How do I create thumbnails in Thumbnail Studio?

Thumbnail Studio turns a video link, a saved script or a short idea into finished thumbnails. You can match a channel's visual style, put your own face in the frame, refine the result with plain-language edits, and preview it in mock YouTube layouts before you upload.

Open it from the sidebar under Content Creation > Thumbnail Studio. It has four tabs: Generation, Edits, Preview and Gallery.

Create a thumbnail

1. In the Generation tab, pick a source:
   • YouTube: paste a public video link. TubeAI reads its transcript, or its title and description if there is no transcript.
   • Script: pick one of your saved scripts.
   • Write: type a title or idea (at least 20 characters). Short text works best as a title.
2. Choose the Format: Standard (16:9, for regular videos) or Shorts (9:16, vertical).
3. Choose the Count, from 1 to 5 thumbnails.
4. Choose the Mode: Regular for fast, low-cost ideas, or Pro for the highest quality.
5. Optionally add custom instructions (see below), then press Create Thumbnail.

One thumbnail usually takes 2 to 3 minutes; a batch takes 3 to 5. You can reload the page while it runs and it will pick the job back up. Only one thumbnail generation runs at a time on your account.

Custom instructions, presets and reference videos

The Custom Instructions box lets you describe the look you want. While no Style Match channel is filled in, two buttons appear inside it:

• Format: 9 layout presets, such as a side-by-side versus split or a before and after.
• Style: 23 visual and mood presets, such as minimalist, documentary realism or film noir.

Picking a preset writes its text into the box, where you can edit it. You can also paste up to 10 YouTube video links into the box: each one becomes a reference chip, and the AI studies those thumbnails as visual inspiration.

Style Match and Host Face

• Style Match: enter a channel or playlist link and TubeAI designs in that channel's thumbnail style. It is pre-filled with your connected channel.
• Host Face: upload a photo of yourself (PNG, JPG or WebP, under 5 MB, at least 700 pixels on the shorter side) to appear in the thumbnail. The Keep pose & face expression switch keeps your expression as it is in the photo.

Both are available on plans that include them. If your plan does not, the field is locked and nothing is charged. See the Billing page to compare plans.

What Pro mode adds

Pro mode renders at the highest image quality on every thumbnail. When you also use Style Match, it goes further:

• It builds a detailed style blueprint of the channel's thumbnails. The blueprint is kept for 30 days, so a recent change to your own style may take time to show up.
• It remembers your last few attempts with the same inputs, so each new run is a genuinely different take.
• It can look up reference images of real people, landmarks, products or logos, so they come out more accurately.

Pro mode is available on plans that include it. For quick iteration, Regular mode is usually enough; save Pro with Style Match for your final version.

Create a variation

Once a thumbnail is loaded, Create Variation makes one new version of it in the same format and with the same inputs. It keeps the same creative direction with a fresh image.

Edit a thumbnail

Open the Edits tab:

• Magic Edit: describe a change in plain language ("change the background to a sunset", "make the text bigger"), optionally add reference images or YouTube links, and press Apply Edit. The edit takes a few seconds.
• Colors Editor: three sliders for Brightness, Contrast and Saturation. They are free and apply instantly, but they are not saved. Download the image to keep the adjusted version.

The Versions list in the Edits tab only lasts for your current session. It resets when you reload the page or load another thumbnail. Your edits are not lost: each Magic Edit is saved as its own entry in History.

Preview it on YouTube

The Preview tab shows your thumbnails inside mock YouTube layouts: Home, Search, Sidebar, Channel and Mobile. With a connected channel, your thumbnail sits next to real videos from similar channels, so you can judge whether it stands out. Preview is free and nothing there is saved.

Find past thumbnails

• History (the button above the tabs): every thumbnail you have made, including Magic Edits and thumbnails created from Hugo. Click one to reload it, with all its inputs, into the Generation tab.
• Gallery: a grid of everything you have made, for browsing and downloading. You cannot reload a thumbnail into the editor from the Gallery; use History for that.

Thumbnails from the Hugo chat and the Claude connector land in the same History and Gallery.

What it costs

• Regular thumbnail: 4 credits each
• Pro mode thumbnail: 44 credits each
• Variation: 2 credits (Regular) or 42 credits (Pro)
• Magic Edit: 5 credits
• Style Match, Host Face, Shorts format, presets and reference links: no extra charge
• Colors Editor, Preview, Gallery, History and downloads: free

The whole batch is charged when you press Create. If some thumbnails in a batch fail, the credits for those thumbnails are refunded automatically. A failed Magic Edit is refunded too.

Prefer to work in chat?

You can also ask Hugo Strategist for thumbnails. It fills in the setup for you, charges the same price when you press Generate, and saves the results in this page's History. Uploading your face photo, Magic Edit with reference images, the Colors Editor, Preview and the Gallery are only on this page. See Should I use Hugo Strategist or the tool pages?