Pro and up
YouTube Thumbnail Maker, built from your own video
Hit "Get suggestions" in the long-form editor's Thumbnail tab and AI reads your edit's frames, title, chapters and transcript to sketch three thumbnails. Tweak the text, hit Make, done.
How to make a YouTube thumbnail in 3 steps
01. AI sketches three ideas from your edit
It picks the 8 best frames from your edit, reads the title, chapters and transcript, and suggests three thumbnails — headline, frames, layout and colors, plus one line on why.
02. Tweak the text and make it
Edit the thumbnail text right in the card. Choose how it's made: AI + video frames, AI generated, or video frames only — which puts your text on real frames without generating anything.
03. Download a 1280×720 JPG
Download the ones you like as JPGs. Every thumbnail you make stays on this device with the project, even after you close the editor.
The best frames of your video, first
Frames are sampled across the whole edit, with the hook and each chapter start looked at first. Dark frames and frames blurred by motion are pushed back, and only the 8 best are used for ideas.
Four layouts, and text that stays sharp
It suggests the layout that fits — bold left, bold center, collage or cut-out. Even when AI draws the image, the text is added separately so it's always spelled right, with the longest word in an accent color.
Your thumbnails stay on this device
Thumbnails you make are saved in this browser, per project. Make a few, compare them, and download any of them again as a 1280×720 JPG whenever you like.
Why Shorts Zone
Never cut mid-sentence
Every short starts and ends on a sentence boundary, so nothing stops halfway through a thought.
A virality score for every short
A 0–100 score, a first-3-seconds check and one honest note make it easy to pick what to post.
Your video stays on your device
Cutting, captions and rendering all run in your browser. Only transcript text is sent to the AI.
Paste a YouTube link
The Shorts Zone Link helper downloads it on your own computer. Drive and Dropbox links and files work too.
Korean, English, Japanese, Dutch, Italian and Traditional Chinese
Transcribe and caption in all six languages. From Pro, translate captions into any of the other five.
Follows whoever is talking
Going from 16:9 to 9:16 keeps the speaker centered, and splits the screen for two or three people.
Long videos welcome
Up to 30 minutes free, 60 on Lite, and no length limit from Pro.
Free to start
3 videos per account for free. Lite ($4.9/month) adds watermark-free 1080p.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use the thumbnail maker on its own?
It's the Thumbnail tab inside the long-form editor. It builds thumbnails from the frames, title, chapters and transcript of a video you edited with Long-form edit.
How are the three ways different?
AI + video frames has AI polish real frames from your video so they stand out (recommended). AI generated has AI read the video and draw a new image. Video frames only picks frames and adds your headline, with nothing generated. Set the default in your edit settings.
How many tokens does it use?
Getting suggestions uses a few tokens, and each image made with an AI mode uses more. Video frames only doesn't use an image model, so making the thumbnail costs no tokens.
What language is the thumbnail text in?
The language spoken in the video. The one-line reason follows your screen language, and you can rewrite the text before you make it.
Which plan do I need?
Pro and up, together with Long-form edit.
More AI tools
- AI Long-form Video Editor — Drop in raw long footage and AI reviews the whole thing and edits it into a 16:9 YouTube video — hook, chapters and title included. Everything else, just tell the agent.
- AI Editing Agent — Ask in plain words inside the shorts editor and AI does the edit for you. Every request can be undone in one click, with the score before and after side by side.
- Title & Comment Shorts — A big two-line title over your video, a YouTube-style comment under it, or white "POV: …" text on top. Apply popular short formats in one click — AI fills in the titles and comments.
- YouTube to Shorts Converter — Paste a YouTube link and the Create shorts window opens right away while the video downloads in the background. AI turns the best moments into captioned vertical shorts.
- Shorts Template Cloner — Drop in a short you like and AI reads its caption font, size, outline and colors, hook title and layout into your own template — then every short you make uses it.
- AI Shorts Maker — Drop in one long video and AI finds the moments worth sharing, then cuts them into vertical shorts that never stop mid-sentence — each with a virality score.