Have You Fixed Your YouTube Channel?

By Holly Kosec on June 11, 2013

By Holly Kosec on June 11, 2013

Several months ago, YouTube rolled out some new changes to their YouTube channels. You had the option of whether or not to switch to the new “One Channel” design, but as of June 5th, 2013, the change has been applied to all channels. If you haven’t fixed your channel’s branding, it may not look very professional right now. So it’s time to get your channel back up to snuff!

The way the new channel design works is that you have one large design file that is cut in various ways to fit different devices. The dimensions are as follows:

  • Total Size: 2560 x 423 px
  • Safe Area (always visible): 1546 x 423 px
  • Flexible Area (may be visible): 507 px to the left and right of the Safe Area.

Here is the cheat sheet:

The great thing about this new channel design is that now your designs will scale to fit any device, and you know it will look good. The reason why the dimensions are double what your screen resolution size is, is because YouTube now supports retina displays. This ensures that your designs are crisp and clean, even on a retina display.

Download our YouTube “One Channel” Template to get started making your own new design. We’ve included a Fireworks PNG file, and a Photoshop PSD file. Or, we can make your design for you. Cool!

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4 Comments

  1. Matt McNeil on June 11, 2013 at 8:23 am

    Has my YouTube channel been “fixed,” Tim and Holly? I can’t remember if you “fixed” it or not. If not, we need to get that done.



    • Tim Priebe Tim Priebe on June 21, 2013 at 11:45 am

      I’ll shoot you an email about that, Matt.



  2. Clint on July 30, 2016 at 9:18 pm

    I been using the recommended safe dimensions and even triple checked my work.
    YouTube keeps telling me its too small. If I use a bigger dimension it cuts my whole art work off.
    I noticed I cant upload anything under 2048 x 1152 <– that is YouTubes true minimum qualification as of right now.
    anything lower than 2048 x 1152 dimensions does not work. I have tried everything.
    Why is youtubes upload so restricted, to include the cropping as well. It was much better before.



    • Tim Priebe Tim Priebe on August 1, 2016 at 8:38 am

      Sorry to hear that, Clint. This article was written three years ago, and for better or worse, YouTube changes this sort of thing on a fairly regular basis.