GUIDE · 2026-10-11
How to Make a 9:16 Thumbnail for YouTube Shorts
YouTube now recommends a 9:16 custom thumbnail for Shorts. Start from a vertical master and keep a separate 16:9 thumbnail for standard videos.
Open the toolOpen Shorts thumbnail preset →Think in placements, not one universal social size
Feed portraits, full-screen stories, short-form covers, Pins and landscape previews use different geometry. Keep the master image intact and export destination variants.
Vertical is not one ratio
4:5, 9:16, 2:3 and 3:4 solve different display contexts. The most useful workflow is to generate them together rather than force every platform into a single crop.
Verify the current destination before publishing
Platforms change rendering rules over time. Batch Img Tools presets are editable starting points; use the current platform requirement as the final source of truth.
Do it now, not one file at a time.Open Shorts thumbnail preset →