In this step-by-step tutorial, I will show you how to make a basic channel art banner for your Youtube channel. Since the new design, Youtube added this featured to be versatile to all platforms BUT, they failed to mention how complicated channel art is to make! When someone visits your channel, your channel art is your identifying marker that lets them know who you are, what your channel is about and why they should considering subscribing to you. It's important to take time to custom it to leave a lasting impression. Let's get started!
Let me begin by stating that I am by no means a pro at graphic design. Frankly, i'm just a girl with a Youtube channel! Thank goodness for Pixlr.com because if it weren't for them, I would be lost as to where to start in customizing my channel. Let's start by reviewing the size. One main image is used and scaled down to work on various platforms such as TV, mobile and desktop. This chart below is a great help.
In this tutorial, we are going to focus on the Desktop Max (2560x423) size by creating a template. This basic instruction will provide a great basis for anything more complex you want to add later on. Start by going to Pixlr.com and select "Open Pixlr Editor (advanced)".
Once the editor is open, choose "Create a new image" then manually input the measurements of the "TV" size, which is 2560x1440 into width and height. I also named it "channel art test" for this tutorial.
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Now that you are in the editor, zoom the blank image out so that you can see grey around the perimeter. This will ensure you have the entire image to work with.
Next, simply select the "paint bucket" icon and fill the image in with any color except white. I choose black for this tutorial.
After this step, go to "File" and select "New Image". Here, we are going to get a better picture of what size the desktop banner is. Don't fret! This step will not undo our original image. Input the width and height of the Desktop Max image size which is 2560x423. I named this "desktop banner" as well.
Now that this has appeared in the editor, it's time for us to cut and paste it to our "channel art test" image. To do that, click on the white image using the "wand tool" then go to "edit" and click "cut".
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Clicking back to our original image ("channel art test"), go to "edit" and choose "paste" and you will have your new template to work with that looks like this:
The white space is where you will custom your artwork and add your logo! The black is what will be seen on TV monitors. I added photos in .png format and a background color to the white space and then lastly, filled in the black with that same background color. Then all you do is save your image to your computer and upload it to your Youtube page!
This is just an example of all of the amazing things you can do for your channel art using Pixlr. You can obviously be more creative by adding more images not just to the center but for the full TV view. I found that by just leaving any graphics or logos perfectly centered really works with every platform and doesn't cut any of my images off. I hope this helped anyone who just wants a no fuss, simple background! Now instead of stressing about your Youtube channel art, you can actually have fun creating it! xoxo
