Channel-level thumbnail settings let you configure the style instructions that influence every thumbnail you generate. Setting these up once saves time and improves consistency across all your thumbnails.
Accessing Thumbnail Settings
Open your channel, click Settings in the channel navigation, and find the Ideation section. This is where you configure both title guidelines and thumbnail style settings.
Thumbnail settings include:
- Thumbnail Style -- Freeform text describing your preferred visual style.
- Import from Channel -- Analyze an existing YouTube channel to generate style instructions automatically.
Faces and Reusable Images Live in Studio
Your face, your co-host's face, a logo, and product shots are managed in Thumbnail Studio. Use Add person under People to name someone and upload their photos directly in creation or editing. Edit people lets you rename them or choose who appears by default. Logos and product shots go in the Images panel, or you can attach them directly to an AI edit.
Setting Style Preferences
The Thumbnail Style field lets you describe the visual style you want across all your thumbnails. Think of it as a style guide for the AI.
Good style instructions are specific and visual:
- "Use bold, high-contrast colors with a dark background. Text should be large, white, and slightly tilted. Always include my face with an expressive reaction."
- "Clean, minimal style. Light backgrounds, sans-serif text, product centered. Use brand colors: navy blue and gold."
- "Dramatic lighting with cinematic feel. Dark tones with a single bright accent color. Text should be minimal -- 3 words max."
These instructions are passed to the AI during every thumbnail generation, ensuring visual consistency even when you do not provide per-generation feedback.
Importing Style from Existing YouTube Thumbnails
If you already have a YouTube channel with thumbnails you like (or you admire another creator's thumbnail style), use the Import from channel feature to automatically generate style instructions.
How to Import
- Click Import from channel in the Ideation settings.
- Enter a YouTube channel handle (e.g.,
@mkbhd) or the channel URL. - Click Search to find the channel.
- Review the channel preview to confirm it is the right one.
- Click Generate title & thumbnail instructions.
- The AI analyzes the channel's recent thumbnails and writes style instructions based on the patterns it finds.
- Review the generated instructions, edit if needed, and click Save.
Import Your Own Channel
If your channel is linked to YouTube, importing your own channel is the fastest way to capture your existing thumbnail style as written instructions. This makes the AI match your established look.
What Gets Analyzed
The import process looks at:
- Recent video thumbnails and their visual characteristics.
- Thumbnail descriptions and composition patterns.
- Color palettes, text treatments, and recurring visual elements.
- The channel's overall visual identity.
The generated instructions describe what the AI found in plain language, giving you a starting point you can refine.
How Settings Influence All Future Generations
Once configured, your style instructions are used every time you generate a thumbnail in that channel: they are included in the AI prompt as hard requirements, whichever Start from you pick in the New thumbnail panel, and they apply to AI edits too.
You do not need to re-enter style preferences each time. They persist across every video in that channel. The Directions field in the New thumbnail panel is for what this one video needs; the settings here are for what every video needs.
Import from Channel Also Updates Title Guidelines
Clicking Generate title & thumbnail instructions writes both the thumbnail style instructions above and this channel's title guidelines (also on the Ideation settings page) in one step.
Per-Channel Settings
Thumbnail settings are specific to each channel. If you have multiple channels, configure each one separately to match its unique brand and style.
Next Steps
- Get started with Thumbnail Studio to generate with your new settings.
- Understand credits and usage to plan your monthly thumbnail generation budget.