YouTube Fundamentals Made Simple: Top 8 Learning Resources

8 Free Online Courses for Beginner YouTube Creators

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

There is a lot to learn after you start your YouTube channel and there are many places to get an education. Some places can cost you expensive tuition and other places can lead you to bad advice.

In this article, we highlighted 8 free online on-demand courses that you can take.

Content

• 1. How to Setup a Professional YouTube Channel
• 2. YouTube Creator Academy
• 3. YouTube Influencer 101
• 4. Introduction to Digital Photography
• 5. Social Media Training
• 6. SEO Training Course
• 7. The Secret Power of Brands
• 8. The Affiliate Marketing System

While we encourage you to continue learning and exploring your interests and passions, we feel that it’s all about getting your hands dirty and doing it yourself. These free courses will help you dip your toes into different aspects of YouTube so that you can make better videos, improve your content discovery, and grow your audience.

Creating YouTube Videos with Wondershare Filmora

As one of the best video editing software for YouTubers, Filmora allows you to create videos with templates and effects easily.

1. Amy Landino: How to Setup a Professional YouTube Channel

Amy Landino is a YouTuber, author, and keynote speaker. She is an expert on vlogging and video branding. In this course, she will guide you step-by-step in creating your YouTube channel that follows the best practices right out of the gate. Familiarize yourself with all that YouTube has to offer.

To access the video course, you will need to subscribe to her email newsletter or if you would like the guide without receiving future emails, you can send an email to meg@vlogboss.com .

2. YouTube Creator Academy

Once you’ve got your channel setup and you have a feel for YouTube, it’s time to expand your knowledge of the whole platform. YouTube has generously created a whole Academy to teach you all the fundamentals. From content creation to analytics to brand deals, the YouTube Creator Academy is one of the most valuable free resources. Before you start paying for any course online or in person, review all the content in the Academy first to get yourself to the next level.

Many of the courses featured in YouTube Creator Academy are hosted by well-known YouTube creators, who have built a large following with their content. Some of the courses include: Make money on YouTube, Create great content, Copyright on YouTube, and many more.

3. Jump Cut: YouTube Influencer 101 Crash Course

Jump Cut is founded by Kong and Jesse, two YouTubers who have succeeded on the platform by mastering viral content. Jump Cut offers multiple paid courses, but the initial course is free. This course consists of 4 emails each one with a link to a video where Jesse, the instructor, walks you through 4 ideologies of creating compelling content that expands your reach and grows our channel.

If you are a YouTuber looking to push your content creation capabilities, this is a course you must try. Be warned, after you sign up, the emails and the video have an expiration date and will eventually become unavailable. This is designed to stop you from procrastinating. So this course is serious business.

4. Alison: Introduction to Digital Photography

The principles of good photography are very similar to videography. Understanding how to frame a shot, how a camera functions, and what each feature on the camera does will give you more confidence as you begin to make more videos and gain experience.

The course features 13 modules, teaching the history, technical elements, and file formats of photography. Following the modules, there is an assessment where you can test all that you have learned.

5. Hootsuite: Social Marketing Training

In this free social media course from Hootsuite, you will learn the benefits of spreading your message across multiple social media platforms and increasing the reach of your brand. All you need to do is sign up for a free account to access the material.

As you start making videos for YouTube, you will discover that one of the best ways of sharing them is on social media. The thing is creating content on YouTube is different from Facebook, Twitter, and other channels. Understanding the native content of each platform, the behavior of the audience, and how to best optimize and schedule content on other channels will ensure that you not only get views to your YouTube video but build a lasting fanbase.

6. Moz: SEO Training Course

At the start, one of the most effective ways for your videos to get discovered is through search. Moz, a search engine optimization (SEO) tool, compiled all their instructional videos together for this course, in order to teach you all the basics of how Google determines whether to show your content as number one in the search result page or bury it deep in the basement where it will never see the light of day.

Understanding the fundamentals of SEO will put you leaps and bounds ahead of other YouTubers who are merely creating content out of random ideas they pluck from their heads.

