Compress JPEG Images for YouTube
YouTube thumbnails are the single most impactful factor in video click-through rate. Compressed, well-sized thumbnails load quickly and display crisply across all devices. The most widely used lossy image format, ideal for photographs and complex images with millions of colors. Use ImageSmith to compress your JPEG images to the ideal file size for YouTube — target under 2,048KB for optimal performance. Processing is fully browser-based — no server uploads, no privacy risk.
Recommended format
JPEG
Max file size
2,048KB
Dimensions
1280×720 (thumbnails), 2560×1440 (channel art)
✓Custom thumbnails must be under 2MB file size
✓Use 1280×720 pixels — displayed at various sizes across devices
✓High contrast with bold, readable text increases click-through rate
✓Bright, saturated colors stand out in recommendation feeds