Best Thumbnail and Cover Art Tools for Creators 2026

Common questions

Does testing thumbnails actually change anything?

On a channel with steady traffic yes, because the same video is shown with two images and the difference is measurable. On a small channel the sample takes too long to mean anything, and the time is better spent making one clearly readable image than two similar ones.

What makes a thumbnail readable at small sizes?

Few elements, high contrast between them, and text you could read from across a room. Three or four words is usually the ceiling. A face helps, because a face is the one shape people parse without looking.

Should cover art and thumbnails be the same image?

No, and using one for both usually hurts. Podcast artwork is square, sits in an app at a fixed size and lasts for years, so it works like a logo. A thumbnail is per-episode and can be loud, because it only has to win one row of results.