7. FutureLearn: The Secret Power of Brands

After you have found a comfortable niche for your YouTube channel to flourish in, it’s time to start thinking of your channel and your personality as a brand. What is a brand exactly? This free course from FutureLearn highlights some of the most fundamental aspects of branding and gives you a broad understanding of how to brand your channel and how good branding can make all the difference.

This free course gives you 8-weeks of free access, which includes articles, videos, peer reviews, and quizzes.

8. Leadpages: The Affiliate Marketing System

As you grow your audience and have earned some credibility in your field, you will think of ways of monetizing your content. One way of doing that is through affiliate marketing, where you attached a link to a retailer’s website such as Amazon, and should your viewer click on the link and make a purchase, you will get a commission. Sounds wonderfully easy, right? Easy it is not, but with the help of this course from Leadpages, a landing page builder, you will get some strategies and resources to build your affiliate marketing program that earns you a passive income.

Leadpages offers this course in video and audio format, in addition, there are 14 downloadable PDFs.

In this golden age of information, we can learn anything online. Sometimes we have to pay and other times we don’t. Have you discovered any free courses yourself? Share it with the community by leaving a comment below.

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

There is a lot to learn after you start your YouTube channel and there are many places to get an education. Some places can cost you expensive tuition and other places can lead you to bad advice.

In this article, we highlighted 8 free online on-demand courses that you can take.

Content

• 1. How to Setup a Professional YouTube Channel
• 2. YouTube Creator Academy
• 3. YouTube Influencer 101
• 4. Introduction to Digital Photography
• 5. Social Media Training
• 6. SEO Training Course
• 7. The Secret Power of Brands
• 8. The Affiliate Marketing System

While we encourage you to continue learning and exploring your interests and passions, we feel that it’s all about getting your hands dirty and doing it yourself. These free courses will help you dip your toes into different aspects of YouTube so that you can make better videos, improve your content discovery, and grow your audience.

Creating YouTube Videos with Wondershare Filmora

As one of the best video editing software for YouTubers, Filmora allows you to create videos with templates and effects easily.

1. Amy Landino: How to Setup a Professional YouTube Channel

Amy Landino is a YouTuber, author, and keynote speaker. She is an expert on vlogging and video branding. In this course, she will guide you step-by-step in creating your YouTube channel that follows the best practices right out of the gate. Familiarize yourself with all that YouTube has to offer.

To access the video course, you will need to subscribe to her email newsletter or if you would like the guide without receiving future emails, you can send an email to meg@vlogboss.com .

2. YouTube Creator Academy

Once you’ve got your channel setup and you have a feel for YouTube, it’s time to expand your knowledge of the whole platform. YouTube has generously created a whole Academy to teach you all the fundamentals. From content creation to analytics to brand deals, the YouTube Creator Academy is one of the most valuable free resources. Before you start paying for any course online or in person, review all the content in the Academy first to get yourself to the next level.

Many of the courses featured in YouTube Creator Academy are hosted by well-known YouTube creators, who have built a large following with their content. Some of the courses include: Make money on YouTube, Create great content, Copyright on YouTube, and many more.

3. Jump Cut: YouTube Influencer 101 Crash Course

Jump Cut is founded by Kong and Jesse, two YouTubers who have succeeded on the platform by mastering viral content. Jump Cut offers multiple paid courses, but the initial course is free. This course consists of 4 emails each one with a link to a video where Jesse, the instructor, walks you through 4 ideologies of creating compelling content that expands your reach and grows our channel.

If you are a YouTuber looking to push your content creation capabilities, this is a course you must try. Be warned, after you sign up, the emails and the video have an expiration date and will eventually become unavailable. This is designed to stop you from procrastinating. So this course is serious business.

4. Alison: Introduction to Digital Photography

The principles of good photography are very similar to videography. Understanding how to frame a shot, how a camera functions, and what each feature on the camera does will give you more confidence as you begin to make more videos and gain experience.

The course features 13 modules, teaching the history, technical elements, and file formats of photography. Following the modules, there is an assessment where you can test all that you have learned.

