How to make a YouTube thumbnail with ChatGPT (free)

You can make a thumbnail background with ChatGPT on the free plan. We keep your real face out of ChatGPT completely. It builds the scene, and you add your photo and words in a free editor. If you're after YouTube's own built in tool instead, see [How to use YouTube's AI thumbnail generator](/blog/youtube-ai-thumbnail-generator).

Is it free?

Yes, within limits. OpenAI lists creating images as part of the free plan. Image creation has its own usage limit, separate from regular chat. ChatGPT tells you when you reach it, and you wait for it to reset, while paid plans get higher limits.

Step 1: Open ChatGPT and start an image

Ask for an image right in a chat, or select **More** and then **Images**. You can also open the sidebar and select **Images**.

Step 2: Set 16:9

YouTube asks for a 16:9 thumbnail on regular videos. Use the **aspect ratio picker** to choose it, or just write "16:9" in your prompt.

Step 3: Generate the scene, with no person in it

Ask for the background or scene only. Leave people out, and leave open space where you'll go. Here's a prompt we'd start with: "A dramatic desert road at sunset, 16:9, empty space on the left, no people, no text."

We don't upload our own photo and ask ChatGPT to edit it. It redraws the image, and it can change your face so it no longer looks like you. Your real photo goes on top later, in an editor.

Step 4: Fix spots with the selection tool

Select the image to open the editor. Choose **Select**, highlight the area you want to change, and describe the change. Highlights aren't always precise, so we check the whole image after every edit.

Step 5: Save, resize, and add your photo and words

Select **Save** to download the image. YouTube recommends 3840 x 2160 pixels for video thumbnails, with a minimum width of 640 pixels, so we resize to that with our guide to [resizing a YouTube thumbnail](/blog/how-to-resize-youtube-thumbnail).

Then open it in [Canva](/blog/how-to-make-a-youtube-thumbnail-in-canva) or [Photopea](/blog/how-to-make-a-youtube-thumbnail-in-photopea). Cut out your real photo, place it in the open space, and add a few big words. Keep the file under 2 MB on mobile for video thumbnails, or 10 MB for podcasts, and under 50 MB on desktop, in an image format like JPG or PNG. The full spec is in our [YouTube thumbnail size guide](/blog/youtube-thumbnail-size).

Step 6: Check it at phone size

Shrink it down to about the size it shows in a phone feed. If you can't read the words or see your face, make the text bigger and cut the clutter.

One last check

Once you like it, run it through [Thumbly Score](/blog/how-to-use-thumbly-score) for a quick second opinion before you upload.