How To Make A Youtube Channel Art For Free

Want your YouTube banner to depict people to your channel?

When someone arrives on your YouTube channel, the first thing they come across is your channel art. So it needs to look good!

It'southward the large banner beyond the acme of the screen on desktop or mobile, like to a embrace photograph on Facebook.

Except that when people sentinel YouTube on their TV, the channel art covers the whole screen! That makes information technology a bit tricky to gear up upwardly right.

Y'all can only upload one image that has to piece of work on whatsoever device viewers apply to watch YouTube videos:

Spider web browser
Mobile phone
Tablet
TV

Wherever they watch, this art makes a huge impression on people, so it'south an important function of setting up your YouTube presence.

Ane of the easiest means to get this working well is to use a YouTube aqueduct fine art template.

Let'south wait at what your YouTube banner should feature, how to make it, and where you can get these templates – free!

Disclosure: Some links below may be affiliate links, which ways I may make a referral fee, at no price to y'all, if you make a purchase.

What practise YouTubers use for channel art?

There are lots of different ideas about what kind of channel fine art you tin feature.

The overall aim is to grab someone'south attending. How y'all exercise this may exist different depending on your niche.

Because you want to attract the right people, who'll be interested in your content!

For instance, lifestyle and fashion vlogs frequently cull to feature the type of products they talk almost, such equally women's apparel, makeup tools, or room decor.

Channels that talk about, explain, or review products might characteristic a full general image of their product type in utilize.

This could be someone weight lifting for a fitness concern. Or wearing a VR headset for tech reviews.

Some people utilize a simpler arroyo, with their logo or a headline on a colorful background.

Another popular look is to include a photo of yourself, when you are your brand. This helps create that important human connectedness.

Finally, you could highlight a special issue, a promotion, or fifty-fifty an e-mail freebie in your imprint art.

This is where channel art templates are even more useful, because you tin can modify them frequently.

What is the banner size for YouTube?

On a desktop web browser, the banner is a narrow horizontal image with an attribute ratio of approximately 6:1. On a mobile device, it's more like 3.65:1.

But for those watching on a Tv set, information technology's a total-screen background paradigm in an attribute ratio of sixteen:9!

You tin simply upload 1 paradigm, then how can yous brand it work for all viewers?

Using a template for your channel banner art is 1 way to brand the whole process easier. But some of you artistic types may wish to start from scratch!

Currently, the best overall banner image size is 2560 x 1440 pixels.

YouTube also recommends:

Minimum dimensions: 2048 x 1152 pixels.
On the minimum dimensions, the safe area for text and logos is 1235 x 338 pixels.
If you utilize the recommended banner image size of 2560 10 1440 pixels, and then 1546 10 423 pixels is the "safe space" that shows on all devices.
Maximum file size: 6MB.

It sounds confusing – but here's what'due south going on:

So it'due south important to get any headline, words, or focus image into that "safety" expanse. That way, it volition evidence no matter what device someone views it on.

And you lot can use the rest of the area for an image or background that'south seen on Tv set.

Minimum YouTube channel fine art size

The minimum dimensions are 2048 pixels wide by 1152 pixels high.

If yous try to upload an prototype smaller than that, you lot'll get an error bulletin.

This is actually a proficient thing! Information technology prevents uploading depression resolution images, which would wait very unprofessional when viewed on a large screen TV.

Practice you lot already have photos uploaded into your Your Photos tab? If they're smaller than the minimum size, you won't be able to select them every bit your channel art because they'll be grayed out.

Maximum YouTube channel art size

You know I'1000 a fan of providing the highest quality, largest file sizes you can.

Since many people now view YouTube videos on their Smart TV, a quality, high-resolution image is more important for your channel fine art than just about annihilation else!

Y'all're non limited by pixel dimensions but by the maximum file size of 6MB.

If you accept a huge photo you wish to upload that exceeds 6MB, you can reduce the resolution until y'all become it smaller than that maximum file size. Yous're non limited to 2560 pixels broad past 1440 pixels high as long as you don't exceed the file size.

How do you make a YouTube banner in Photoshop?

If you're an Adobe Photoshop user, taking a template and using information technology to brand channel art is simple.

There'southward a gratuitous template you can download at the cease of this article!

Hither's how to use it:

one | Open up the template in Photoshop. It's already set up at the recommended size, and so no worries at that place, only you can adapt the Image Size to be larger if y'all like. Simply exist sure to constrain proportions so information technology doesn't get stretched out of the proper aspect ratio.

2 | Add guidelines to lucifer template, or use template equally a translucent layer for guidance by setting it to about 10% opacity.

3 | Before you create your prototype, change Image > Style to RGB (template is an indexed color PNG).

four | Add a background image or color on another layer, and so add whatsoever text or logos yous want. When designing, keep important details within the template's "safe zone" that appears on all devices. On my template, it's the purple rectangle in the center.

