Thumbnail App For YouTube (works on iPhone & Android devices)

Have you ever wanted to make a YouTube thumbnail on your iPhone or Android device so you don’t have to be tethered to your computer?

Watch the video below to discover how to create an attractive thumbnail using a thumbnail app for YouTube called Canva.

The beauty of using the free Canva app is that it’s available for both the iPhone and Android device. It also includes many professional templates that can easily be modified to your liking.

Download my Free YouTube Thumbnail Checklist at: http://www.drostdesigns.com/thumbnailchecklist/

Here are the steps to install the Canva app on your iPhone or Android device to create a clickable thumbnail.

  • Tap the App Store icon on your iPhone home screen,
  • Tap the search bar, enter Canva. It’s the Canva Graphic Design
  • Tap the download icon. While the app’s installing, I just want to remind you that there’s hundreds of templates within Canva that you can easily modify. This enables you to quickly create a professional thumbnail on the go.
  • Tap Open or go back to the home screen where you now see the Canva App installed.
  • Tap the app.
  • Sign up for an account if I don’t have one or log in. Since I already have an account on my desktop, I’m going to tap login. I can log in with Facebook or Google or just put in my credentials. I’m going to just put in my credentials.
  • Tap the icon at the bottom right to see all the designs already created on my desktop. You also have an option to start from scratch by using a blank template.
  • For the purpose of this video, I’m just going to select the template that I can easily modify.
  • Tap the search bar, enter “YouTube Thumbnail”, and you’ll get a whole bunch of templates that you can modify to your liking. They are all free.
  • Scroll down and look for a template.
  • Tap the picture (template). I can take a picture from my camera. You can also shoot a high-definition photo with your camera and access it from your camera roll. If you’re using your face in your thumbnail, make sure you take a high-quality picture and saturate the colors.
  • I can lso search for an image from millions of images from Canva.
  • Tap Colors, I can select colors. I can move the slider, to find different colors. I can also slide the other slider to change the hexagonal code or I can even enter the code in here to change the color.
  • I can also tap Filters and change the filters for my image.
  • Tap Advanced and I can move the slider to change the brightness, change the contrast, change the saturation, colorize, blur. If I move it to the right, it can blur, move it to the left to get a sharper image. Add a vignette, cancel that. I’m going back to Images. I’m going to select an image of a mountain. Some mountain images here, and select this one.
  • Tap Filters again, I’m going to select this filter. Tap Advanced and I’m going to saturate the color a little bit, slider up a bit, and move the slider to the left to sharpen a little bit.
  • Tap Done.
  • I’m going to change the text. When using text in your thumbnail, just use a few words and make sure it’s bold so it stands out at a small size. I don’t want to have the text so I just tap it and then tap the trash icon.
  • I’m going to move the word “visual” to the top so I just tap it, I can move it. If I put two fingers on it, I can extend it, I can also rotate it if I want.
  • Alternatively, I can tap the numbers and move the slider.

Let’s change the text.

  • Tap the X and type in thumbnail
  • Tap the numbers to reduce the size. I just made a mistake, so I’m going to tap the undo icon to revert back to the previous design. I tap the text again, tap the size, reduce the size so it fits in there, move it down a little bit.

Now I’m going to change the colors.
Here’s a tip, don’t use more than two different fonts for your thumbnails.

  • Tap the color
  • Tap the color wheel.
  • Move this slider to black. That looks good.
  • Tap done. Then, I’m going to tap on content and hit the trash icon to remove the text box. I’m going to use the same font as I have in the thumbnail.
  • Tap the duplicate icon at the top which clones the text. Now it’s copied so just move it down.
  • Tap on the text, X the text, change it to say “App”
  • Tap Done
  • Tap the font size to make it a little bigger than move it around. T
  • Tap Done. You can also use two fingers to extend it, to rotate it.
  • Tap Done.

Now I’m ready to download the thumbnail image to my camera roll.

  • Tap the download icon. It’s preparing to make the magic happen.
  • Saved to camera roll.

Let’s have a look at the camera roll. Go to Photos, and there is the Thumbnail App image.

Now, all I have to do is upload the custom thumbnail to my YouTube channel and assign it to the correct video.

Keep in mind, the thumbnails that you created can easily be accessed via your mobile or desktop devices because they are stored on Canva.

Let me ask you a question…what mobile app do you use to make YouTube thumbnails on your phone?

Post your answer in the comments below. I’d love to read them, and I’m sure others would like to know as well.

If you want to know the best practices for creating an attractive thumbnail for your YouTube videos, click the link below to download my Free YouTube Thumbnail Checklist at: http://www.drostdesigns.com/thumbnailchecklist/
You’ll get 10 tips for creating professional thumbnails.

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