Twitch Banner Size: Tips and Best Practices

A well-designed Twitch banner plays a vital role in showcasing your personality and attracting new viewers. It’s an audience’s first impression of your account, so it’s worth spending time on it. To fit all the essential elements into this graphic, you should follow Twitch’s banner size requirements. 

What’s the Twitch Banner Size?

Ideally, you should aim for a Twitch banner size of 1200 x 480px with an aspect ratio of 5:2. This ensures your banner looks sharp and clear on desktop and mobile screens, minimizing the chances of unsightly stretching, pixelation, or cropping. 

While designing your banner, consider the following:

• Safe zone — Twitch recommends putting more of your graphics on the left side of the banner, as this will look best across multiple screen sizes. 
• File size — Banners should be under 10MB so they load quickly.

With these Twitch banner dimensions in mind, you can create a banner that looks good on any device.

Different Types of Twitch Banners

Understanding the difference between Twitch’s banners will help you customize your designs to suit the platform’s specifications.

Twitch Profile Banners

Twitch profile banners sit at the top of your profile page. If you don’t upload a custom image, the site will generate a purple background patterned with your channel name by default.

For these visuals, aim for 1200 x 480px. This Twitch header size gives you room to include logos, background art, and catchphrases.

Twitch Video Player Banners

Video player banners appear when you’re offline and should be 1920 x 1080px. They’re a great place to share specific branding elements relevant to your niche, such as your logo or custom artwork. Footage of a previous stream sits in front of the image, but viewers can still see the edges.

Examples of the Best Twitch Banners

If you’re ready to create your own custom visuals, check out these banners for inspiration. 

Ninja

‍Ninja is among the most recognizable Twitch streamers in the world, and his banner captures his brand image with bold colors, large text, and social media handles.

An essential part of Ninja’s overall branding is his iconic blue hairstyle. His Twitch profile reflects that, using his hair’s outline and bright blue hue in multiple places. The banner also features social media tags that invite users to follow him across various platforms, which may boost his overall subscriber count. 

NBA2K

The official NBA2K Twitch banner is another prime example of how to make a memorable first impression. It features the 2K logo surrounded by red lines in the shape of a top-down view of a basketball net.

These elements are simple yet effective, creating a monochrome look that won’t overwhelm viewers. NBA2K also uses the same logo and colors across platforms, which makes their branding recognizable no matter where people see it.

Best Tools for Creating Twitch Profile Banners

Whether you’re a graphic designer or just learning how to stream on Twitch, you can create an intriguing banner using the following platforms. 

Captions

Captions is the best tool for creating Twitch banners. It can help with multiple steps of the banner-creating process, from overlaying text onto images to implementing your brand colors. Here’s how to use it to make a banner: 

• Upload a clip of one of your Twitch streams to Captions. 
• Use AI to trim the footage and resize the canvas to suit Twitch’s size requirements. 
• Customize your visuals with text and stickers.
• Download your content and upload it to Twitch. 

Additionally, Captions has partnered with over a dozen AI generation tools, so you can create custom visuals using DALL-E, Ideogram, and Luma AI, just to name a few. Simply share an AI image generation prompt and let Captions’ partners do the rest — without even leaving the app.

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe is a design platform that offers features like layering, blending, and high-resolution output. With it, you can create banners from scratch or use a template to start. 

It’s worth noting that you’ll have to pay for a subscription to access all of Adobe Photoshop’s tools. Additionally, if you’re newer to photo editing, there’s a bit of a higher learning curve. 

Canva 

Canva is a visual design studio that offers hundreds of premade Twitch banner templates. The free version has several basic features, but you’ll need a paid subscription to access the full range of elements and tools.

6 Best Practices for Designing an Eye-Catching Twitch Banner

Creating a standout Twitch banner involves more than using the right dimensions. Here are a few things to keep in mind during your creative process.

1. Create Consistent Branding Elements

Your banner should align with your overall branding to build recognition. Use the same colors, fonts, and logos so your banner matches your Twitch emotes and profile picture. Additionally, try to include these same features across platforms so followers can easily find your content on any social media site you use. 

2. Use Minimal Text

While you might be tempted to pack all your profile’s details into your banner, note that too much text can overwhelm viewers. Stick to the essentials, such as your stream schedule, a brief tagline, or a call to action (CTA) asking people to subscribe. 

3. Optimize for Mobile Viewing

Since many viewers watch Twitch on mobile devices, make sure your banner looks good on mobile screens. Test it out on your own phone, ensuring important text and visuals don’t get cut off. 

4. Include a CTA

Add a clear CTA to encourage viewers to follow you, subscribe, or check out your other social media profiles. Phrases should be brief and to the point, such as “Follow me on Instagram” or “Join my Discord.” 

5. Keep It Relevant

Your banner should align with your streaming niche so people instantly get a clear understanding of your content style. For instance, if you regularly stream yourself playing Fortnite, you can include elements from the game in your visuals. Or, you can tweak your banner to fit different content or even specific events, like tournaments or charity fundraisers. 

6. Test Different Designs

While creating your Twitch banner, ask for input from your community on what they want you to include. For instance, make a few designs and have people vote in a poll. Or, run a contest and feature one of your followers’ designs on your page. This both gives you a way to connect with your community and ensures your audience likes your design. 

Create High-Quality Content With Captions

Twitch banners are powerful branding tools, and you can make professional images in minutes using Captions.

Our app offers more than just image generation tools — for instance, once you’re done streaming, use the Twitch clip editor to pull viral-worthy highlights from your long-form posts. Add subtitles and custom watermarks to your footage, then share it across platforms.

Expand your reach faster with Captions.