5 | Delete or hibernate the template layer from your epitome file when your design is done.

6 | Save your layered file equally a PSD or TIF for futurity edits, and save a flattened JPG or PNG file for your channel, no larger than 6 MB.

So yous are ready to upload to your channel.

How do I make a YouTube banner without Photoshop?

If y'all aren't a Photoshop user, there are some piece of cake pattern tools that provide templates to make your YouTube banner for free.

They make information technology even easier by providing some bones designs yous can cull from, and so edit to brand your own. You can download images from free photograph sites and utilise your business colors to acquit out your branding.

Ii tools I recommend are Canva and Snappa.

Equally a bonus, they besides make great YouTube thumbnails for your videos!

How to use aqueduct fine art templates in Canva

On the homepage, type in YouTube, and the channel art option appears at the meridian. Select this.

Alternately, you can hover the Templates tab and yous'll see YouTube Channel Fine art under Social Media.

You volition now come across all of the templates that Canva offers.

If you don't subscribe to Canva Pro and want to create a YouTube banner free, be sure to set the dropdown to only bear witness free templates.

You can see the all the text-based information is beyond the middle, so replace annihilation on the template with your ain details.

You can switch out the background photo by uploading i of your own, or finding a complimentary i in Canva.

When y'all're done, click Download in the upper correct corner of your screen. Then y'all tin can download the finished image as a PNG to upload to YouTube.

Simply exist sure the file size is under 6MB. If it's not, try a JPG.

Check out Canva here.

How to use channel art templates in Snappa

From Snappa.com, choose YouTube Channel Fine art in the "Headers, Banners, and Profile Pages" section.

Create from scratch or select a template to get started.

The text on all their designs is already cleverly placed in the Safe Zone! And so you can just edit the wording to say what you want – but don't move information technology out of the zone 😉

Once you choose a design template, yous'll run across that the croppings on various devices are clearly marked. Then if you lot decide to use a background paradigm with faces, for example, you can make certain you go the parts you lot want in the condom zone.

For this demo, I'chiliad keeping the pretty colored background, but feel free to use one of the many free photos available right in this browser-based design app!

To alter the text, merely click on the text box. Select the text that appears and blazon in what you want instead.

Choice your font from the dropdown, and change the color if you similar. I changed to Raleway in white.

This design had a white box behind the text, which I decided to delete. Then I adjusted the text box size by pulling on the side handles to make it wider, so my text fit on 1 line.

I clicked on the "Graphics" tab to upload a photo of myself for brand recognition.

As a last step, I checked out my creation with the safe zone toggled to "Off," then downloaded my creation.

For best results, you can download a Retina JPG file at 2x size. The PNG files exceeded YouTube'due south maximum file size of 6MB, just you tin try it with your pattern and see.

Washed in v minutes!

Endeavour out Snappa here.

Can YouTube banners be animated?

Did y'all discover sometime videos from 2014 on how to make an animated YouTube imprint?

Don't waste your time.

screenshot of old videos showing how to make Animated YouTube banner art. — Blithe YouTube imprint art is so 2014!

Now you can only upload a static paradigm to YouTube. You can't utilize actual video content or an animated GIF as your banner.

Some accounts seem to have had a test option to upload a GIF or blithe image, but this is no longer bachelor.

How to upload or change YouTube channel art

Once yous've created your channel art, go to your YouTube channel and into Customization.

Click the center tab for "Branding." The Imprint image is the 2nd option down.

Click Upload if you've never added channel art. Otherwise, click Modify or Remove.

Click whichever is advisable and upload your new image. Then make certain everything is where it should be. YouTube provides a handy preview.

Once you are happy with information technology, click "Done," and the image volition be set up as your channel art banner.

Be sure to click "Publish" in the upper right corner to make your upload live on your aqueduct. If you don't see the plain red banner change to your art, it'south not alive.

How exercise I get a YouTube banner template?

Yous can notice lots of gratis templates inside Canva to employ, by searching as described higher up.

Snappa offers over 100 banner templates y'all can use, as well equally plenty of stock photos if you want to create a way of aqueduct art at that place.

Call up that these are pre-designed, and so you lot can just edit the text in the template and exist ready to go! If you desire to customize more, y'all can besides modify fonts, photos, colors, and add your logo.

Or grab my template here and use it to design your banner with whichever graphics app you lot prefer! But right-click to download.

Instructions to utilize it are above, in the Photoshop department.

More complimentary social media paradigm templates can be found in the gratis member area.

Customizing your YouTube aqueduct

Creating a banner for your YouTube channel is an important step in customizing it and making it your own.

Using a template means yous don't spend hours trying to get the right size or layout, and then you won't endure weird things being chopped off on desktop or mobile.

What kind of look do you want your YouTube aqueduct to have? Try out i of these costless banner templates and it'll look great!