Effective Team Videos: Boosting Channelnode Growth Rate

How to Make Collab Videos and Grow Your Channel?

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

The following post will teach you how to find and contact partners for YouTube collaborations, as well as provide advice for actually making the collab. We also did a post earlier this week about how to get other creators to collab with you,which includes videos from 4 different YouTubers on that subject.

• Choosing A Potential Partner
• How to Contact A Partner
• Types of collab videos
  • Shout outs
  • Guest spots
  • Long-distance collabs
• Getting the Most Out of Your Collaborations

1. Choosing A Potential Partner

Before you think about how you’re going to approach someone you need to decide who you want to approach.

A lot of people automatically want to approach their YouTube hero, and that can be a mistake. Liking your partner’s videos is a must – why would you want to refer your subscribers to someone whose channel you wouldn’t watch yourself? – but it can be really hard to get someone with a significantly bigger channel than yours to work with you.

Will Kitty get to collab with the big dog?

Larger YouTubers get a lot of collab requests, and they are really busy with their own channels. Even if they love your content, it can be hard to justify taking time away from working on their own channel to do videos that won’t help them grow too.

Collaborating with someone your own size means you both stand to gain equally in channel growth. Instead of approaching someone you love that’s huge, try finding someone you like just as much whose sub count is similar to yours.

There are exceptions to this, of course. The team at Mr.Kate managed to work with YouTubers who had millions of subs while they were still under 1 million. They got these high profile collabs because they had something additional to offer that made up for the subscriber gap – they were redesigning the apartments, offices, or studios of the YouTubers they did the collabs with. If you want to work with someone bigger than you, think about what you might be able to offer them in place of new subscribers.

Mr.Kate makes over **MyLifeAsEva **’s bedroom.

Also, try to find someone whose channel has something in common with yours thematically so you know your subscribers will be interested in them. They don’t have to do exactly what you do, but your topics should be related. For example: if you do quirky video game reviews and they do quirky movie reviews, you could team up to review a movie based on a game. That would make sense. But if you quirky video game reviews and they review do very serious ice cream reviews, that’ll make a lot less sense.

A good way to find potentially collab partners is to look at your list of subscribers. You already know everyone there likes your channel!

2. How to contact a partner

Sometimes people leave contact info in their video descriptions, but it might be easier to go to the About tab on their channel page and check for an email address. Look for a field that says for business inquiries, click on view email address, and use the CAPTCHA that appears to prove you aren’t a robot.

Reaching out more casually through Twitter DMs, YouTube comments, or Facebook is good too, but you should use those platforms more to build a relationship that could lead to a collab. If someone had never commented on a video of yours before and then commented once just to ask you to collab it’d be hard to believe they were really interested in your channel.

3. Popular Types of Collab Videos

Gabrielletalks about different types of collabs and how well they work.

In most cases when you do a collab, you’ll each want to have content to post to your own channels (unless you’re doing some type of interview). You don’t want to put a lot of effort into a video that won’t end up being ‘yours’. Here are a few different ways to collaborate:

#1. Shout outs

In this type of collab all you do is mention each other and, usually, use YouTube cards to link to each other’s channels. You make a video that is completely yours, and at some point in it you talk about your partner’s channel and why you like it. To make things fair, you should discuss how long the mentions will be and where in the videos they will happen. It wouldn’t feel good to gush about how great someone is for a full minute near the beginning of your video and have them spend two seconds mentioning you near the end of theirs.

I personally don’t check people out just because someone I like mentions them, so this might not be the best way to go if you’re hoping to bring in new subscribers. It is the easiest kind of collab to do, though.

2. Guest spots

This is my favorite kind of collab to watch, because each YouTuber has sole creative control over the video that goes on their channel. Instead of trying to blend your styles together, you each make videos that reflect your own personal styles.

For your video, you have the other vlogger on as a guest. In the video you do the same kinds of things your fans like watching you do, and you include the other person. If they’re alright with it, it can be fun to draw them a bit outside their comfort zone. If you like to dance on your channel, and they never dance on theirs, ask them to dance with you!

Matthias gets NateWantsToBattle – who does song parodies on his channel – to make balloon animals.

Turnabout is fair play, of course, so be prepared to step a bit outside of your own comfort zone when you appear as a guest in one of their videos.

Alternatively, you could just introduce your guest and then let them take over and then do the same thing in reverse on their channel.

3. Long distance collabs

Lauren is in Toronto and Aja is in LA, but that doesn’t mean they can’t cook together! Also: Lauren’s channel is about food and Aja’s is about healthy living – they aren’t exactly the same, but they’re related enough that the collab makes sense.

Sometimes you really want to work together, but geography just won’t bend to your wills. That doesn’t mean you can’t collab. You can always send each other some footage to cut to and make videos together that way. Or, you can do a Google Hangout or Skype chat and record it.

4. Getting the Most Out of Your Collaborations

Usually, you have two reasons for wanting to do a collab; having fun with another YouTuber, and growing your channel. The collab exposes you to their subscribers, who will hopefully decide they like you and subscribe to you too. There are ways of increasing the odds of this happening.

Commenting on each other’s videos, and responding to viewer comments, is one of the best. It will help you seem more like a person who is being introduced than a guest star in a video.

Kitty got the collab! They’re friends now – doesn’t that make you want to sub?

What have your experiences with YouTube collaborations been like?

Use Split-Screen Presets to Create Collab Videos in Filmora

Wondershare Filmora features lots of split-screen presets which allows you to put several videos together at the same time.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

The following post will teach you how to find and contact partners for YouTube collaborations, as well as provide advice for actually making the collab. We also did a post earlier this week about how to get other creators to collab with you,which includes videos from 4 different YouTubers on that subject.

• Choosing A Potential Partner
• How to Contact A Partner
• Types of collab videos
  • Shout outs
  • Guest spots
  • Long-distance collabs
• Getting the Most Out of Your Collaborations

1. Choosing A Potential Partner

Before you think about how you’re going to approach someone you need to decide who you want to approach.

