Designers work on a 1280×720 canvas. Viewers choose from a 300-pixel-wide tile. If the face is small or the overlay type is thin, the thumbnail dies on a commute feed. This preview places your image (upload or URL) into mock YouTube surfaces so you can judge packaging at real sizes.
Toggle dark and light chrome. Search results, suggested sidebar, and a phone home feed all crop and scale differently. If the still only works in one layout, it is not done.
How to use this tool
- Upload a PNG/JPG or paste an image URL.
- Enter the draft title and channel name.
- Scan search, suggested, and mobile mockups.
- Tighten contrast or crop until the subject is obvious at phone size.
Safe composition for every surface
Keep the focal point slightly off-center so UI overlays (duration badges, progress bars, hover animation) do not cover eyes or title text in the image. Avoid important type in the bottom-right where timestamps live. Avoid tiny script fonts — at mobile size they become noise.
Title pairing inside the mock
Type the real title under the mock. You will notice when the thumbnail text and the title say the same word twice, or when together they still fail to name the topic. Packaging is a sentence split across image and metadata.
Professional notes
- Zoom your browser to 80% and stand back — that is closer to a casual scroll.
- Test both themes; yellow text on white search cards is a classic failure.