Twitch size guide: How to create beautiful Twitch banners and emotes
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With the rising popularity of content creation and a rapidly growing audience for video streaming platforms, Twitch is changing and expanding its reach. Creating stunning Twitch channel graphics is essential!
In this guide, we’ll cover the recommended sizes for each of the different graphics used on Twitch, as well as some best practices and tips you should keep in mind when designing each of them.
Here is a full breakdown of the recommended sized and maximum file sizes for the correct ratios and graphics sizes of Twitch Images. This is your ultimate guide to Twitch image sizes and the correct file format.
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| Graphic | Optimal Image Size | Maximum File Size |
|---|---|---|
| Profile Banner | 1200 x 480 pixels | 2.9 MB |
| Offline Banner | 1920 x 480 pixels | 10 MB |
| Profile Image/Avatar | 256 x 256 pixels | 10 MB |
| Panels | 320 x 100 pixels | 2.9 MB |
| Thumbnail | 1280 x 720 pixels | 2.9 MB |
| Overlay | 1920 x 1080 pixels | 50 MB |
| Emotes | 28 x 28, 56 x 56, 112 x 112 pixels | 25 KB |
| Badges | x 18, 36 x 36, 72 x 72 pixels | 25 KB |
In 2020, Twitch had 3 million monthly broadcasters and 15 million daily active users. Today, the site has 25.6 million daily active users.
That’s pretty major growth in just one year! And not everyone is there just to watch video game streams. There is a wide variety of other hobbies and activities being streamed at any given time.
Twitch started out as a site focused primarily on live streaming video games but has grown significantly in scope in recent years.
Following the success of Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit,” the classic game of chess has seen a resurgence in popularity on the site, with many highly rated chess players starting to stream on Twitch and post videos to YouTube.
Even famous YouTubers like Mr. Beast are getting in on the action!
Jumpstart your ideas with Linearity Curve
Take your designs to the next level.
How to create images for Twitch
Are you ready to start streaming on the social network Twitch?
Anyone can do it! Whether you're streaming about gardening, yoyo tricks, or Call of Duty, you’ll need A+ graphics to make your page memorable. But creating graphics from scratch can be daunting and an incorrectly sized graphic or non-optimized graphic can make your page look sloppy. That’s where we come in!
With our tools and pre-made templates, you don’t have to be an expert graphic designer to impress your audience. We’ll help you create engaging graphics that will grow your subscribers and make your channel stand out on the screen.
Twitch profile and offline Twitch banner size
On your Twitch channel home page, you’ll have a banner image that runs across the top of your profile called your profile banner. Let's talk about the correct Twitch profile banner size.
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Image Courtesy of BeFunky.com
Your profile banner is the perfect place to include a piece of art or a colorful design that showcases your personal brand or gives a viewer more information about your channel.
Make sure to use bright distinct colors, art styles, and eye-catching elements in your banner. Bright color schemes will make your banner design stick out to Twitch’s target audience- 73% of them are below the age of 35. Hip, on-trend, custom graphics can be the thing that sets you apart from the other 1.5 million broadcasters on Twitch.
The best Twitch profile banner graphic size is 1200 x 480 pixels. But keep in mind, on different platforms or mobile devices, those banner dimensions might appear stretched or compressed. We recommend going with a file size that is slightly larger than the recommended size from Twitch (900 pixels wide), to avoid this issue.
On a larger monitor, for example, your cover image may appear slightly grainy if it is not a high-quality image. The best way to combat this is to pay attention to our recommended sizing and watch for the maximum file size requirement, which is 2.9MB.
Unlike YouTube or Facebook, Twitch justifies your banner image to the left, so make sure that the most important information is focused towards that side. That way, if your banner gets cut off, the viewer will still see the most critical information.
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And, don’t forget about your offline banner design! Your offline screen can plug your social media handle and information about your channel while you’re away. The best size for your offline banner is 1920 x 1080 pixels. This is the optimal profile banner size.
We recommend spicing your banner up by adding information about upcoming streams, your social media handles, or sponsored content!
Here’s an example of what a generic offline banner looks like.
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Naturally, we’ve got a preset template in Linearity Curve that makes creating your profile and offline banners a breeze, so don’t worry about creating them from scratch with the correct aspect ratio. Just focus on the design and the eye-catching elements!
Twitch profile picture size
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Image Courtesy of Art Station
One of the most important images on your Twitch channel is your profile picture, aka your Twitch avatar.
Your avatar will be the image that most viewers will associate most with your brand since it will be displayed next to your channel name both in the recommendation sidebar and under the main window when someone is watching your stream.
The example above from the streamer @DUDEITSSAM, is a great example of an avatar that embodies his brand and is eye-catching. One of the best ways to stand out on Twitch is to have an iconic avatar that everyone will remember.
For a profile image that really stands out, try our Auto Trace ML feature! This feature allows you to turn any image into vectored shapes so that you can create amazing illustrations from a reference photo without having to create them by hand.
Keep in mind: your profile image will be uploaded as a square, but Twitch displays it as a circle. The minimum size is 200 x 200 pixels and the maximum size is 256 x 256 pixels. Don’t be afraid to make it a bit bigger to make sure it displays at a high quality.