A lot of people automatically want to approach their YouTube hero, and that can be a mistake. Liking your partner’s videos is a must – why would you want to refer your subscribers to someone whose channel you wouldn’t watch yourself? – but it can be really hard to get someone with a significantly bigger channel than yours to work with you.

Will Kitty get to collab with the big dog?

Larger YouTubers get a lot of collab requests, and they are really busy with their own channels. Even if they love your content, it can be hard to justify taking time away from working on their own channel to do videos that won’t help them grow too.

Collaborating with someone your own size means you both stand to gain equally in channel growth. Instead of approaching someone you love that’s huge, try finding someone you like just as much whose sub count is similar to yours.

There are exceptions to this, of course. The team at Mr.Kate managed to work with YouTubers who had millions of subs while they were still under 1 million. They got these high profile collabs because they had something additional to offer that made up for the subscriber gap – they were redesigning the apartments, offices, or studios of the YouTubers they did the collabs with. If you want to work with someone bigger than you, think about what you might be able to offer them in place of new subscribers.

Mr.Kate makes over **MyLifeAsEva **’s bedroom.

Also, try to find someone whose channel has something in common with yours thematically so you know your subscribers will be interested in them. They don’t have to do exactly what you do, but your topics should be related. For example: if you do quirky video game reviews and they do quirky movie reviews, you could team up to review a movie based on a game. That would make sense. But if you quirky video game reviews and they review do very serious ice cream reviews, that’ll make a lot less sense.

A good way to find potentially collab partners is to look at your list of subscribers. You already know everyone there likes your channel!

2. How to contact a partner

Sometimes people leave contact info in their video descriptions, but it might be easier to go to the About tab on their channel page and check for an email address. Look for a field that says for business inquiries, click on view email address, and use the CAPTCHA that appears to prove you aren’t a robot.

Reaching out more casually through Twitter DMs, YouTube comments, or Facebook is good too, but you should use those platforms more to build a relationship that could lead to a collab. If someone had never commented on a video of yours before and then commented once just to ask you to collab it’d be hard to believe they were really interested in your channel.

3. Popular Types of Collab Videos

Gabrielletalks about different types of collabs and how well they work.

In most cases when you do a collab, you’ll each want to have content to post to your own channels (unless you’re doing some type of interview). You don’t want to put a lot of effort into a video that won’t end up being ‘yours’. Here are a few different ways to collaborate:

#1. Shout outs

In this type of collab all you do is mention each other and, usually, use YouTube cards to link to each other’s channels. You make a video that is completely yours, and at some point in it you talk about your partner’s channel and why you like it. To make things fair, you should discuss how long the mentions will be and where in the videos they will happen. It wouldn’t feel good to gush about how great someone is for a full minute near the beginning of your video and have them spend two seconds mentioning you near the end of theirs.

I personally don’t check people out just because someone I like mentions them, so this might not be the best way to go if you’re hoping to bring in new subscribers. It is the easiest kind of collab to do, though.

2. Guest spots

This is my favorite kind of collab to watch, because each YouTuber has sole creative control over the video that goes on their channel. Instead of trying to blend your styles together, you each make videos that reflect your own personal styles.

For your video, you have the other vlogger on as a guest. In the video you do the same kinds of things your fans like watching you do, and you include the other person. If they’re alright with it, it can be fun to draw them a bit outside their comfort zone. If you like to dance on your channel, and they never dance on theirs, ask them to dance with you!

Matthias gets NateWantsToBattle – who does song parodies on his channel – to make balloon animals.

Turnabout is fair play, of course, so be prepared to step a bit outside of your own comfort zone when you appear as a guest in one of their videos.

Alternatively, you could just introduce your guest and then let them take over and then do the same thing in reverse on their channel.

3. Long distance collabs

Lauren is in Toronto and Aja is in LA, but that doesn’t mean they can’t cook together! Also: Lauren’s channel is about food and Aja’s is about healthy living – they aren’t exactly the same, but they’re related enough that the collab makes sense.

Sometimes you really want to work together, but geography just won’t bend to your wills. That doesn’t mean you can’t collab. You can always send each other some footage to cut to and make videos together that way. Or, you can do a Google Hangout or Skype chat and record it.

4. Getting the Most Out of Your Collaborations

Usually, you have two reasons for wanting to do a collab; having fun with another YouTuber, and growing your channel. The collab exposes you to their subscribers, who will hopefully decide they like you and subscribe to you too. There are ways of increasing the odds of this happening.

Commenting on each other’s videos, and responding to viewer comments, is one of the best. It will help you seem more like a person who is being introduced than a guest star in a video.

Kitty got the collab! They’re friends now – doesn’t that make you want to sub?

What have your experiences with YouTube collaborations been like?

Use Split-Screen Presets to Create Collab Videos in Filmora

Wondershare Filmora features lots of split-screen presets which allows you to put several videos together at the same time.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

The following post will teach you how to find and contact partners for YouTube collaborations, as well as provide advice for actually making the collab. We also did a post earlier this week about how to get other creators to collab with you,which includes videos from 4 different YouTubers on that subject.

• Choosing A Potential Partner
• How to Contact A Partner
• Types of collab videos
  • Shout outs
  • Guest spots
  • Long-distance collabs
• Getting the Most Out of Your Collaborations

1. Choosing A Potential Partner

Before you think about how you’re going to approach someone you need to decide who you want to approach.

A lot of people automatically want to approach their YouTube hero, and that can be a mistake. Liking your partner’s videos is a must – why would you want to refer your subscribers to someone whose channel you wouldn’t watch yourself? – but it can be really hard to get someone with a significantly bigger channel than yours to work with you.

Will Kitty get to collab with the big dog?

Larger YouTubers get a lot of collab requests, and they are really busy with their own channels. Even if they love your content, it can be hard to justify taking time away from working on their own channel to do videos that won’t help them grow too.

