Your YouTube banner is your first impression. It's what first sets clear expectations for your channel. But for this to happen, you need to be clear on what you’re about and what your YouTube content will cover.
In this article, I’m sharing everything you need from what’s the recommended YouTube banner size to examples of great banner art.
What’s the best YouTube Banner Size?
Here’s what you need to know about YouTube channel art dimensions:
But this isn’t everything you need to know. So do keep reading to know how exactly to fill your YouTube banner canvas to the best of your ability!
Formatting tips to avoid blurry and awkwardly cropped YouTube Channel Art
The YouTube banner must remain under the 6MB maximum file size, with a platform-accepted file type—JPEG, PNG, GIF, or BMP.
Avoid the minimum image dimensions and opt for the recommended banner size to avoid looking blurry or pixelated on larger devices.
Luckily, free image format converters like Convertio and image compressors like Img2Go can adjust an existing file in the wrong format or with larger file size.
What does ‘minimum image safe area’ mean and why is it important?
Don’t have a way to measure pixel by pixel to make sure everything fits?
No problem!
Keep the most important details as close to the middle of your banner as possible. Anything placed on the far right or left or towards the very top or bottom is at risk for being chopped off when viewed on a phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, or TV.
How do you change your YouTube banner?
- Go to your YouTube channel.
- Click on “customize channel.”
- Go to 'branding' and choose 'banner image'
- Click ‘change’ to upload (or drag-and-drop) your banner image.
- Your first indicator of an incorrect file dimension will appear here. If you upload a banner with a size smaller than 2048p x 1152p (minimum YouTube banner size), the platform will ask you to upload another image.
- Once uploaded, check your banner image view across desktop, mobile and television. If you see some part of the image cropped and want to fix it, click on “adjust crop.”
- Click and adjust the highlighted box to fix the banner image, and make it a size-fit.
- Once you’re satisfied, click on “done” to upload the banner image.
Pro Tip: Edit your next YouTube video with VEED. Generate SRT files, translate videos, download YouTube videos from a URL, and more!
YouTube Banner Examples and Best Practices
An eye-catching YouTube banner does a great job at communicating what your brand is about. But most importantly it encourages people with a reason to watch your content.
Here are some best practices for you to avoid this and create a stunning banner that makes people want to watch one of your videos.
- Add the face(s) of your brand to the banner image. People want to interact with people. Humanize your brand and make yourself more approachable. Show your face or the faces of people involved in your content.
- Find an innovative way to represent your brand through the banner—make a collage of images symbolic to your brand. This can be things like behind-the-scenes or product images. Alternatively, you can also take a minimalistic approach and use illustrations that help your audience relate to the brand.
- Consider adding a tagline to your banner—add a crisp one-liner expressing what you post about. This helps visitors understand what you have to offer. And if it resonated with them, you might have a new subscriber! Ahrefs does this best with a simple yet self-explanatory tagline.
- Add a touch of credibility to your channel by including the logos of magazines or publications you’ve been featured on talks you’ve delivered or the awards you have received. These can make for a subtle plug in your banner but can help build a lot of authority.
- Optimize the clickable aspects of your channel cover by adding social media and site links in your channel settings. If you have lead magnets you can even use HubSpot's form builder to capture and save leads.
YouTube Banner: Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the aspect ratio for the recommended YouTube Banner size?
The Youtube recommended aspect ratio of banner images is 16:9. To ensure viewers can see your banner properly from all devices, especially mobiles—keep the size within 2560p x 1440p.
How often should you change your YouTube banner?
You can change your YouTube banner as often as you like.
If you have rebranded your channel or changed the context or aesthetics of your channel—it’s a good idea to upload a new banner aligned with the new branding and content.
If you’re introducing some new features or products, you’ve gotten an award or feature, or if you’re launching something of your own—updating the channel art to include these elements would be great.
However, even though you will be changing your banner image, stay consistent with your typography, elements, graphic designs, and colors to keep branding consistent and easily identifiable
The only exception to this is if you’re rebranding your channel, in which case, a complete 360 would make sense.
How do I make my YouTube banner fit on all devices?
While getting the edges of your banner cropped is inevitable when going from mobile to desktop to TV, here’s what you need to do to make sure the important parts are always visible:
- Adhere to YouTube’s recommended banner size guidelines: 2560p x 1440p. If you use the minimum image dimensions your banner art will likely be blurry when viewed on larger devices.
- Keep key elements in the safe area (the center) to avoid important parts getting chopped off.
Text vs. no text; Should you include it on your banner?
Adding a mix of text and graphics or making a banner out of either as the main focus depends on you. There’s no limit to the scope of creativity you can use in your YouTube channel art.
If including text will add more context to your banner and communicate intent better—go for it. If not, you can do just as well with graphic-only banners too.
What are the best tools to find youtube banner templates (or design my own banner)?
- Canva (best for beginners): Freemium tool, pre-built templates for different purposes, multiple customization options, and easy-to-navigate for creators with minimal design know-how.
- Adobe creative cloud (ideal for designers): Seamless tool with amazing features for adding layers to content, enhancing images, and creating templates that can be rearranged and edited with one click.
- Hire a designer (for brands with a hiring budget): If you have the budget, outsource the things you don’t want to do or are not great at doing yourself.
What’s the YouTube banner size aspect ratio?
YouTube banners have an aspect ratio of 16:9
What’s the YouTube banner size in inches?
- 26.6×15 inch is the recommended YouTube channel art banner size;
- 21.3×12 inch is the minimum image size of a YouTube channel banner.
To create a distinct presence on YouTube, you need to do more than creating awesome videos for your channel.
Let's do a quick recap.
- The recommended YouTube banner size is 2560 x 1440 pixels.
- Center important elements like text or logos inside your banners 1546 x 423 pixel safe area.
- Be clear about what people should expect from you and your channel. This will boost your chances of growing a strong subscriber base.
Use this YouTube banner size guide to create the perfect art for your YouTube channel, and enhance user experience further.
And if you want to continue mastering all things YouTube...
Here are some must-reads to help you become an amazing YouTube content creator!
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