Channel Art

Give your channel a custom look and feel by selecting channel art. Channel art can be used to brand your channel’s identity and give your channel page a unique look and feel. Your channel art will be used on all platforms where viewers can see your channel (TV, mobile, tablets, etc.)

Here’s how to edit Channel art:

  1. Sign in to YouTube and visit your channel by clicking on your channel’s link in your Guide.
  2. Click Add channel art near the top of your channel
    1. Note: If your channel already has channel art you can edit the channel art by hovering your mouse in the top right corner of the channel art until you see the edit icon  and clicking Edit channel art.
  3. Upload an image of your own, or use our photo gallery.
  4. Once you’ve selected an image, you can preview how it will appear across devices. To adjust, click Adjust the Crop.

 

Channel art guidelines

For optimal results on all devices we recommend uploading a single 2560 X 1440 px image that has been optimized to fit the template below:

You can download the template here: Channel Art Template (Fireworks)

Channel Art Template (Photoshop)

 

Note: All of the pixel dimensions have more than doubled from what you would measure on normal monitors. This is to accommodate retina displays. On non-retina displays the image will be scaled to less than half the size with the same aspect ratios.

How channel art looks on different devices

Desktop

The below slice would be your desktop banner. It’s total dimensions are 2560 X 423 px. 

 

New channels will have a flexible width on desktop, meaning that the site will scale to reveal more content on larger browser windows. There is a minimum size at which point the site would no longer adapt and a scroll bar would appear in the browser window. At the minimum width the channel art is 1546 X 423 px (this is the “Safe area” given that text & logos will not be cut off). At the maximum width, the channel art is 2560 X 423 px. This means that the “SAFE AREA” (channel art at minimum width) will always be visible and the areas to the right and left (shown with green arrows) might be visible depending on the viewer’s browser size.

Total Size: 2560 X 423 px

Safe Area (Always visible): 1546 X 423 px centered on the image

Flexible Area (may be visible): 507 px to the left and 507 px to the right of the safe area

 

Example of channel at Min width:

 

Example of channel at Max width:

TV
The whole image will be used. Aspect ratio is 16:9 i.e. 2560 x 1440 px
Mobile
On mobile we will be using the safe area (red box in diagram above) scaled down to the width of  the mobile screen (which varies by device).
Tablet
On tablets we will be using a slightly wider slice which is indicated by the pink box above. The aspect ratio of this slice is 1855 px by 423 px.