Collaborating with someone your own size means you both stand to gain equally in channel growth. Instead of approaching someone you love that’s huge, try finding someone you like just as much whose sub count is similar to yours.

There are exceptions to this, of course. The team at Mr.Kate managed to work with YouTubers who had millions of subs while they were still under 1 million. They got these high profile collabs because they had something additional to offer that made up for the subscriber gap – they were redesigning the apartments, offices, or studios of the YouTubers they did the collabs with. If you want to work with someone bigger than you, think about what you might be able to offer them in place of new subscribers.

Mr.Kate makes over **MyLifeAsEva **’s bedroom.

Also, try to find someone whose channel has something in common with yours thematically so you know your subscribers will be interested in them. They don’t have to do exactly what you do, but your topics should be related. For example: if you do quirky video game reviews and they do quirky movie reviews, you could team up to review a movie based on a game. That would make sense. But if you quirky video game reviews and they review do very serious ice cream reviews, that’ll make a lot less sense.

A good way to find potentially collab partners is to look at your list of subscribers. You already know everyone there likes your channel!

2. How to contact a partner

Sometimes people leave contact info in their video descriptions, but it might be easier to go to the About tab on their channel page and check for an email address. Look for a field that says for business inquiries, click on view email address, and use the CAPTCHA that appears to prove you aren’t a robot.

Reaching out more casually through Twitter DMs, YouTube comments, or Facebook is good too, but you should use those platforms more to build a relationship that could lead to a collab. If someone had never commented on a video of yours before and then commented once just to ask you to collab it’d be hard to believe they were really interested in your channel.

3. Popular Types of Collab Videos

Gabrielletalks about different types of collabs and how well they work.

In most cases when you do a collab, you’ll each want to have content to post to your own channels (unless you’re doing some type of interview). You don’t want to put a lot of effort into a video that won’t end up being ‘yours’. Here are a few different ways to collaborate:

#1. Shout outs

In this type of collab all you do is mention each other and, usually, use YouTube cards to link to each other’s channels. You make a video that is completely yours, and at some point in it you talk about your partner’s channel and why you like it. To make things fair, you should discuss how long the mentions will be and where in the videos they will happen. It wouldn’t feel good to gush about how great someone is for a full minute near the beginning of your video and have them spend two seconds mentioning you near the end of theirs.

I personally don’t check people out just because someone I like mentions them, so this might not be the best way to go if you’re hoping to bring in new subscribers. It is the easiest kind of collab to do, though.

2. Guest spots

This is my favorite kind of collab to watch, because each YouTuber has sole creative control over the video that goes on their channel. Instead of trying to blend your styles together, you each make videos that reflect your own personal styles.

For your video, you have the other vlogger on as a guest. In the video you do the same kinds of things your fans like watching you do, and you include the other person. If they’re alright with it, it can be fun to draw them a bit outside their comfort zone. If you like to dance on your channel, and they never dance on theirs, ask them to dance with you!

Matthias gets NateWantsToBattle – who does song parodies on his channel – to make balloon animals.

Turnabout is fair play, of course, so be prepared to step a bit outside of your own comfort zone when you appear as a guest in one of their videos.

Alternatively, you could just introduce your guest and then let them take over and then do the same thing in reverse on their channel.

3. Long distance collabs

Lauren is in Toronto and Aja is in LA, but that doesn’t mean they can’t cook together! Also: Lauren’s channel is about food and Aja’s is about healthy living – they aren’t exactly the same, but they’re related enough that the collab makes sense.

Sometimes you really want to work together, but geography just won’t bend to your wills. That doesn’t mean you can’t collab. You can always send each other some footage to cut to and make videos together that way. Or, you can do a Google Hangout or Skype chat and record it.

4. Getting the Most Out of Your Collaborations

Usually, you have two reasons for wanting to do a collab; having fun with another YouTuber, and growing your channel. The collab exposes you to their subscribers, who will hopefully decide they like you and subscribe to you too. There are ways of increasing the odds of this happening.

Commenting on each other’s videos, and responding to viewer comments, is one of the best. It will help you seem more like a person who is being introduced than a guest star in a video.

Kitty got the collab! They’re friends now – doesn’t that make you want to sub?

What have your experiences with YouTube collaborations been like?

Use Split-Screen Presets to Create Collab Videos in Filmora

Wondershare Filmora features lots of split-screen presets which allows you to put several videos together at the same time.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

The following post will teach you how to find and contact partners for YouTube collaborations, as well as provide advice for actually making the collab. We also did a post earlier this week about how to get other creators to collab with you,which includes videos from 4 different YouTubers on that subject.

• Choosing A Potential Partner
• How to Contact A Partner
• Types of collab videos
  • Shout outs
  • Guest spots
  • Long-distance collabs
• Getting the Most Out of Your Collaborations

1. Choosing A Potential Partner

Before you think about how you’re going to approach someone you need to decide who you want to approach.

A lot of people automatically want to approach their YouTube hero, and that can be a mistake. Liking your partner’s videos is a must – why would you want to refer your subscribers to someone whose channel you wouldn’t watch yourself? – but it can be really hard to get someone with a significantly bigger channel than yours to work with you.

Will Kitty get to collab with the big dog?

Larger YouTubers get a lot of collab requests, and they are really busy with their own channels. Even if they love your content, it can be hard to justify taking time away from working on their own channel to do videos that won’t help them grow too.

Collaborating with someone your own size means you both stand to gain equally in channel growth. Instead of approaching someone you love that’s huge, try finding someone you like just as much whose sub count is similar to yours.

There are exceptions to this, of course. The team at Mr.Kate managed to work with YouTubers who had millions of subs while they were still under 1 million. They got these high profile collabs because they had something additional to offer that made up for the subscriber gap – they were redesigning the apartments, offices, or studios of the YouTubers they did the collabs with. If you want to work with someone bigger than you, think about what you might be able to offer them in place of new subscribers.

