#Help Me Take Better Thumbnail Photos

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

solemn hatch
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So I’m scrolling through YT checking out thumbnails right and I’m noticing something that I’m struggling to achieve.

I will put together some example below

Essentially when I’m removing the background of an original picture to put into my thumbnail I look very flat whereas other creators look more 3D.

Why is that and how do I go about achieving this effect. And it’s not just me I notice it in a lot of small creators thumbnails so how do I go about taking the pictures of myself/participants so we don’t look flat?

Thanks!

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Lemme get some examples:

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Just some examples

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Idk but to me they feel like they are more in the environment (even though they aren’t)

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Even this

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Like is it a case of actually taking the photos for real? The angle I’m taking them idk

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Would really appreciate some help on this

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I wanna up my game EVERYWHERE and thumbnails are obviously one key pillar to success

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Again don’t get me wrong I’m a small channel, no budget, limited equipment etc but if there’s some “good practices”/“skills” i can learn to maximise on the quality I’m all ears

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Also I have a theory about “glasses” in thumbnails cos you rarely see it in proper viral ones so I’d love some opinions on that too

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Cos I’m happy to ditch mine if I can get higher CTR/easier time editing my face lmao

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Help Me Take Better Thumbnail Photos

crisp robin
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what are you're videos about

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it really depends on the idea of the video how the thumbnail is made

solemn hatch
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Where I’m the host and I bring in participants to compete/take part

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It’s more like I’m wondering how to take good thumbnail photos

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Cos one issue I get is reflections on my glasses from lighting

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Lemme show you

crisp robin
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if i were in you're position i would watch a million tutorials on how to use photoshop and create great thumbnails

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or hire someone to do them for me

solemn hatch
crisp robin
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yeah id just watch a million tutorials on how to use photoshop then how to make great thumbnails for youtube

solemn hatch
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So in grey shirt is one of my contestants and white shirt is me

crisp robin
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in my opinion anyway

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KK

solemn hatch
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See what I mean with the reflections (not that I’d use the second side on photos but I’d like the versatility yk?)

crisp robin
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yeah

solemn hatch
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Any good alternatives?

crisp robin
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photopea

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is great

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learn that

solemn hatch
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I’ve heard about this

crisp robin
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its basically photoshop online

solemn hatch
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Is it the same as photoshop

crisp robin
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not really but yes

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lol

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it has alot of the same tools but photoshop is a bit more advanced

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you can still do great things with it

solemn hatch
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Awesome thank you. Money is a problem for me cos I’m just a student lol so right now I’m prioritising equipment so the quality of my videos/photos can be better

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Rather than softwares and stuff which are also expensive

crisp robin
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yeah yeah completely fair

solemn hatch
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Thoughts on the glasses? I’m really curious to see what ditching them would do

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Cos I really can’t think of many if any big YouTubers with glasses haha

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Idk I feel like some of the emotion is “lost” behind them

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It’s hard to describe

crisp robin
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i mean does it help you see lol

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if it does use em

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max fosh uses glasses

solemn hatch
crisp robin
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so

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do what he's doing with his thumbnails regarding glasses

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what does he do to make em not reflect

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if anything that makes his videos a bit more unique

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because he stands out

solemn hatch
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So I’m curious to know how he lights himself

crisp robin
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expirement

solemn hatch
safe needle
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How much time have you spent in photoshop

solemn hatch
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None

safe needle
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Learn it

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That’s how these things are done

solemn hatch
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Got it

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Thoughts on photopea?

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(If any)

safe needle
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Never heard of it and I would be willing to guess it’s not good enough

solemn hatch
safe needle
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The capability of photoshop is not comparable to anything.

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It is truly impressive what you can do when you know what you’re doing.

solemn hatch
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I’ve been watching a lot of videos about thumbnails for the past two days now

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Learning about smaller theory things now

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@safe needle - Any advice on the actual process of taking the pictures?

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Before the editing phase

safe needle
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Have options

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Good lighting, clear contrast for easy keying and whatnot

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Multiple angles

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Better to have options and not need them than to not have options and need them

solemn hatch
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Whilst I have you

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For my hair skin etc

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Would you say this is a “bad” background

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Or honestly what pointers would you give for taking this photo

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(Apart form the obvious of different facial expressions)

safe needle
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Nah this is good

shell girder
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watch tutorials on how to insert someone on a background
Use different angles
and also I learned that the best editing is no editing (for a pose/background when possible) not talking about the colors but if y

raw iron
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@solemn hatch I use photopea, I think it's good enough for what we probably need it for, as it's literally Photoshop but without any ai stuff
But because it's web based it does lag sometimes but oh well

keen shell
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it's called "shadows"

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if you using photoshop, there is BURN and HIGHLIGHT tool

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so basically you need to add more sculpting and depth to photo

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but there is ofc, alot more than to just burn + highlight :)

modest stag
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try pixlr

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its got all of the above

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for free

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online

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dude its amazing

solemn hatch
unique surge
# solemn hatch

Yours look different because…

  1. You’re not using a camera raw filter on the final image.

  2. You’re not adding manually pairing in highlights and shadows to the image to make it look more cohesive and realistic.

modest stag
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right

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lighting doesn't match

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harsh lines in cutouts of people

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different overall color levels

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and lack of shadows or other elements that really sell the image

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plus besides the background and the main character there are no 3d elements in between