How to Create a Thumbnail for YouTube Using Adobe Photoshop and Midjourney

Youtube gives the following recommendations for its content:

To create a thumbnail, I take the following steps:

In Adobe Photoshop, I create a canvas with dimensions of 1280 x 720 pixels

In Midjourney, I enter the prompt:

abstract background pink and purble cosmic waves --ar 16:9 --q 2 --s 750 --v 5

where:

–ar 16:9 parameter changes the aspect ratio of the generated image. An aspect ratio is the width-to-height ratio of an image;

–q 2 parameter changes how much time is spent generating an image. Higher-quality settings take longer to process and produce more details. Higher values also mean more GPU minutes are used per job. The quality setting does not impact resolution;

–s 750 Midjourney Bot has been trained to produce images that favor artistic color, composition, and forms. The --stylize or --s parameter influences how strongly this training is applied. Low stylization values produce images that closely match the prompt but are less artistic. High stylization values create images that are very artistic but less connected to the prompt;

–v 5 Midjourney routinely releases new model versions to improve efficiency, coherency, and quality. The latest model is the default, but other models can be used using the --version or --v parameter or by using the /settings command and selecting a model version. Different models excel at different types of images;

Out of the 4 versions generated, I select the last one, the fourth, by clicking on the U4 button, after which only this image is generated, and I save it to my PC:

I drop the background generated in Midjourney into Photoshop and drag it onto the canvas I created earlier. Next, I add text. It is advisable to save Photoshop files first in PSD format so that you can edit them later, then in JPG or PNG so that you can upload them to your Youtube channel.

Learn more in the video below.