Mr.Kate makes over **MyLifeAsEva **’s bedroom.

Also, try to find someone whose channel has something in common with yours thematically so you know your subscribers will be interested in them. They don’t have to do exactly what you do, but your topics should be related. For example: if you do quirky video game reviews and they do quirky movie reviews, you could team up to review a movie based on a game. That would make sense. But if you quirky video game reviews and they review do very serious ice cream reviews, that’ll make a lot less sense.

A good way to find potentially collab partners is to look at your list of subscribers. You already know everyone there likes your channel!

2. How to contact a partner

Sometimes people leave contact info in their video descriptions, but it might be easier to go to the About tab on their channel page and check for an email address. Look for a field that says for business inquiries, click on view email address, and use the CAPTCHA that appears to prove you aren’t a robot.

Reaching out more casually through Twitter DMs, YouTube comments, or Facebook is good too, but you should use those platforms more to build a relationship that could lead to a collab. If someone had never commented on a video of yours before and then commented once just to ask you to collab it’d be hard to believe they were really interested in your channel.

3. Popular Types of Collab Videos

Gabrielletalks about different types of collabs and how well they work.

In most cases when you do a collab, you’ll each want to have content to post to your own channels (unless you’re doing some type of interview). You don’t want to put a lot of effort into a video that won’t end up being ‘yours’. Here are a few different ways to collaborate:

#1. Shout outs

In this type of collab all you do is mention each other and, usually, use YouTube cards to link to each other’s channels. You make a video that is completely yours, and at some point in it you talk about your partner’s channel and why you like it. To make things fair, you should discuss how long the mentions will be and where in the videos they will happen. It wouldn’t feel good to gush about how great someone is for a full minute near the beginning of your video and have them spend two seconds mentioning you near the end of theirs.

I personally don’t check people out just because someone I like mentions them, so this might not be the best way to go if you’re hoping to bring in new subscribers. It is the easiest kind of collab to do, though.

2. Guest spots

This is my favorite kind of collab to watch, because each YouTuber has sole creative control over the video that goes on their channel. Instead of trying to blend your styles together, you each make videos that reflect your own personal styles.

For your video, you have the other vlogger on as a guest. In the video you do the same kinds of things your fans like watching you do, and you include the other person. If they’re alright with it, it can be fun to draw them a bit outside their comfort zone. If you like to dance on your channel, and they never dance on theirs, ask them to dance with you!

Matthias gets NateWantsToBattle – who does song parodies on his channel – to make balloon animals.

Turnabout is fair play, of course, so be prepared to step a bit outside of your own comfort zone when you appear as a guest in one of their videos.

Alternatively, you could just introduce your guest and then let them take over and then do the same thing in reverse on their channel.

3. Long distance collabs

Lauren is in Toronto and Aja is in LA, but that doesn’t mean they can’t cook together! Also: Lauren’s channel is about food and Aja’s is about healthy living – they aren’t exactly the same, but they’re related enough that the collab makes sense.

Sometimes you really want to work together, but geography just won’t bend to your wills. That doesn’t mean you can’t collab. You can always send each other some footage to cut to and make videos together that way. Or, you can do a Google Hangout or Skype chat and record it.

4. Getting the Most Out of Your Collaborations

Usually, you have two reasons for wanting to do a collab; having fun with another YouTuber, and growing your channel. The collab exposes you to their subscribers, who will hopefully decide they like you and subscribe to you too. There are ways of increasing the odds of this happening.

Commenting on each other’s videos, and responding to viewer comments, is one of the best. It will help you seem more like a person who is being introduced than a guest star in a video.

Kitty got the collab! They’re friends now – doesn’t that make you want to sub?

What have your experiences with YouTube collaborations been like?

Use Split-Screen Presets to Create Collab Videos in Filmora

Wondershare Filmora features lots of split-screen presets which allows you to put several videos together at the same time.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Light Up Video Images: Add a Gleaming Frame

Your YouTube video, or any other clip published on any forum, gets a larger number of hits if it has an attractive thumbnail. And, the fact is, a thumbnail becomes 10x more attractive when the main character that the image has have a neon border around it.

With that said, in the following sections, you will learn a couple of methods on how to add a YouTube thumbnail border around the main characters and/or objects that are significant to the clip.

In this article

01 Add Glowing Neon Border to YouTube Thumbnail with Filmora

02 Add a Glowing Neon Border in YouTube Thumbnail with Canva

03 Outline a Person in a YouTube Thumbnail with Photoshop

Part 1: How to Add Neon Border to YouTube Thumbnail for Free with Filmora

Being one of the most versatile and intuitive post-production tools available in the market today, Wondershare Filmora X allows you to add a neon border to a YouTube thumbnail quite conveniently. You can learn how to get this done on Windows or Mac by following the steps given below.

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Step 1: Define Project Settings and Add Image to the Timeline

Launch Wondershare Filmora X on your PC (a MacBook Pro M1 is used here), ensure that the project aspect ratio is set to 16:9 (Widescreen) on the splash screen, and click New Project. On the main interface, click the Preview quality and display settings icon from the upper-right area of the Timeline, click Change Project Aspect Ratio, click to select 1280 x 720 (HD) from the Resolution menu of the Project Settings box, and click OK to save the custom project settings.

Then select My Media from the menu bar if not already selected, click Project Media from the navigation pane, and click Import from the Media box to select and import the image of the main character or object that you want to use in the thumbnail.

Now, drag the image from the Media box to the Timeline at the bottom.

Step 2: Clear Image Background, Add Border, and Add Custom Background

Go to Effects from the menu bar, click to select the Default tab and then AI Portrait from the navigation pane, and click and drag the Human Segmentation preset from the right box, and place it over the image track in the Timeline.

Double-click the image layer, scroll down the upper-left box to the Video Effects section, and use the Edge Thickness and Edge Feather sliders to adjust the character’s edges to make them as realistic as possible. Click OK when done.