We recommend going with photos that are sized to the maximum size allowed, 256 x 256 pixels, to get the best resolution for your avatar. Twitch will automatically scale down your image to fit on different devices, so make sure your image fits the frame well.
You can use our template in Linearity Curve to easily get the correct size.
Looking for more cool drawing ideas?
Check out our list of 25 easy tutorials.
Twitch panel images
Another important graphic to consider customizing is your Twitch panel.
In addition to your profile image, your panel image will help your audience get to know your brand. Panels are crucial for driving your audience to your other content, like your Instagram page or website.
You can also create a virtual tip jar, plug your YouTube channel, link your community rules, and more.
Twitch info panels can be used as a call-to-action under your live stream with links to your external content.
Creating this graphic might be one of the most important things you do for your channel because it helps boost your other social channels and can make you money if you use affiliate/sponsor links or include a virtual tip jar.
The optimal twitch panel size for your info panel is 320 x 100 pixels. Check out our templates to get started on creating your panel with the correct panel sizes!
Here’s an example of an awesome info panel with lots of external links.
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Image Courtesy of Streamdiag
Twitch thumbnail size
Your video thumbnail is the image that will be used to preview your stream to your audience.
Thumbnails are popular on YouTube and other video apps. They allow you to select the image that your audience will see when browsing your page before they click on your stream.
It’s important to make sure this image grabs their attention and entices them to watch your stream. You can also use your thumbnail to plug your sponsors or partners and make some extra money.
Most streamers go with a colorful, bold style for their thumbnails with a few catchy words. Use this as an opportunity to make it clear to your viewers what the stream will entail, so they are drawn in and interested in watching. A few quick words about your stream content and a creative graphic are all you need!
The art of video thumbnails is an important thing to nail if you want to grow your following.
We make things easy for you by giving you a template that is sized correctly for Twitch’s platform.
Ready to kit out your drawing toolbox?
Visit our Academy for free drawing and design courses.
Twitch overlay size
Your Twitch webcam overlays are a crucial design element for your channel that appear alongside your webcam footage during a stream.
Making sure you have the correct size for your overlay is important. And we’re here to help with that!
If your overlay doesn’t fit your screen just right, it can cover important elements of your stream and your viewers will notice right away. This could be a detrimental mistake when you’re working on growing your following.
Webcam overlays should be sized at 1920 x 1080 pixels.
We recommend playing around with the placement of your overlay and the sizing to customize it for your needs.
Streamers use a variety of overlay styles ranging from small, simple frames to large complex overlays with a lot of information. Use whatever works best for you!
Here’s an example of one streamer’s overlay for their stream. Notice how colorful it is? The custom color and cartoon design will help this streamer stand out from the crowd.
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Image via Gameonaire
Twitch emote and badge sizes
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Image Courtesy of Twitch
One of the most innovative aspects of Twitch is their emote and badge system.
When viewers are watching a stream, they can use emojis (called emotes on Twitch) in the chat to express their emotions or interact with the streamer. The image above is an example of what some popular emotes look like.
For content creators with a big enough following, Twitch offers the option for streamers to create their own set of unique emotes and badges that they can offer to their channel subscribers in a variety of ways.
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This is a great way to incentivize people to return to your channel! But if you’re just starting out with streaming, you won’t need to worry about creating these graphics right away, just keep them in mind as your channel grows.
Let's take a look at Twitch emote sizes! Making your own Twitch emotes with the right emote size and badges is a little bit complicated because Twitch will display them in multiple sizes depending on which device they are appearing on.
Twitch requires you to submit your potential emote in each of the three sizes, which are: 28 x 28 pixels, 56 x 56 pixels, and 112 x 112 pixels. Same deal for badges as well, with the sizes being: 18 x 18, 36 x 36, and 72 x 72 pixels.
Creating 6 separately sized graphics may seem intimidating, but don’t worry, we’ve got Linearity preset templates for all badge and emote sizes. Here’s an example of some badge design that popular Twitch streamers use to get you started on brainstorming.
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Image courtesy of Wildethang via Fiverr
Note: your Twitch emotes and badges must be in a .png format and have a fully transparent background. Additionally, the max file size for both is 25KB. Before being uploaded to your channel, your submitted emotes and badges will go through a review process.
You can find a more detailed explanation of this process on Twitch’s website.
Linearity Curve’s Twitch graphics
Whether you’re new to streaming or revamping your existing profile, our templates and graphic size guidelines are the perfect jumping-off point for your graphics.
With properly sized, custom graphics your viewers are sure to notice and remember your page. Not stressing about sizing will save you time, and ensure your page looks sharp.
If you use Linearity to create your Twitch channel assets, let us know on social media! And give us a follow with the links below. We’ll be sure to drop a few follows back. Now, get to streaming!
Jumpstart your ideas with Linearity Curve
Take your designs to the next level.
Ben Barnhart
Content Lead
Ben is a Content Lead for Linearity living in Berlin. His hobbies include board games, cooking, reading, and writing.
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