5. Hootsuite: Social Marketing Training

In this free social media course from Hootsuite, you will learn the benefits of spreading your message across multiple social media platforms and increasing the reach of your brand. All you need to do is sign up for a free account to access the material.

As you start making videos for YouTube, you will discover that one of the best ways of sharing them is on social media. The thing is creating content on YouTube is different from Facebook, Twitter, and other channels. Understanding the native content of each platform, the behavior of the audience, and how to best optimize and schedule content on other channels will ensure that you not only get views to your YouTube video but build a lasting fanbase.

6. Moz: SEO Training Course

At the start, one of the most effective ways for your videos to get discovered is through search. Moz, a search engine optimization (SEO) tool, compiled all their instructional videos together for this course, in order to teach you all the basics of how Google determines whether to show your content as number one in the search result page or bury it deep in the basement where it will never see the light of day.

Understanding the fundamentals of SEO will put you leaps and bounds ahead of other YouTubers who are merely creating content out of random ideas they pluck from their heads.

7. FutureLearn: The Secret Power of Brands

After you have found a comfortable niche for your YouTube channel to flourish in, it’s time to start thinking of your channel and your personality as a brand. What is a brand exactly? This free course from FutureLearn highlights some of the most fundamental aspects of branding and gives you a broad understanding of how to brand your channel and how good branding can make all the difference.

This free course gives you 8-weeks of free access, which includes articles, videos, peer reviews, and quizzes.

8. Leadpages: The Affiliate Marketing System

As you grow your audience and have earned some credibility in your field, you will think of ways of monetizing your content. One way of doing that is through affiliate marketing, where you attached a link to a retailer’s website such as Amazon, and should your viewer click on the link and make a purchase, you will get a commission. Sounds wonderfully easy, right? Easy it is not, but with the help of this course from Leadpages, a landing page builder, you will get some strategies and resources to build your affiliate marketing program that earns you a passive income.

Leadpages offers this course in video and audio format, in addition, there are 14 downloadable PDFs.

In this golden age of information, we can learn anything online. Sometimes we have to pay and other times we don’t. Have you discovered any free courses yourself? Share it with the community by leaving a comment below.

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

There is a lot to learn after you start your YouTube channel and there are many places to get an education. Some places can cost you expensive tuition and other places can lead you to bad advice.

In this article, we highlighted 8 free online on-demand courses that you can take.

Content

• 1. How to Setup a Professional YouTube Channel
• 2. YouTube Creator Academy
• 3. YouTube Influencer 101
• 4. Introduction to Digital Photography
• 5. Social Media Training
• 6. SEO Training Course
• 7. The Secret Power of Brands
• 8. The Affiliate Marketing System

While we encourage you to continue learning and exploring your interests and passions, we feel that it’s all about getting your hands dirty and doing it yourself. These free courses will help you dip your toes into different aspects of YouTube so that you can make better videos, improve your content discovery, and grow your audience.

Creating YouTube Videos with Wondershare Filmora

As one of the best video editing software for YouTubers, Filmora allows you to create videos with templates and effects easily.

1. Amy Landino: How to Setup a Professional YouTube Channel

Amy Landino is a YouTuber, author, and keynote speaker. She is an expert on vlogging and video branding. In this course, she will guide you step-by-step in creating your YouTube channel that follows the best practices right out of the gate. Familiarize yourself with all that YouTube has to offer.

To access the video course, you will need to subscribe to her email newsletter or if you would like the guide without receiving future emails, you can send an email to meg@vlogboss.com .

2. YouTube Creator Academy

Once you’ve got your channel setup and you have a feel for YouTube, it’s time to expand your knowledge of the whole platform. YouTube has generously created a whole Academy to teach you all the fundamentals. From content creation to analytics to brand deals, the YouTube Creator Academy is one of the most valuable free resources. Before you start paying for any course online or in person, review all the content in the Academy first to get yourself to the next level.

Many of the courses featured in YouTube Creator Academy are hosted by well-known YouTube creators, who have built a large following with their content. Some of the courses include: Make money on YouTube, Create great content, Copyright on YouTube, and many more.