Next, click and drag the Human Border preset over the image track in the Timeline, and follow the same procedure to customize the border. This will give the character a neon border effect.

Now, use the method explained earlier to import a custom image for the background, and drag and place it under the previous track in the Timeline.

If you are running the latest version of Filmora, you will find there are some neon light effects available under AI Portrait as well.

Step 3: Add Titles to Thumbnail

Go to Titles from the menu bar, click to select the Default tab and then Lower 3rds from the navigation pane, and click and drag your preferred lower-third preset from the right window to a separate layer in the Timeline. Double-click the lower-third layer, and use the available options in the upper-left window to change the text, its color, etc., and drag the textbox to place it to your preferred position on the image as well. Click OK to save the changes.

Next, click to select Titles from the navigation pane, and drag your preferred title from the right window to the upper-most track in the Timeline. Now use the method explained earlier to edit the text, its color, position, etc. to make it look professional.

For more tips and tricks for creating YouTube thumbnail, you can check this You Tube thumbnail creating guide.

Step 4: Get the Neon Border Thumbnail

Click the Snapshot (Camera) icon from the upper-right area of the Timeline, go to My Media from the menu bar, right-click the thumbnail of the screenshot you captured, and click Reveal in Finder (on Mac) or Reveal in Explorer (on Windows) to get to the folder the YouTube thumbnail border is saved in.

Part 2: How to Add a Glowing Neon Border in Your YouTube Thumbnail with Canva

Canva is another intuitive editing program that works on the web interface rather than having you download and install an app on your PC. You can add a neon border for YouTube thumbnails using Canva by following the instructions given below:

Step 1: Define Project Settings and Add a Background

After signing in to your Canva account, click Create a design from the top-right corner of the page, click Custom size from the bottom, define 1280 and 720 in the Width and Height fields on the box that appears respectively, and click Create new design.

Now, click to select Background from the navigation bar on the left (if the Background tool is not visible, click More and then choose Background from the expanded list), and click to select a background from the images available in the center pane.

Step 2: Upload an Image and Add Effects

Click Uploads from the navigation bar, click the More icon from the right of the Upload media button present at the top of the center pane, choose your preferred method to upload the image (with the transparent background) that you want to use, upload the image, and drag it from the center pane to the Canvas.

Note: You can use any of the tools available online to remove the background from your image for free.

To add a YouTube thumbnail border, make sure that the image that you added to the Canvas is selected, click the Duplicate icon from the upper-right area, and use the scaling handles of the copy of the image to increase its size a bit. Reposition the image back to its original location as well.

Then, click Edit image from the upper-left corner of the Canvas, click Duotone from the Edit image pane at the center, if need be, click See all, choose your preferred duotone effect to apply on the image, choose your preferred highlight and shadow colors from the box that appears next, and click Back from the top of the pane.

Next, click See all next to the Adjust section from the center pane, and drag the Blur slider to the right to increase the blur effect on the image.

Step 3: Position the Layers

While keeping the duplicate image selected, click the Position button from the upper-right area of the Canvas, and click Background to send the second image behind the first one to get the neon border effect for the photo.

Part 3: How to Outline a Person in a YouTube Thumbnail with Photoshop

Because YouTube thumbnails are nothing but static images, creating YouTube thumbnail border with Adobe Photoshop is comparatively easier. The process of doing this is given below:

Step 1: Define Document Preferences and Import an Image

Launch Adobe Photoshop on your PC, click Create new, and on the New Document customization box, define the width and height values to 1280 and 720 pixels respectively. Select Transparent from the Background Contents menu as well if not already selected. Click Create from the bottom to create a new Photoshop document with the specified document settings. Next, open the folder that contains the source image, drag the photo to Photoshop, and press Enter to place the photo.

Step 2: Remove Background from the Image

Make sure that the image layer is selected in the Layers panel on the right, go to Select from the menu bar at the top, and click Subject. From the bottom of the Layers panel, click the Add a mask icon to get rid of the background, leaving only the human on the Canvas.

Step 3: Add a Custom Background and an Outline Around the Subject

Use the method explained earlier to import a background image of your choice to Photoshop. Drag the background image layer to the bottom in the Layers panel. Double-click the masked layer, click to select Stroke from the left pane of the Layer Style box, and use the options available on the right to manage the size, color, position, etc. of the stroke that has been added around the human subject. Click OK when done, and then export the image normally to use it as a YouTube thumbnail border.

Summary

It is important to know that the default resolution of a YouTube thumbnail is 1280 x 720 pixels that is usually written and referred to as 720p. While adding a YouTube thumbnail border, it is also imperative to have a good sense of color combination and fonts. Furthermore, a decent tool like Wondershare Filmora X must be used to add an appealing neon border around the main subject in the thumbnail image easily and quickly.

02 Add a Glowing Neon Border in YouTube Thumbnail with Canva

03 Outline a Person in a YouTube Thumbnail with Photoshop

Part 1: How to Add Neon Border to YouTube Thumbnail for Free with Filmora

Being one of the most versatile and intuitive post-production tools available in the market today, Wondershare Filmora X allows you to add a neon border to a YouTube thumbnail quite conveniently. You can learn how to get this done on Windows or Mac by following the steps given below.

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Step 1: Define Project Settings and Add Image to the Timeline

Launch Wondershare Filmora X on your PC (a MacBook Pro M1 is used here), ensure that the project aspect ratio is set to 16:9 (Widescreen) on the splash screen, and click New Project. On the main interface, click the Preview quality and display settings icon from the upper-right area of the Timeline, click Change Project Aspect Ratio, click to select 1280 x 720 (HD) from the Resolution menu of the Project Settings box, and click OK to save the custom project settings.

Then select My Media from the menu bar if not already selected, click Project Media from the navigation pane, and click Import from the Media box to select and import the image of the main character or object that you want to use in the thumbnail.

Now, drag the image from the Media box to the Timeline at the bottom.

