Thumbnails are usually the first thing that your audience notices on a YouTube video. The use of attractive, relevant YouTube thumbnails can help increase the number of views and subscribers.
But how do you create stunning custom thumbnails on an Android device with no design skills? One of the easiest ways is using a YouTube thumbnail maker app.
With a thumbnail maker app, you can enrich your thumbnail image with text, shapes, icons, and photos to entice people to click your videos. Here are some of the best YouTube thumbnail maker apps for Android.
1. Canva
Canva is one of the best free graphic design apps for designers and non-designers who want to create professional-looking YouTube thumbnails. The versatile app has almost everything you need to create social media graphics, including thumbnails.
The app comes with highly customizable pre-made YouTube thumbnail templates that you can use to create beautiful video cover images.
On Canva, you need to select the social media site you want to create a thumbnail for; in this case, YouTube. The app automatically resizes the template for you to add elements like images, text, and stickers from Canva’s built-in library. You may upload your own photos to the layout as well.
Note that Canva offers over one million templates, photos, backgrounds, fonts, and icons to choose from. Plus, it has a drag-and-drop interface and no watermark in the free version.
Download: Canva (Free, in-app purchases available)
2. Adobe Spark Post
This member of the Adobe family is designed to create posters, banners, and thumbnails.
Adobe Spark Post has a category specifically for YouTube thumbnails to help you create branded images quickly. The premium version, for example, lets you auto-apply your brand colors, fonts, and logo to your creations.
You don’t have to start from a blank canvas or form an idea beforehand to begin designing your thumbnail. Just browse Adobe Spark's inspiration gallery and choose a category that matches your video.
The design tool offers free-to-use, professionally designed pre-made thumbnail templates. Just search by color, task, or platform for inspiration. Then pick one, change the copy and font, and download it when you’re done.
You may also customize your layout with elements like text, colors, and backgrounds. You can use a photo as your background and change its color with various palettes and filters.
Adobe Spark allows you to replace template images with the app's free photos or use your own. You can also save and reuse specific graphics that make your videos unique.
Download: Adobe Spark Post (Free, in-app purchases available)
3. Fotor Photo Editor
Fotor is a lite graphic design tool and YouTube thumbnail maker with advanced photo-editing features. The app includes well-designed, pre-made templates you can use to create YouTube thumbnails in just a few minutes.
The design tool lets you create a thumbnail from scratch and enhance it with colors, emojis, and stickers. To speed up the creation process, start designing using Fotor's themed layouts. Just drag and drop the template you like, change the background color, upload your photos, and replace the text.
Also, you can use the app’s RGB spectrum curve to take complete control over the colors and tone of your design. Once your work is complete, preview and save it in any format you want, such as PNG or JPG.
Download: Fotor Photo Editor (Free, in-app purchases available)
4. Pixlr
Pixlr is a powerful, cloud-based photo and design editor suitable for both beginners and professionals. The app has stylish social media templates, including ones you can use to design YouTube thumbnails.
If you want to make YouTube thumbnails on the fly, then you should consider using a pre-made template. Just choose a layout, upload images, and start editing. Pixlr opens almost any image format, like PNG, JPEG, and SVG.
Then, add elements such as overlays, shapes, stickers, and colors to the design. You can use your own YouTube channel colors to help improve brand awareness.
You can also start designing from an empty canvas and set the width and height of your thumbnail to your liking. Plus, there’s an option to cut, copy, and paste selections.
The intuitive app has AI-powered tools for fast professional-level designing and editing. For example, you can use the automatic background remover to erase backgrounds on your photos with ease. You can use Pixlr's text placement tool to rotate, shift, or even pair some fonts together.
Download: Pixlr (Free, in-app purchases available)
5. PixelLab
PixelLab is a simple and easy-to-use app that’s popular for adding text to images. The software has text effects like inner shadow, emboss, and reflection, and the app allows you to create 3D text and overlay them on top of your thumbnail image.
You can use the app to create thumbnails. Fire up PixelLab's preset aspect ratio for YouTube thumbnails and use the resize tool to adjust the layout's width and height.
The thumbnail creator has a tool to change the perspective of an image. You’ll also find a drawing tool to create a simple sketch. You can add color, resize, rotate, and add shadow to your drawings.
PixelLab lets you upload images from your device gallery and add stickers, emojis, and backgrounds. With the app, you can make your background a photo, a color, or a gradient.
To enhance image appearance, you can adjust the hue and saturation of your photos, and add a vignette, among other effects. What’s more, you can save anything as a project to be reused even after closing the app.
Download: PixelLab (Free, in-app purchases available)
Create Eye-Catching YouTube Thumbnails
An attractive YouTube thumbnail can stop your viewers’ scrolling and have them click on your video to watch it. That’s why it’s very important to create eye-catching thumbnails for your YouTube videos.
With a little bit of creativity paired with one of these apps, you can easily create stunning YouTube thumbnails in minutes. So, if you own a YouTube channel, try to use one of these apps to create thumbnails that can attract more views and subscribers.