ThumbProof
Make vertical covers 9:16 at 1080×1920 pixels or larger (the help center recommends up to 2160×3840, minimum 640 pixels tall). Keep the subject and any text in the central safe area: roughly the middle 60% of the height and away from the right edge, because captions and channel details cover the bottom third and action buttons cover the right side. Then check the 4:5 and 1:1 center crops, which profile grids and shelves use, so nothing important is cut off.
Vertical cover sizes at a glance
Vertical covers use the same frame as the video: 9:16, the shape of a phone screen held upright. Exporting at 1080×1920 gives a sharp image on every phone; the current help center recommends larger files where possible, with a minimum height of 640 pixels.
“For Shorts, try to upload a thumbnail with an aspect ratio of 9:16.”
Add custom thumbnails — video platform help center
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Aspect ratio | 9:16 |
| Recommended | 1080×1920 (up to 2160×3840) |
| Minimum | 640 px tall |
| Formats | JPG or PNG |
| File size | Under 2 MB is safe on every device |
| Grid crops to check | 4:5 (1080×1350) and 1:1 (1080×1080) |
The UI zones that cover your cover
In the full-screen player, the interface draws over the image. The exact layout differs between apps and changes with updates, but the pattern is consistent: the bottom part carries the caption, the account name and the audio label; the right edge carries a vertical column of buttons; and the top has a small header with search or the camera icon.
The safe approach is to treat those areas as unusable for text and faces. ThumbProof draws approximate zones so you can see where your design collides with them.
| Zone | Approx. area on 1080×1920 | Covered by |
|---|---|---|
| Top | Top ~8–10% (0–190 px) | Header, tabs, search |
| Right | Right ~15% (x > 920) | Like, comment, share, remix buttons |
| Bottom | Bottom ~25–35% (y > 1300–1450) | Caption, account name, audio, progress |
| Safe center | x 60–900, y 190–1300 | Nothing — keep key content here |
Grid crops: 4:5 and 1:1
Covers do not always appear in full. Profile pages and some shelves show a grid of tiles that crop the vertical frame from the center. A 4:5 crop removes about 15% from the top and bottom combined (from 1920 to 1350 pixels high); a 1:1 crop removes 44% of the height (from 1920 to 1080 pixels).
Anything placed in the top 22% or bottom 22% of the cover disappears in the square crop. That is the most common reason a cover looks fine in the player and broken on the profile grid.
| Crop | Visible height of 1920 | Removed at top | Removed at bottom |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:16 (full) | 1920 px | 0 | 0 |
| 4:5 | 1350 px | 285 px | 285 px |
| 1:1 | 1080 px | 420 px | 420 px |
Designing for every crop at once
The square crop is the strictest, so design inside it first: put the subject and text in the central 1080×1080 area, from y=420 to y=1500 on a 1080×1920 canvas. Then use the extra height above and below for background, atmosphere or a supporting element that is nice to have but not essential.
Because the bottom UI zone in the player overlaps with the lower part of the square, keep text in the upper half of that central square. A headline placed around y=500–900 survives the 1:1 crop, the 4:5 crop and the player overlays.
- Design inside the 1:1 center first
- Text between y=500 and y=900
- Subject centered horizontally
- Background fills the extra height
Make a crop-proof vertical cover in five steps
- 01
Set up a 1080×1920 canvas
Use 9:16 in sRGB, and add guides at y=420 and y=1500 for the square crop.
- 02
Mark the UI zones
Add guides for the top 10%, the right 15% and the bottom 30%.
- 03
Place subject and text
Keep both inside the square crop and outside the UI zones.
- 04
Export under 2 MB
JPEG at quality 85 is usually 300–900 KB at 1080×1920.
- 05
Preview the shelf, player and crops
Load it in the vertical cover preview with the safe zone on, then check the 4:5 and 1:1 crops.
Horizontal thumbnails on vertical videos
If you upload a 16:9 custom thumbnail for a vertical video, some surfaces replace it with an automatically generated 4:5 frame from the video. The help center notes this for the home, explore and subscription pages. To keep control of what viewers see, give vertical videos a 9:16 cover designed for the crops above.
Text and faces on vertical covers
Vertical covers are shown larger than horizontal thumbnails in the player, but much smaller in shelves and grids, where a tile can be 110–180 pixels wide. Use the same rule as for horizontal thumbnails: few words, set large. On a 1080-pixel-wide cover, make the smallest important word at least 110–130 pixels tall. A face should fill at least a quarter of the width of the central square.
Choosing the frame: still from the video or designed cover
Many apps let you pick a frame from the video as the cover. That is quick, but video frames are often slightly blurred by motion, and the most interesting moment rarely has the subject in the central square. A designed cover—either a sharpened still or a separate image—gives you control over the crop, the text and the expression.
If you do use a frame, scrub to a moment where the subject is still and centered, export the frame at full resolution, and add a short headline in the safe area. Keep the cover consistent with the first second of the video, so viewers who tap it see what they expected.
- Pick a still, sharp moment
- Subject in the central square
- Headline inside the safe area
- Match the first second of the video
Covers for multiple apps from one export
Many creators post the same vertical video to several apps. Each app crops and overlays slightly differently, but the central square rule covers nearly all of them. Make one master cover at 1080×1920 with all key content between y=420 and y=1500, and you can reuse it everywhere without re-editing.
Keep a layered source file so you can move the headline if one app introduces a new overlay. When an app changes its interface, check your recent covers in the preview again; a new button column or a taller caption area can suddenly cover text that used to be safe.
| Surface | Shape shown | Key rule |
|---|---|---|
| Full-screen player | 9:16 with overlays | Avoid top, right and bottom zones |
| Shelf / carousel | 9:16 small tile | Large subject, few words |
| Profile grid | 4:5 or 1:1 center crop | Everything inside the central square |
Worked example: a recipe cover that lost its title
A cooking creator places the title “3-INGREDIENT BREAD” at the very top of a 1080×1920 cover, from y=80 to y=300, with the loaf at the bottom. In the player, the header covers part of the title; on the profile grid, the 1:1 crop cuts the title off completely and leaves half the loaf.
The fixed version moves the title to y=520–820 and centers the loaf between y=900 and y=1400. Both now survive the 4:5 and 1:1 crops and stay clear of the player UI.
| Element | Before (y range) | After (y range) | Survives 1:1? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | 80–300 | 520–820 | Before no, after yes |
| Loaf | 1450–1850 | 900–1400 | Before partly, after yes |
Common vertical cover mistakes
Text at the very top
The header covers it in the player and the 1:1 crop removes it.
Subject at the bottom
Captions and the account name sit on top of it.
Using a 16:9 frame
It gets letterboxed or replaced with an auto-generated frame.
Ignoring the right edge
The button column covers faces and words placed there.
Small text
Grid tiles are small. Use large words, just like horizontal thumbnails.
Only checking the player
The profile grid crop is where most covers break.
Video Thumbnail Size, Resolution, File Limits and Safe Zones
High-CTR Thumbnail Checklist: 7 Visual Principles That Get Noticed
Title Truncation by Device: Pixel Widths, Not Character Counts
Thumbnail Color and Contrast: Standing Out in Dark and Light Feeds
Thumbnail Text: How Many Words, How Big, and Where to Put Them