Step 2: Clear Image Background, Add Border, and Add Custom Background

Go to Effects from the menu bar, click to select the Default tab and then AI Portrait from the navigation pane, and click and drag the Human Segmentation preset from the right box, and place it over the image track in the Timeline.

Double-click the image layer, scroll down the upper-left box to the Video Effects section, and use the Edge Thickness and Edge Feather sliders to adjust the character’s edges to make them as realistic as possible. Click OK when done.

Next, click and drag the Human Border preset over the image track in the Timeline, and follow the same procedure to customize the border. This will give the character a neon border effect.

Now, use the method explained earlier to import a custom image for the background, and drag and place it under the previous track in the Timeline.

If you are running the latest version of Filmora, you will find there are some neon light effects available under AI Portrait as well.

Step 3: Add Titles to Thumbnail

Go to Titles from the menu bar, click to select the Default tab and then Lower 3rds from the navigation pane, and click and drag your preferred lower-third preset from the right window to a separate layer in the Timeline. Double-click the lower-third layer, and use the available options in the upper-left window to change the text, its color, etc., and drag the textbox to place it to your preferred position on the image as well. Click OK to save the changes.

Next, click to select Titles from the navigation pane, and drag your preferred title from the right window to the upper-most track in the Timeline. Now use the method explained earlier to edit the text, its color, position, etc. to make it look professional.

For more tips and tricks for creating YouTube thumbnail, you can check this You Tube thumbnail creating guide.

Step 4: Get the Neon Border Thumbnail

Click the Snapshot (Camera) icon from the upper-right area of the Timeline, go to My Media from the menu bar, right-click the thumbnail of the screenshot you captured, and click Reveal in Finder (on Mac) or Reveal in Explorer (on Windows) to get to the folder the YouTube thumbnail border is saved in.

Part 2: How to Add a Glowing Neon Border in Your YouTube Thumbnail with Canva

Canva is another intuitive editing program that works on the web interface rather than having you download and install an app on your PC. You can add a neon border for YouTube thumbnails using Canva by following the instructions given below:

Step 1: Define Project Settings and Add a Background

After signing in to your Canva account, click Create a design from the top-right corner of the page, click Custom size from the bottom, define 1280 and 720 in the Width and Height fields on the box that appears respectively, and click Create new design.

Now, click to select Background from the navigation bar on the left (if the Background tool is not visible, click More and then choose Background from the expanded list), and click to select a background from the images available in the center pane.

Step 2: Upload an Image and Add Effects

Click Uploads from the navigation bar, click the More icon from the right of the Upload media button present at the top of the center pane, choose your preferred method to upload the image (with the transparent background) that you want to use, upload the image, and drag it from the center pane to the Canvas.

Note: You can use any of the tools available online to remove the background from your image for free.

To add a YouTube thumbnail border, make sure that the image that you added to the Canvas is selected, click the Duplicate icon from the upper-right area, and use the scaling handles of the copy of the image to increase its size a bit. Reposition the image back to its original location as well.

Then, click Edit image from the upper-left corner of the Canvas, click Duotone from the Edit image pane at the center, if need be, click See all, choose your preferred duotone effect to apply on the image, choose your preferred highlight and shadow colors from the box that appears next, and click Back from the top of the pane.

Next, click See all next to the Adjust section from the center pane, and drag the Blur slider to the right to increase the blur effect on the image.

Step 3: Position the Layers

While keeping the duplicate image selected, click the Position button from the upper-right area of the Canvas, and click Background to send the second image behind the first one to get the neon border effect for the photo.

Part 3: How to Outline a Person in a YouTube Thumbnail with Photoshop

Because YouTube thumbnails are nothing but static images, creating YouTube thumbnail border with Adobe Photoshop is comparatively easier. The process of doing this is given below:

Step 1: Define Document Preferences and Import an Image

Launch Adobe Photoshop on your PC, click Create new, and on the New Document customization box, define the width and height values to 1280 and 720 pixels respectively. Select Transparent from the Background Contents menu as well if not already selected. Click Create from the bottom to create a new Photoshop document with the specified document settings. Next, open the folder that contains the source image, drag the photo to Photoshop, and press Enter to place the photo.

Step 2: Remove Background from the Image

Make sure that the image layer is selected in the Layers panel on the right, go to Select from the menu bar at the top, and click Subject. From the bottom of the Layers panel, click the Add a mask icon to get rid of the background, leaving only the human on the Canvas.

Step 3: Add a Custom Background and an Outline Around the Subject

Use the method explained earlier to import a background image of your choice to Photoshop. Drag the background image layer to the bottom in the Layers panel. Double-click the masked layer, click to select Stroke from the left pane of the Layer Style box, and use the options available on the right to manage the size, color, position, etc. of the stroke that has been added around the human subject. Click OK when done, and then export the image normally to use it as a YouTube thumbnail border.

Summary

It is important to know that the default resolution of a YouTube thumbnail is 1280 x 720 pixels that is usually written and referred to as 720p. While adding a YouTube thumbnail border, it is also imperative to have a good sense of color combination and fonts. Furthermore, a decent tool like Wondershare Filmora X must be used to add an appealing neon border around the main subject in the thumbnail image easily and quickly.

02 Add a Glowing Neon Border in YouTube Thumbnail with Canva

03 Outline a Person in a YouTube Thumbnail with Photoshop

Part 1: How to Add Neon Border to YouTube Thumbnail for Free with Filmora

Being one of the most versatile and intuitive post-production tools available in the market today, Wondershare Filmora X allows you to add a neon border to a YouTube thumbnail quite conveniently. You can learn how to get this done on Windows or Mac by following the steps given below.

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Step 1: Define Project Settings and Add Image to the Timeline

Launch Wondershare Filmora X on your PC (a MacBook Pro M1 is used here), ensure that the project aspect ratio is set to 16:9 (Widescreen) on the splash screen, and click New Project. On the main interface, click the Preview quality and display settings icon from the upper-right area of the Timeline, click Change Project Aspect Ratio, click to select 1280 x 720 (HD) from the Resolution menu of the Project Settings box, and click OK to save the custom project settings.

