts more than a billion active users all over the world. As the world’s second largest search engine, it can help your brand gain more visibility, grow your following, connect with your audience and even improve your SEO.

If you want to take advantage of this incredibly powerful marketing tool, the first step would be setting up or optimizing your channel, which entails making sure you have high-quality eye-catching channel art.

Designing Your YouTube Channel Art for Maximum Impact

Similar to Facebook Cover Photos and Twitter Cover Photos, YouTube channel art appears at the top of your channel like a huge banner. If you want to entice viewers to learn more about your business and encourage them to interact with your content more often, it’s absolutely crucial that it makes a great first impression. Your YouTube art should tell visitors what your brand is all about and what they can expect from your channel. It should be an extension of your brand and support your brand messaging.

Design is key in making your channel art stand out. When creating your YouTube banner, make sure you figure out your channel’s fonts and color scheme first.

The font you choose ultimately plays a hand in conveying the message you want to send your viewers, so make sure it matches the tone of your YouTube channel. Is it neutral, professional, fun or cheeky? If you want to appear practical and mature, you might want to go with a serif font. Consider script fonts for a funny and casual look. If you want to appear assertive, modern fonts might work really well for you.

As with fonts, colors play a huge role in how your audience perceives your message. Colors attract attention to your channel, they can set a tone, and influence the emotions of your viewers. For instance, white represents purity and innocence, red is associated with love and excitement and yellow manifests warmth and energy. Using your brand colors is also a great idea, as it helps to ensure brand consistency across all channels.

Then, pick a layout that will fit the tone of your channel. A centered title layout can make your title look bold and clear.

YouTube Channel Art Beyonce Homecoming Example

An asymmetrical layout can make your banner look casual and fun.

YouTube Channel Art Trello Example

If there are a couple of things that you want to include in your banner, like your logo, a CTA and/or slogan, you may try a sectioned layout.

YouTube Channel Art HealthNut Example

YouTube Channel Art Dimensions

Getting the right dimensions for your YouTube channel art is crucial to having a professional-looking channel. Keep in mind that channel art looks different on desktop, mobile, and TV displays. For best results on all devices, YouTube recommends using a 2560 x 1440 pixels image. Some other things to keep in mind are:

  • The absolute minimum dimension for an image upload is 2048px X 1152px
  • The minimum safe area for text and logos is 1546px x 423px. Larger images may get cropped on certain screens.
  • The maximum width for an image is 2560px X 423px. This means that the "safe area" is always visible regardless of screen size.
  • Your file size has to be no greater than 6 MB.

If this sounds like too much work, check out Stencil’s “safe areas” feature (available even for free plans!) that will ensure your YouTube banner looks amazing on all devices.

Join over 395,000 others and create your first YouTube Channel Art image in under 2 minutes (No designer required!)

Create your first image

Creating YouTube Channel Art with Stencil Is Fast and Easy

Creating a great YouTube banner might be a challenge. Here are just a few ways Stencil can help create that perfect channel art for your business in less than a minute:

No more hunting for the correct image sizes. Use our YouTube channel art preset size and save tons of time.
Our "Safe Area" overlay shows you exactly where to safely place graphics so that they appear properly on all devices.
Upload your own backgrounds or choose from millions of amazing stock photos.
Easily add your logo to your YouTube channel art and download in high-resolution PNG, JPG or GIF.
Pick from 6,550+ Google Web fonts that are safe to use in any of your cover images.

Creating YouTube Channel Art: Best Practices in 2024

Less Is More

When it comes to your channel art design, less is more. Make sure your YouTube banner isn’t cluttered, so your viewers don’t get distracted by any unnecessary elements. Keep in mind that your banner won’t look the same across all devices, so if your image is too complicated, it may show up in a weird way on certain screens.

Use High-Quality Images

A blurry image can ruin even the most awesome design. So make sure the images you use in your YouTube banner have a minimum resolution of 72 dpi.

Tell viewers what to expect from your channel

When someone lands on your channel, let them know what content they should expect to see there and/or how often you post new videos. Airbnb’s YouTube channel, for instance, offers a bite-sized view of what their channel is all about and when subscribers can expect new content.

YouTube Channel Art Airbnb Example

Include a Call-to-Action

If there’s an action that you want your visitors to take, your YouTube banner is a great place to do that. Want your audience to pre-order your book? Sign up for an event? Or just click on that “subscribe button”? Let them know! Your YouTube banner is prime real estate on your banner, so be sure to take advantage of that!

YouTube Channel Art Donal Skehan Example

Introduce Your Employees

Showing your employees in your YouTube banner is a great way to humanize your brand and build trust.

YouTube Channel Art Buffer Example

How to Create Professional YouTube Channel Art in 4 Easy Steps

In less than a minute, you'll have a beautiful YouTube channel art that will look amazing on all devices. Here's how to do it in Stencil:

1

Open Stencil and choose the YouTube Channel Art canvas size

Simply select "YouTube Channel Art" from the Stencil canvas resizer. You can also start by using one of our YouTube banner templates, found in the Templates section.

2

Choose a background photo or upload your own

Choose from over 5,000,000 photos for the main image in your cover or upload your own to the Uploads section. Use our "Safe Area" guide to see where parts of the image will appear on all devices.

3

Add your logo and any display text you want to include

Uploading your logo and adding text only takes seconds!

4

You're done!

It's that easy. Now all you need to do is download your image and upload it to your YouTube account.

How to Upload Your YouTube Channel Art

Now that you’ve created an amazing YouTube Channel Art image, all you have to do is upload it to your YouTube channel. Here’s how:

  1. Sign in to YouTube.
  2. In the top right menu, select My Channel. Near the top of the screen, click Add channel art.
  3. Upload the image you have just created.
  4. You'll see a preview of how the art will appear across different devices.
  5. Click Select.

Add Social Media Links to Your YouTube Banner

YouTube allows you to add links to your other social media accounts on your channel banner. It’s a great opportunity to increase your reach and grow your followers, so be sure to include them when you’re setting up your banner.

  1. Go to your channel and click the About tab. If you're in the new YouTube layout, click Customize channel.
  2. Hover over the "Links" section, then click edit.
  3. Click the +Add button.
  4. Enter the title and URL of the site you want to link to. You can add up to five links.
  5. Click Done.

With Stencil, you can create an awesome banner with only a few clicks, so you can focus on creating awesome video content for your business!

Frequently Asked Questions

You can use Stencil by visiting our in-page app or can you install the Chrome Extension, Firefox Add-on, or WordPress Plugin. With our browser addons, you can highlight text anywhere or right-click images on the web to create amazing visuals on-the-go!

Absolutely! All of the photos and icons in Stencil are royalty-free and safe to use! They are sourced from trusted providers and can be used personally or commercially, with no attribution required. Some examples include social media graphics, blog/website images, ads, posters, t-shirts, eBooks...or practically anything. For more detailed information on usage, learn more.

Of course! We offer dozens of preset canvas sizes, 1,350+ templates and many other ways to create images for almost any medium.

Pick a plan that makes the most sense for you and sign up! We offer a 7-day money back guarantee on all plans, so there's no risk at all to give Stencil a try.

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