Thumbnails

Two generation modes

The thumbnail panel (the Thumbs tab in the editor, or Tools > Thumbnail generator) has one prompt box and a count picker. Whether the prompt is filled decides which mode runs.

Blank prompt (AI writes the ideas)

The AI model reads your project's narration and writes a DIFFERENT prompt for each thumbnail. Each one tries a different angle: subject, framing, mood or colors. Use this when you don't know what you want yet and want to see options.

Filled prompt (your idea)

Your prompt is used for every thumbnail. Pikzels still makes each one different (composition, lighting), so you get several takes on ONE idea instead of several ideas. Use this when you know the look you want and want to pick between takes.

Want a thumbnail like another video's? Paste its YouTube link under Look like another video. Pikzels keeps that thumbnail's layout and style, with your subject.

Suggest a prompt from your script

The Suggest from script button next to the prompt box asks your AI model only, so it uses no Pikzels credits. It reads your title and the first few scenes, and writes ONE image prompt you can accept, change, or discard.

What a good suggested prompt covers

• Subject: taken from the real script, not generic (e.g. "ancient Roman denarius coin" not "coin")

• Framing: wide, close-up or a dramatic angle

• Lighting and mood: cinematic, ominous, golden hour

• Colors: 1 or 2 strong colors, saturated and high contrast

• Text in the image: the short bold title text, written as an instruction to Pikzels

• Style words: "professional YouTube thumbnail, 16:9, high contrast", words Pikzels responds well to

Change the suggested prompt as you like before you click Generate. The suggestion is a starting point, not a final answer.

How many to make

The count (1 to 8) sets how many thumbnails Pikzels makes each time you click Generate. Each one uses one credit and takes about 30 seconds. Two are made at a time.

How many should you generate?

• 1 or 2: you already know what you want and are refining one idea.

• 4 (default): the most common. Enough variety without using too many credits per round.

• 6 to 8: a first pass on a new video, trying many angles. Use a blank prompt for the widest spread.

A typical channel takes 2 to 4 rounds to land a winner, about 10 to 16 credits per finished thumbnail. The cost estimate updates as you change the count, so there are no surprises.

Edit with a prompt

Once you have a thumbnail that's mostly right, click Edit in the bar at the bottom of its tile. A small form opens: say what to change and click Apply.

What edits work well

• Lighting: "add golden-hour lighting", "make it more dramatic"

• Colors: "make the text red", "use a cyan palette"

• Removing things: "remove the person", "take out the background text"

• Framing: "zoom in tighter on the subject", "wider composition"

• Text: "change the title text to READ THIS"

Your edit is combined with the original thumbnail's prompt, so its composition and style carry over and only what you asked for changes. The result appears as a NEW tile next to the original, so you can compare before and after.

Picking a winner

Click a thumbnail to see it large, next to a preview of a YouTube feed. Click Use this thumbnail to pick it for the video. The picked one gets a highlighted ring and a check mark. Download any thumbnail with the Download button on its tile.

VidNexus remembers which thumbnail you picked. Once the channel's YouTube videos are synced, the channel's page shows your picks next to their real view counts.

Bridge from Research

The Thumbnails tool in Research shows a wall of thumbnails from your channel or any competitor, so you can spot patterns. Hover a card and click Generate similar. The Thumbnail generator opens with that video already set under Look like another video.

That closes the loop: from "this one really works in my niche" to "make me something like it" in one click.

Costs + reliability

Costs

• Suggest from script: free (uses your AI model only)

• Generate: 1 Pikzels credit per thumbnail

• Edit: 1 Pikzels credit per edit

• Score all: uses Pikzels credits

Each thumbnail succeeds or fails on its own. If one in a batch of 6 fails, the other 5 still finish. The failed one shows as a red tile with the error. Remove it and click Generate again if you need another.

If Pikzels itself has a problem, the tile keeps showing Creating… for a while. VidNexus waits up to 3 minutes per image and tries once more, then shows the error from Pikzels. In that case, wait a few minutes and try again.

What's next

Motion graphics: The other visual overlay layer of your video.

Troubleshooting: When Pikzels or the AI model don't cooperate.