Then select My Media from the menu bar if not already selected, click Project Media from the navigation pane, and click Import from the Media box to select and import the image of the main character or object that you want to use in the thumbnail.

Now, drag the image from the Media box to the Timeline at the bottom.

Step 2: Clear Image Background, Add Border, and Add Custom Background

Go to Effects from the menu bar, click to select the Default tab and then AI Portrait from the navigation pane, and click and drag the Human Segmentation preset from the right box, and place it over the image track in the Timeline.

Double-click the image layer, scroll down the upper-left box to the Video Effects section, and use the Edge Thickness and Edge Feather sliders to adjust the character’s edges to make them as realistic as possible. Click OK when done.

Next, click and drag the Human Border preset over the image track in the Timeline, and follow the same procedure to customize the border. This will give the character a neon border effect.

Now, use the method explained earlier to import a custom image for the background, and drag and place it under the previous track in the Timeline.

If you are running the latest version of Filmora, you will find there are some neon light effects available under AI Portrait as well.

Step 3: Add Titles to Thumbnail

Go to Titles from the menu bar, click to select the Default tab and then Lower 3rds from the navigation pane, and click and drag your preferred lower-third preset from the right window to a separate layer in the Timeline. Double-click the lower-third layer, and use the available options in the upper-left window to change the text, its color, etc., and drag the textbox to place it to your preferred position on the image as well. Click OK to save the changes.

Next, click to select Titles from the navigation pane, and drag your preferred title from the right window to the upper-most track in the Timeline. Now use the method explained earlier to edit the text, its color, position, etc. to make it look professional.

For more tips and tricks for creating YouTube thumbnail, you can check this You Tube thumbnail creating guide.

Step 4: Get the Neon Border Thumbnail

Click the Snapshot (Camera) icon from the upper-right area of the Timeline, go to My Media from the menu bar, right-click the thumbnail of the screenshot you captured, and click Reveal in Finder (on Mac) or Reveal in Explorer (on Windows) to get to the folder the YouTube thumbnail border is saved in.

Part 2: How to Add a Glowing Neon Border in Your YouTube Thumbnail with Canva

Canva is another intuitive editing program that works on the web interface rather than having you download and install an app on your PC. You can add a neon border for YouTube thumbnails using Canva by following the instructions given below:

Step 1: Define Project Settings and Add a Background

After signing in to your Canva account, click Create a design from the top-right corner of the page, click Custom size from the bottom, define 1280 and 720 in the Width and Height fields on the box that appears respectively, and click Create new design.

Now, click to select Background from the navigation bar on the left (if the Background tool is not visible, click More and then choose Background from the expanded list), and click to select a background from the images available in the center pane.

Step 2: Upload an Image and Add Effects

Click Uploads from the navigation bar, click the More icon from the right of the Upload media button present at the top of the center pane, choose your preferred method to upload the image (with the transparent background) that you want to use, upload the image, and drag it from the center pane to the Canvas.

Note: You can use any of the tools available online to remove the background from your image for free.

To add a YouTube thumbnail border, make sure that the image that you added to the Canvas is selected, click the Duplicate icon from the upper-right area, and use the scaling handles of the copy of the image to increase its size a bit. Reposition the image back to its original location as well.

Then, click Edit image from the upper-left corner of the Canvas, click Duotone from the Edit image pane at the center, if need be, click See all, choose your preferred duotone effect to apply on the image, choose your preferred highlight and shadow colors from the box that appears next, and click Back from the top of the pane.

Next, click See all next to the Adjust section from the center pane, and drag the Blur slider to the right to increase the blur effect on the image.

Step 3: Position the Layers

While keeping the duplicate image selected, click the Position button from the upper-right area of the Canvas, and click Background to send the second image behind the first one to get the neon border effect for the photo.

Part 3: How to Outline a Person in a YouTube Thumbnail with Photoshop

Because YouTube thumbnails are nothing but static images, creating YouTube thumbnail border with Adobe Photoshop is comparatively easier. The process of doing this is given below:

Step 1: Define Document Preferences and Import an Image

Launch Adobe Photoshop on your PC, click Create new, and on the New Document customization box, define the width and height values to 1280 and 720 pixels respectively. Select Transparent from the Background Contents menu as well if not already selected. Click Create from the bottom to create a new Photoshop document with the specified document settings. Next, open the folder that contains the source image, drag the photo to Photoshop, and press Enter to place the photo.

Step 2: Remove Background from the Image

Make sure that the image layer is selected in the Layers panel on the right, go to Select from the menu bar at the top, and click Subject. From the bottom of the Layers panel, click the Add a mask icon to get rid of the background, leaving only the human on the Canvas.

Step 3: Add a Custom Background and an Outline Around the Subject

Use the method explained earlier to import a background image of your choice to Photoshop. Drag the background image layer to the bottom in the Layers panel. Double-click the masked layer, click to select Stroke from the left pane of the Layer Style box, and use the options available on the right to manage the size, color, position, etc. of the stroke that has been added around the human subject. Click OK when done, and then export the image normally to use it as a YouTube thumbnail border.

Summary

It is important to know that the default resolution of a YouTube thumbnail is 1280 x 720 pixels that is usually written and referred to as 720p. While adding a YouTube thumbnail border, it is also imperative to have a good sense of color combination and fonts. Furthermore, a decent tool like Wondershare Filmora X must be used to add an appealing neon border around the main subject in the thumbnail image easily and quickly.

02 Add a Glowing Neon Border in YouTube Thumbnail with Canva

03 Outline a Person in a YouTube Thumbnail with Photoshop

Part 1: How to Add Neon Border to YouTube Thumbnail for Free with Filmora

Being one of the most versatile and intuitive post-production tools available in the market today, Wondershare Filmora X allows you to add a neon border to a YouTube thumbnail quite conveniently. You can learn how to get this done on Windows or Mac by following the steps given below.