3. Jump Cut: YouTube Influencer 101 Crash Course

Jump Cut is founded by Kong and Jesse, two YouTubers who have succeeded on the platform by mastering viral content. Jump Cut offers multiple paid courses, but the initial course is free. This course consists of 4 emails each one with a link to a video where Jesse, the instructor, walks you through 4 ideologies of creating compelling content that expands your reach and grows our channel.

If you are a YouTuber looking to push your content creation capabilities, this is a course you must try. Be warned, after you sign up, the emails and the video have an expiration date and will eventually become unavailable. This is designed to stop you from procrastinating. So this course is serious business.

4. Alison: Introduction to Digital Photography

The principles of good photography are very similar to videography. Understanding how to frame a shot, how a camera functions, and what each feature on the camera does will give you more confidence as you begin to make more videos and gain experience.

The course features 13 modules, teaching the history, technical elements, and file formats of photography. Following the modules, there is an assessment where you can test all that you have learned.

5. Hootsuite: Social Marketing Training

In this free social media course from Hootsuite, you will learn the benefits of spreading your message across multiple social media platforms and increasing the reach of your brand. All you need to do is sign up for a free account to access the material.

As you start making videos for YouTube, you will discover that one of the best ways of sharing them is on social media. The thing is creating content on YouTube is different from Facebook, Twitter, and other channels. Understanding the native content of each platform, the behavior of the audience, and how to best optimize and schedule content on other channels will ensure that you not only get views to your YouTube video but build a lasting fanbase.

6. Moz: SEO Training Course

At the start, one of the most effective ways for your videos to get discovered is through search. Moz, a search engine optimization (SEO) tool, compiled all their instructional videos together for this course, in order to teach you all the basics of how Google determines whether to show your content as number one in the search result page or bury it deep in the basement where it will never see the light of day.

Understanding the fundamentals of SEO will put you leaps and bounds ahead of other YouTubers who are merely creating content out of random ideas they pluck from their heads.

7. FutureLearn: The Secret Power of Brands

After you have found a comfortable niche for your YouTube channel to flourish in, it’s time to start thinking of your channel and your personality as a brand. What is a brand exactly? This free course from FutureLearn highlights some of the most fundamental aspects of branding and gives you a broad understanding of how to brand your channel and how good branding can make all the difference.

This free course gives you 8-weeks of free access, which includes articles, videos, peer reviews, and quizzes.

8. Leadpages: The Affiliate Marketing System

As you grow your audience and have earned some credibility in your field, you will think of ways of monetizing your content. One way of doing that is through affiliate marketing, where you attached a link to a retailer’s website such as Amazon, and should your viewer click on the link and make a purchase, you will get a commission. Sounds wonderfully easy, right? Easy it is not, but with the help of this course from Leadpages, a landing page builder, you will get some strategies and resources to build your affiliate marketing program that earns you a passive income.

Leadpages offers this course in video and audio format, in addition, there are 14 downloadable PDFs.

In this golden age of information, we can learn anything online. Sometimes we have to pay and other times we don’t. Have you discovered any free courses yourself? Share it with the community by leaving a comment below.

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

There is a lot to learn after you start your YouTube channel and there are many places to get an education. Some places can cost you expensive tuition and other places can lead you to bad advice.

In this article, we highlighted 8 free online on-demand courses that you can take.

Content

• 1. How to Setup a Professional YouTube Channel
• 2. YouTube Creator Academy
• 3. YouTube Influencer 101
• 4. Introduction to Digital Photography
• 5. Social Media Training
• 6. SEO Training Course
• 7. The Secret Power of Brands
• 8. The Affiliate Marketing System

While we encourage you to continue learning and exploring your interests and passions, we feel that it’s all about getting your hands dirty and doing it yourself. These free courses will help you dip your toes into different aspects of YouTube so that you can make better videos, improve your content discovery, and grow your audience.

Creating YouTube Videos with Wondershare Filmora

As one of the best video editing software for YouTubers, Filmora allows you to create videos with templates and effects easily.

