YouTube banner maker

1. Type your channel's name, what you post and when. Put a word between *stars* to color it.
2. Pick a background: a gradient, a color of your own, or an image you drag and zoom to frame. Darken an image so the words stand out.
3. Choose a look and line it up left, center or right. The words always stay inside the safe area.
4. Check it on each device with the previews, then download a JPG or PNG at 2560 × 1440, under 6 MB.
5. Upload it in YouTube Studio: Customization, Profile, then Change under Banner image. Check the crop and publish.

The same image is used everywhere and cropped for each screen. A TV shows all of it. A computer shows the full width but only the middle band, about 2560 × 423 at 2560 × 1440, and less of the sides in a narrow window. YouTube doesn't publish what its phone app shows. So fill the whole image with the background, and keep everything people need to read in the middle.

The banner is one part of a channel's look. Each video needs a thumbnail too: make one with the YouTube thumbnail maker, or a 9:16 cover for a Short with the Shorts thumbnail maker.

Say what the channel is. Someone who lands on your channel from a Short or a search decides in a second or two whether to look further. Your name and a few words on what you post, like “Weeknight dinners in 20 minutes”, tell them faster than anything else on the page.

Say when you post, if you keep to it. “New videos every Tuesday” gives people a reason to subscribe now rather than later. If your schedule changes often, put your handle or your topic there instead.

Keep it simple and readable. On a phone, the banner is a small strip. One name, one line and plenty of contrast read at that size; a collage of photos and small text doesn't.

Match your thumbnails. The same colors and font on your banner and thumbnails make the channel look like one thing, and make your videos easier to spot in a feed.