ImageStretcher

Image stretcher

Stretch a YouTube banner to 2560×1440

YouTube keeps one banner file for every screen. A television can show all of a 2560×1440 image, and other devices crop that same file. On the 2048×1152 minimum, the text-safe area is 1235×338, so the stretch fills the television frame and the words stay in that center.

Preview
Controls

YouTube banner, thumbnail, and Shorts

The banner is 2560×1440 so a television can show it whole. The thumbnail is 1280×720. Shorts on this page are 1080×1920.

Size chart

Pixel width, height, and the reduced ratio for every template on this page.

TemplateWidthHeightRatio
Banner2560144016:9
Thumbnail128072016:9
Shorts108019209:16
Profile8008001:1
Post108010801:1
Watermark1501501:1

Why the banner is 2560×1440

A television can show this whole file. Stretch the storefront out to the banner. Do not start from a thumbnail you already squeezed down.

Storefront and bicycle stretched to 16:9 for a 2560×1440 YouTube banner
The same storefront stretched to 16:9, the 2560×1440 banner. A thumbnail is this shape at 1280×720, exported again rather than enlarged.

Words and logos stay in the bright center. The dimmed area is still in the file a television shows.

Same 16:9 banner with the 1235×338 text-safe center left bright
The bright center is the 1235×338 text area on a 2048×1152 upload. A television still shows the dimmed rest.

Set the type after the stretch, at the final size, so the letters are not pulled with the photograph. Skip shadows, borders, and frames in the file.

The home feed swaps a vertical video’s thumbnail

Start from the storefront. A thumbnail that has already been compressed is a poor source for the banner.

Storefront and bicycle before a YouTube banner stretch
The file before that stretch. Start here, not from a thumbnail already squeezed to 1280×720.

When the video itself is vertical, YouTube does not keep the wide thumbnail on Home, Explore, or Subscriptions. It puts up a taller frame instead.

Same storefront stretched to 4:5, the frame YouTube uses for a vertical video’s thumbnail on Home
The same storefront stretched to 4:5. Home, Explore, and Subscriptions use this shape instead of a vertical video’s 16:9 thumbnail.

On a computer the tall file is not stretched wide to fill the player. The player leaves bars on either side.

The 9:16 Short left at its own shape inside a 16:9 player, with bars on either side
The 9:16 Short set inside a 16:9 player. The side bars are the player’s padding, not a banner stretch.

How to stretch an image for a YouTube frame

A channel banner, a thumbnail, and a Short are not one 16:9 file at three scales.

  1. Step 1

    Open the artwork, not a compressed thumbnail

    Drop the original into the tool on this page. A file you already exported as a thumbnail is the wrong source for the banner.

  2. Step 2

    Select the YouTube row

    Banner is 2560×1440. Thumbnail is 1280×720. Shorts are 1080×1920. Profile is 800×800. Community post is 1080×1080. Watermark is 150×150.

  3. Step 3

    Keep the banner’s safe middle in mind

    Stretch the picture to the full banner, then set type inside the bright center at the final size.

  4. Step 4

    Export the thumbnail separately

    The thumbnail row is a second export at the same shape. It will not fill a Short, and a vertical video’s wide thumbnail is replaced on Home, Explore, and Subscriptions.

Browse stretch templates

A Short is padded, and the icon is a separate file

These exports are not crops of the banner.

The vertical file on this page is its own stretch. Turning the banner on its side does not make it.

Same storefront stretched to 9:16 for a YouTube Shorts export at 1080×1920
The same storefront stretched to 9:16, the 1080×1920 Shorts export.

The post is a square made by stretching the whole storefront. It is not a window cut out of the banner.

Same storefront stretched to a square for a YouTube community post at 1080×1080
The whole storefront stretched to a square, the 1080×1080 community post. It is not a window cut from the banner.

The icon covers the corners of that square. YouTube shows the picture small. The help page does not require this upload size, and it is not a slice of the banner.

Same square with the corners covered, a YouTube channel icon exported at 800×800
That square with the corners covered, the channel icon. The file is 800×800 and is shown at 98×98.

The mark sits on landscape playback as a second file. It is not the banner shrunk down.

A small unstretched square of the storefront sitting on the 16:9 banner, a YouTube watermark
A small unstretched square on the 16:9 picture, the watermark of at least 150×150 over landscape playback.

Save a photographic banner or thumbnail as JPEG. Save the watermark as PNG so the edges stay sharp. The banner stays under 6MB, and the thumbnail stays under 2MB.

YouTube 2560×1440 banner FAQ

Which YouTube sizes can I stretch on this page?
Banner 2560×1440, thumbnail 1280×720, Shorts 1080×1920, profile 800×800, post 1080×1080, watermark 150×150.
Is the YouTube banner just a big thumbnail?
No. The thumbnail is 1280×720. The banner is 2560×1440 so television can show the whole frame. Text stays in the 1235×338 box measured on the 2048×1152 minimum. Stretch the banner from a larger source.
Can I reuse a Short as the thumbnail?
Only after a second export. 1080×1920 does not fill 1280×720. On Home, Explore, and Subscriptions, YouTube replaces a vertical video’s 16:9 thumbnail with an automatic 4:5.
What happens if I stretch type on a thumbnail?
The letters get wider or taller with the photo. For a 1280×720 thumbnail, stretch the picture, then add type at the final size so the words stay square.
What should I download for YouTube?
JPEG for the 1280×720 thumbnail and the photo banner. PNG for the 150×150 watermark and for flat channel art.