Build a vertical 9:16 composition instead of stretching a wide thumbnail. Use the quick 1080 × 1920 canvas or enter a larger custom size.
OPEN TOOL ↓Pick the YouTube canvas you need, then decide how the image should fit.
One image or a whole batch. Make them all fit.
JPG, PNG, WEBP, HEIC, PDF · UP TO 12 IMAGESA wide 16:9 thumbnail normally needs a new crop for Shorts. Faces, text and logos should be repositioned for the tall frame instead of being stretched into it.
The built-in Shorts preset uses 1080 × 1920 as a practical working canvas. You can switch to Crop for manual framing or enter any custom dimensions in More Options.
YouTube currently recommends 2160 × 3840 for custom Shorts thumbnails with a 9:16 ratio. If your source is large enough, enter that size directly. Enlarging a small image creates more pixels but does not create missing detail.
1080 × 1920 is a fast 9:16 working preset. For a current high-resolution Shorts thumbnail upload, enter 2160 × 3840 in the custom dimensions when your source supports it.
Normal resize, crop, compress, convert and batch work is processed in the browser. Pulling a public YouTube thumbnail requires requesting that public image from YouTube.
No. The core thumbnail and image tools are designed to work without creating an account.