1. Amy Landino: How to Setup a Professional YouTube Channel

Amy Landino is a YouTuber, author, and keynote speaker. She is an expert on vlogging and video branding. In this course, she will guide you step-by-step in creating your YouTube channel that follows the best practices right out of the gate. Familiarize yourself with all that YouTube has to offer.

To access the video course, you will need to subscribe to her email newsletter or if you would like the guide without receiving future emails, you can send an email to meg@vlogboss.com .

2. YouTube Creator Academy

Once you’ve got your channel setup and you have a feel for YouTube, it’s time to expand your knowledge of the whole platform. YouTube has generously created a whole Academy to teach you all the fundamentals. From content creation to analytics to brand deals, the YouTube Creator Academy is one of the most valuable free resources. Before you start paying for any course online or in person, review all the content in the Academy first to get yourself to the next level.

Many of the courses featured in YouTube Creator Academy are hosted by well-known YouTube creators, who have built a large following with their content. Some of the courses include: Make money on YouTube, Create great content, Copyright on YouTube, and many more.

3. Jump Cut: YouTube Influencer 101 Crash Course

Jump Cut is founded by Kong and Jesse, two YouTubers who have succeeded on the platform by mastering viral content. Jump Cut offers multiple paid courses, but the initial course is free. This course consists of 4 emails each one with a link to a video where Jesse, the instructor, walks you through 4 ideologies of creating compelling content that expands your reach and grows our channel.

If you are a YouTuber looking to push your content creation capabilities, this is a course you must try. Be warned, after you sign up, the emails and the video have an expiration date and will eventually become unavailable. This is designed to stop you from procrastinating. So this course is serious business.

4. Alison: Introduction to Digital Photography

The principles of good photography are very similar to videography. Understanding how to frame a shot, how a camera functions, and what each feature on the camera does will give you more confidence as you begin to make more videos and gain experience.

The course features 13 modules, teaching the history, technical elements, and file formats of photography. Following the modules, there is an assessment where you can test all that you have learned.

5. Hootsuite: Social Marketing Training

In this free social media course from Hootsuite, you will learn the benefits of spreading your message across multiple social media platforms and increasing the reach of your brand. All you need to do is sign up for a free account to access the material.

As you start making videos for YouTube, you will discover that one of the best ways of sharing them is on social media. The thing is creating content on YouTube is different from Facebook, Twitter, and other channels. Understanding the native content of each platform, the behavior of the audience, and how to best optimize and schedule content on other channels will ensure that you not only get views to your YouTube video but build a lasting fanbase.

6. Moz: SEO Training Course

At the start, one of the most effective ways for your videos to get discovered is through search. Moz, a search engine optimization (SEO) tool, compiled all their instructional videos together for this course, in order to teach you all the basics of how Google determines whether to show your content as number one in the search result page or bury it deep in the basement where it will never see the light of day.

Understanding the fundamentals of SEO will put you leaps and bounds ahead of other YouTubers who are merely creating content out of random ideas they pluck from their heads.

7. FutureLearn: The Secret Power of Brands

After you have found a comfortable niche for your YouTube channel to flourish in, it’s time to start thinking of your channel and your personality as a brand. What is a brand exactly? This free course from FutureLearn highlights some of the most fundamental aspects of branding and gives you a broad understanding of how to brand your channel and how good branding can make all the difference.

This free course gives you 8-weeks of free access, which includes articles, videos, peer reviews, and quizzes.

8. Leadpages: The Affiliate Marketing System

As you grow your audience and have earned some credibility in your field, you will think of ways of monetizing your content. One way of doing that is through affiliate marketing, where you attached a link to a retailer’s website such as Amazon, and should your viewer click on the link and make a purchase, you will get a commission. Sounds wonderfully easy, right? Easy it is not, but with the help of this course from Leadpages, a landing page builder, you will get some strategies and resources to build your affiliate marketing program that earns you a passive income.

Leadpages offers this course in video and audio format, in addition, there are 14 downloadable PDFs.

In this golden age of information, we can learn anything online. Sometimes we have to pay and other times we don’t. Have you discovered any free courses yourself? Share it with the community by leaving a comment below.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Step Up to Spectacle: Adding Neon Borderlines to YouTubes

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.

Also read: