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YouTube Banner Size Requirements and More for Desktop & Mobile
YouTube Banner Size Requirements and More for Desktop & Mobile
Are you experiencing blurry graphics in your YouTube banner? Or, is your YouTube profile image blurry? Refer to this YouTube banner size guide to know exactly what size images you should be using for your YouTube channel.
This guide shares the YouTube banner size requirements along with YouTube thumbnail, profile picture, and video size requirements. Make sure you're using sharp, high-quality images and avoid pixelation.
Plus, for those wondering how to make a good YouTube banner, we've compiled YouTube banner examples from popular channels and listed 10 easy tips to make a good YouTube banner.
Table of contents
- List of All YouTube Size Requirements
- YouTube Banner Sizes
- Pixel to Inches Calculator
- YouTube Banner File Size & Format
- YouTube Banner Resolution
- Why Correct Banner Size Matters
- 10 Tips on How to Make a Good YouTube Banner
- YouTube Banner Examples
- Common FAQs about YouTube Channel Images
- Free Banner Templates
- YouTube Video Thumbnail Size
- Video Size
- YouTube Profile Picture Size
- Profile Picture Examples
YouTube Size Requirements | Desktop & Mobile
| Type | Size in Pixels | Size in Inches (72 PPI) |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube Banner Size | 2,560 × 1,440 px | 35.6 x 20 in |
| YouTube Thumbnail | 1,280 × 720 px | 17.8 x 10 in |
| YouTube Video (4K) | 3,840 × 2,160 px | 53.3 x 30 in |
| YouTube Profile Picture | 800 × 800 px | 11.1 x 11.1 in |
| Banner in Desktop Display | 2,560 × 423 px | 35.6 x 5.9 in |
| Banner in Tablet Display | 1,855 × 423 px | 25.8 x 5.9 in |
| Banner in Mobile Display | 1,546 × 423 px | 21.5 x 5.9 in |
| Banner in TV Display | 2,560 × 1,440 px | 35.6 x 20 in |
YouTube Banner Size
The best YouTube banner size is 2560 x 1440 pixels.
A YouTube channel banner (channel art or header), is similar to a cover photo that represents your brand and content. The ideal YouTube banner size is 2560 x 1440 pixels, but you can use minimum banner dimensions of 2048 x 1152 pixels. For best results, when formatting your YouTube banner size, use a 16:9 aspect ratio.
The safe area for YouTube banners is 1235 × 338 pixels. This is the minimum visible area that appears across all devices. So to prevent your banner from being clipped between desktop and mobile views, always keep important text, logos, and graphics inside this 1235 × 338 px safe zone. While YouTube’s recommended banner size is 2560 × 1440 px (optimized for TV screens), anything outside the safe area may be cropped depending on the viewer’s device.
Youtube banner size dimensions for TV (2560x1440), desktop (2560x338), and mobile devices (1235x338)
Need to know your YouTube banner size in inches for printing purposes? The calculator below will convert pixel dimensions to inches accounting for different PPIs.
Pixel to Inches Calculator
YouTube Banner File Size & Format
YouTube banner file size recommendations are under 6MB. When it comes to file formats for YouTube banners, JPEG and PNG are widely supported and can handle high-resolution images beautifully. JPEGs are great for photos and images with lots of colours, while PNGs are perfect for images that need transparency or sharp text and graphics.
YouTube Banner Resolution
Because users watch YouTube videos from a variety of devices, including computers, mobile gadgets, and TV, your banner image will look different depending on the device. But wherever it’s viewed, the best size for your channel art or banner is still 2560 x 1440 pixels.
You can easily set the pixel size of your banner in Kittl to ensure the correct resolution.
Why Correct Banner Size Matters
According to some interesting YouTube statistics, the majority of watch time on YouTube is on mobile. So the last thing you want is for your YouTube banner to look stunning on a desktop only for your image to get cut off on mobile. Or vice versa, appear fantastic on mobile but pixelated on desktop.
So if you're wondering, "why is my YouTube banner blurry?" you most likely are using the wrong pixel dimensions. To fix this, simply follow the above sizing guidelines and other YouTube tips we've listed. You can guarantee a consistent and impressive visual experience for your audience.
10 Tips on How to Make a Good YouTube Banner
A good YouTube banner is like a welcoming storefront sign - it should be visually appealing and enticing, helping to attract new YouTube subscribers. So if you're wondering "how to make a good YouTube banner" follows these simple tips:
- Use correct dimensions - Ensure it's high quality by following the proper YouTube banner size requirements listed above.
- Use high-quality images - This ensures your banner remains clear and professional looking. Consider saving your high-quality design files in cloud storage to easily access them from any device.
- Ensure readability - Choose fonts and colours that are easy to read. Avoid overly fancy fonts but opt for unique fonts that align with your desired brand image.
- Express your brand - Include a tag-line, catch-phrase, logo or any other elements that you want to be associated with your brand. Pay attention to what font styles and colors you use as well. These are important factors in establishing your brand and growing recognition.
- Highlight important info - Include your upload dates and times, or other CTAs if relevant.
- Showcase your content - If it makes sense, feature visual representations of your content on your banner to let viewers know what your channel is about.
- Follow the principles of design - Whether you're new to graphic design or more advanced, consider the principles of design when creating your banner. You may not be creating an art gallery feature but the rules of design still apply to ensure your banner looks good.
- Get in your audience's head - Try designing a banner that appeals to your audience but remember to remain true to your personal design style.
- Test it out - Preview your banner on different devices to make sure the text is readable across all of them.
- Use design tools and templates - You can browse a ton of free YouTube banners on Kittl. They're easily customisable so you can match your brand aesthetic.
Check out our fully customisable free YouTube banner templates. Use them to design a YouTube banner that perfectly aligns with your channel’s style and make it your own!
YouTube Banner Examples
The banner examples below each incorporate different design and brand techniques that you can easily replicate into a banner of your own creation.
Portfolio-Driven Design
Watercolour by Shibasaki takes an approach known as "portfolio-driven design. This approach, effectively showcases the artist's skills by featuring several side-by-side images of their work. By incorporating a variety of artworks directly into the banner, it immediately gives viewers a taste of what they can expect from the channel. Additionally, this method encourages viewers to explore more of your content.
Brand-Centric Design
Proko's approach to their YouTube banner is known as "brand-centric design." This technique prominently features a brand’s logo as the focal point of the banner. It works best when your brand is already well-known and your primary goal is to reinforce brand recognition. Additionally, in Proko's banner, you'll see they use minimalist design elements to make the logo stand out.
Offer-Driven Design
SEMrush provides an excellent example of an effective YouTube banner that showcases a special offer for their services. This approach, known as "offer-driven design," prominently features a clear and enticing call-to-action (CTA), such as "Sign Up for Our Free Trial!" What's more, the banner uses bright colours that contrast and POP along with bold text. This highlights what they offer with their YouTube channel: marketing tutorials and case studies.
Dynamic Design/Motion Design
Growingannanas is a perfect example of simple “dynamic design” in a YouTube banner design. "Dynamic design" or "motion design" creates a sense of movement within a static image. This approach involves using elements like simple lines, shapes, and strategically placed graphical cues to suggest motion and add energy to the composition, making it more engaging. Adding dynamic design elements to your YouTube banner is an easy way to make it more fun and create a sense of liveliness!
Identity-Focused Design
Here’s a perfect example of a YouTube banner that effectively communicates the creator's identity and expertise. This approach, known as "identity-focused design," clearly states the roles of the creator: "Animator + Story Artist + Director." The banner includes example images of their work, which acts as an immediate visual showcase that tells viewers what type of content to expect. By highlighting your skills and providing visual examples, you'll set clear expectations and attract viewers.
Value-Focused Design
Last but certainly not least is Kittl's very own YouTube banner! It's a perfect example of a banner that effectively communicates what viewers can expect from a channel. Our approach, known as "value-focused design," clearly communicates our value to viewers: "New tips, tricks, and tutorials every week."
To add more value, we’ve highlighted a compelling CTA: "Sign Up for Free." Our banner design ensures that visitors understand the high-quality content we offer and are encouraged to join our creative community. It also encourages viewers to explore more, including finding the best strategies for growing your YouTube audience, such as the optimal times to post videos for effective YouTube marketing.
YouTube Banner FAQ
Your YouTube banner might be low quality due to several reasons, but don’t worry - that’s what this guide is here to troubleshoot!
1. First, check the resolution of your image. If it’s too low, it’s bound to look pixelated and blurry. Aim for a high-resolution image that fits YouTube’s recommended dimensions (listed above).
2. Be mindful of the file format. Some formats can compress images more than others, leading to a loss in quality (see YouTube file size and format tips above).
3. Lastly, ensure you’re uploading the image in the correct aspect ratio. An incorrectly sized image can get stretched or squished, ruining your banner’s crispness.
An incorrectly sized banner can get cut off, meaning important parts of your design might not be visible. Worse, your banner might end up distorted, with stretched or squashed elements that make it look unprofessional. This will deter potential viewers, giving them a poor first impression of your channel.
To keep things looking sharp and polished, always stick to YouTube’s recommended banner dimensions that we’ve listed above. And with a free Kittl account, you can access YouTube banner templates and easily ensure they’re the correct size.
No need to worry about pixelation or distortion. AND you can easily update the banner in the future with simple editing features.
There’s no rule on how often you should update your YouTube banner and no direct benefits. But updating your YouTube banner is like giving your channel a fresh haircut - sometimes a change is good! Consider updating your banner whenever you have a significant change in your content or branding. Seasonal updates, special events, or hitting a subscriber milestone are great opportunities to refresh your banner. Regular updates keep your channel looking lively and current, showing your audience that you’re active and engaged. Plus, the updates may help THEM feel connected to you and prompt them to stay tuned in for more updates.
Our suggestion? Aim for at least a couple of updates a year to keep things exciting!
As fun as animated GIFs are, YouTube doesn’t support them for banners. Your banner needs to be a static image, but don’t let that limit your creativity! You can still design a dynamic and eye-catching banner with interesting typography and captivating graphics.
You can even incorporate "dynamic design" or "motion design" into your banner to create a sense of movement and liveliness within a static image. This approach uses elements to suggest motion and adds energy to a composition, making it more engaging. So, while GIFs are a no-go, there’s still plenty of room to make your banner stand out.
When it comes to file formats for YouTube banners, you want to stick with the classics: JPEG and PNG. These formats are widely supported and can handle high-resolution images beautifully. JPEGs are great for photos and images with lots of colors, while PNGs are perfect for images that need transparency or sharp text and graphics.
A good YouTube banner is like a well-crafted storefront sign - it draws people in and tells them what they can expect. It should be visually appealing, with high-quality images and graphics that reflect your channel’s theme and personality. In other words, it’s an image summary of your channel.
Refer to our list of top popular YouTube channel banners above and keep these simple tips in mind:
1. Consider using bold, readable text to highlight your channel name and tagline.
2. Try unique font styles and incorporating design elements or interesting backgrounds if it fits your theme.
3. Keep the design clean and uncluttered
4. Make sure it looks great on all devices, from desktops to smartphones.
5. Choose brand colors and a logo and incorporate them for consistency. You can use free logo templates in Kittl along with helpful design tools to create your brand image.
6. Remember: A great banner is clear, eye-catching, and gives viewers a taste of what they can expect from your channel.
A YouTube Banner is a first impression from viewers of your channel. It gives them insight into you, your style, your content type, and your category. It’s essentially a billboard representing your channel and an important tool to establish your brand.
AND it's a key factor in the visibility and number of followers that your channel will get. A good YouTube banner is how you can capture viewers' attention and convince them to subscribe to your channel.
Ask friends, family, or colleagues for their thoughts. You can even share it on social platforms like Reddit in groups such as this design critiques community and ask for input from designers.
But essentially, your banner is a reflection of you so make sure that YOU are happy with it. Take a step back and look at your banner from an outside perspective. Do you know what that channel is about? Are you interested in subscribing to it? If the answer is no, then take some more time to work on its design. You can use free YouTube banner templates to take inspiration from or easily use design elements from.
Free YouTube Banner Templates
Create a free account today and access these free YouTube banner templates! These customizable templates ensure you're using the correct YouTube banner sizes, as they come with pre-set dimensions for perfect image quality.
Additional YouTube Size Requirements for Your Channel
YouTube Video Thumbnail Size
The recommended YouTube thumbnail size is 1280 x 720 pixels and up to 2MB. For best results, upload a video thumbnail with a 16:9 aspect ratio. JPG, GIF, and PNG image files are supported. The minimum size dimensions for YouTube thumbnail images is 640 pixels wide.
YouTube let's you choose from automatically generated thumbnails or upload your own custom thumbnail. We HIGHLY recommend you create a custom one since video thumbnails are the very first impression viewers get of your video. So you want to ensure it's working to attract viewers as they're browsing YouTube. When you create a custom video thumbnail, it should be as large as possible because it’s used as the preview image for embedded YouTube links.
Learn how to easily make click-worthy YouTube thumbnails with this video tutorial.
Video Size for YouTube
You can upload a range of YouTube video sizes to your channel, from 240p (426 x 240 pixels) to 2160p (3840 x 2160 pixels). But the maximum file size is 256GB or 12 hours (whichever is less). Additionally, your videos, that will be edited with the best professional video editing software, should ideally have an aspect ratio of 16:9. However, with the rise of the vertical video trend, especially on mobile platforms, YouTube now supports vertical video formats like 1080 x 1920 pixels (Full HD vertical) and 2160 x 3840 pixels (4K vertical). These dimensions are crucial for optimizing your content for Shorts, mobile viewers, and cross-platform engagement.
YouTube Profile Picture Size
A YouTube profile picture or channel icon, is a circular image that acts as your channel logo on YouTube. The ideal YouTube profile picture size is 800 x 800 pixels (a 1:1 aspect ratio). JPG, PNG, GIF, and BMP files are all supported. And take note that your profile picture shouldn’t exceed 2MB.
When you set up your YouTube channel, the default icon will be the image associated with your Google Account. But you can change the image in your Google Account settings.
Tip: You want followers to easily recognize your channel and work. So you’ll want to consider setting your YouTube icon as either your own picture or your logo.
Profile Picture Examples
The profile pictures of the YouTube channels listed below each highlight different styles and brand techniques. Use these examples as best practices to follow when building your own YouTube channel's profile.
Feature Your Work
When it comes to YouTube profile picture ideas, The Art of Aaron Blaise sets a stellar example by using well-known artwork as its profile image. This strategy ensures instant recognition and visual appeal, leveraging Aaron Blaise's distinctive and acclaimed artistic style. By featuring his iconic artwork, the channel not only captivates viewers with its beauty but also establishes a strong, memorable brand presence. This approach not only attracts art enthusiasts but also reinforces the channel's identity and expertise in the field of art and animation.
Use Your Brand's Initials
Architectural Digest's YouTube banner exemplifies effective branding by using their abbreviated name, "AD," as their logo. This clean and recognizable design is perfect for established brands aiming to maintain brand recognition. Alternatively, it's a great tactic for growing channels that want their abbreviated name to become familiar to followers. This approach is a smart strategy for any channel looking to solidify its identity and connect with viewers through a concise, memorable logo.
Use a Symbol of Your Brand
The YouTube banner for eyedesyn expertly uses a logo image that perfectly complements their brand name. This recognizable icon ensures that viewers who have encountered their brand before will instantly recognize it. Additionally, the banner features bright, fun colors that make it stand out amongst other channels that use neutral colors and/or photos. This is an approach that captures attention and reinforces the creative theme of the eyedesyn brand.
With the rise of AI in mobile app development, there are new opportunities to enhance the functionality and user experience of apps linked to your YouTube channel.
Feature the Face of Your Brand
Lastly, Alphonso Dunn’s YouTube banner leverages his face as the profile image. This choice ensures instant recognition for viewers who have seen him on social media, creating a connection across platforms. As an added bonus, Alphonso holds a pencil in the image, a perfect prop that immediately communicates his identity as an artist.
Create Designs for Your Channel for Free with Kittl
Kittl makes it easy for anyone to create beautiful designs through our customisable templates and intuitive editing tools. Create a free account and get access to all of our free YouTube templates. With these easily customizable templates, you can be confident you're using the correct YouTube banner size, with pre-set banner sizes.
Take the info you learned about YouTube banner sizes and create a YouTube banner with a template today!