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Step 1: Define Project Settings and Add Image to the Timeline

Launch Wondershare Filmora X on your PC (a MacBook Pro M1 is used here), ensure that the project aspect ratio is set to 16:9 (Widescreen) on the splash screen, and click New Project. On the main interface, click the Preview quality and display settings icon from the upper-right area of the Timeline, click Change Project Aspect Ratio, click to select 1280 x 720 (HD) from the Resolution menu of the Project Settings box, and click OK to save the custom project settings.

Then select My Media from the menu bar if not already selected, click Project Media from the navigation pane, and click Import from the Media box to select and import the image of the main character or object that you want to use in the thumbnail.

Now, drag the image from the Media box to the Timeline at the bottom.

Step 2: Clear Image Background, Add Border, and Add Custom Background

Go to Effects from the menu bar, click to select the Default tab and then AI Portrait from the navigation pane, and click and drag the Human Segmentation preset from the right box, and place it over the image track in the Timeline.

Double-click the image layer, scroll down the upper-left box to the Video Effects section, and use the Edge Thickness and Edge Feather sliders to adjust the character’s edges to make them as realistic as possible. Click OK when done.

Next, click and drag the Human Border preset over the image track in the Timeline, and follow the same procedure to customize the border. This will give the character a neon border effect.

Now, use the method explained earlier to import a custom image for the background, and drag and place it under the previous track in the Timeline.

If you are running the latest version of Filmora, you will find there are some neon light effects available under AI Portrait as well.

Step 3: Add Titles to Thumbnail

Go to Titles from the menu bar, click to select the Default tab and then Lower 3rds from the navigation pane, and click and drag your preferred lower-third preset from the right window to a separate layer in the Timeline. Double-click the lower-third layer, and use the available options in the upper-left window to change the text, its color, etc., and drag the textbox to place it to your preferred position on the image as well. Click OK to save the changes.

Next, click to select Titles from the navigation pane, and drag your preferred title from the right window to the upper-most track in the Timeline. Now use the method explained earlier to edit the text, its color, position, etc. to make it look professional.

For more tips and tricks for creating YouTube thumbnail, you can check this You Tube thumbnail creating guide.

Step 4: Get the Neon Border Thumbnail

Click the Snapshot (Camera) icon from the upper-right area of the Timeline, go to My Media from the menu bar, right-click the thumbnail of the screenshot you captured, and click Reveal in Finder (on Mac) or Reveal in Explorer (on Windows) to get to the folder the YouTube thumbnail border is saved in.

Part 2: How to Add a Glowing Neon Border in Your YouTube Thumbnail with Canva

Canva is another intuitive editing program that works on the web interface rather than having you download and install an app on your PC. You can add a neon border for YouTube thumbnails using Canva by following the instructions given below:

Step 1: Define Project Settings and Add a Background

After signing in to your Canva account, click Create a design from the top-right corner of the page, click Custom size from the bottom, define 1280 and 720 in the Width and Height fields on the box that appears respectively, and click Create new design.

Now, click to select Background from the navigation bar on the left (if the Background tool is not visible, click More and then choose Background from the expanded list), and click to select a background from the images available in the center pane.

Step 2: Upload an Image and Add Effects

Click Uploads from the navigation bar, click the More icon from the right of the Upload media button present at the top of the center pane, choose your preferred method to upload the image (with the transparent background) that you want to use, upload the image, and drag it from the center pane to the Canvas.

Note: You can use any of the tools available online to remove the background from your image for free.

To add a YouTube thumbnail border, make sure that the image that you added to the Canvas is selected, click the Duplicate icon from the upper-right area, and use the scaling handles of the copy of the image to increase its size a bit. Reposition the image back to its original location as well.

Then, click Edit image from the upper-left corner of the Canvas, click Duotone from the Edit image pane at the center, if need be, click See all, choose your preferred duotone effect to apply on the image, choose your preferred highlight and shadow colors from the box that appears next, and click Back from the top of the pane.

Next, click See all next to the Adjust section from the center pane, and drag the Blur slider to the right to increase the blur effect on the image.

Step 3: Position the Layers

While keeping the duplicate image selected, click the Position button from the upper-right area of the Canvas, and click Background to send the second image behind the first one to get the neon border effect for the photo.

Part 3: How to Outline a Person in a YouTube Thumbnail with Photoshop

Because YouTube thumbnails are nothing but static images, creating YouTube thumbnail border with Adobe Photoshop is comparatively easier. The process of doing this is given below:

Step 1: Define Document Preferences and Import an Image

Launch Adobe Photoshop on your PC, click Create new, and on the New Document customization box, define the width and height values to 1280 and 720 pixels respectively. Select Transparent from the Background Contents menu as well if not already selected. Click Create from the bottom to create a new Photoshop document with the specified document settings. Next, open the folder that contains the source image, drag the photo to Photoshop, and press Enter to place the photo.

Step 2: Remove Background from the Image

Make sure that the image layer is selected in the Layers panel on the right, go to Select from the menu bar at the top, and click Subject. From the bottom of the Layers panel, click the Add a mask icon to get rid of the background, leaving only the human on the Canvas.

Step 3: Add a Custom Background and an Outline Around the Subject

Use the method explained earlier to import a background image of your choice to Photoshop. Drag the background image layer to the bottom in the Layers panel. Double-click the masked layer, click to select Stroke from the left pane of the Layer Style box, and use the options available on the right to manage the size, color, position, etc. of the stroke that has been added around the human subject. Click OK when done, and then export the image normally to use it as a YouTube thumbnail border.

Summary

It is important to know that the default resolution of a YouTube thumbnail is 1280 x 720 pixels that is usually written and referred to as 720p. While adding a YouTube thumbnail border, it is also imperative to have a good sense of color combination and fonts. Furthermore, a decent tool like Wondershare Filmora X must be used to add an appealing neon border around the main subject in the thumbnail image easily and quickly.

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