Creating Video Thumbnails

You can upload custom thumbnails for your videos, or build your own with our Thumbnail Builder.  You’ll find the Thumbnail Builder in the Vocal Video Editor for each of your draft videos.

To get started customizing your thumbnails, just click on the Thumbnail icon on the top of the Scenes bar on the left. Click Select a Video Frame to build your new thumbnail in Vocal Video or Upload a Custom Image to add a thumbnail you've created outside Vocal Video.

Select a Video Frame will take you to 10 suggested frames from each clip that you can choose from. Note:  The term “thumbnail” comes from video stills. A thumbnail is a smaller image that is captured from a larger, moving image that represents the video as a whole.

By default, if you don’t upload a thumbnail for your video, the Editor may pick an unflattering video still. It might be the speaker with an awkward facial expression. You can pick from the stills provided to give the speaker the best representation possible.

Then you can choose Headline, Card or None and customize the text that will appear in your thumbnail. All of your edits will show up in the preview to the left in real time.

Alternatively, you can upload your own thumbnail. Make sure the thumbnail you upload follows the format of your video. 

Once you publish your video, you’re ready to embed or download it to share with your new thumbnail featured prominently. Vocal Video offers ad-free hosting and embedding to all customers. If you need to edit your video's thumbnail after publishing, you can do that -- read this guide for tips.

Here are a few examples of how our customers Hone, Recovery Centers of America, PS Trax and All Out Security are embedding their videos on their websites.

Hone pairs a card embed with their G2 reviews. 

Recovery Centers of America uses a card embed to display an employee testimonial.

PS Trax displays a gallery of happy customers alongside a link to schedule a demo.

All Out Security embeds a carousel Gallery of their latest testimonials, highlighting praise from their top customers.