YouTube thumbnail from a reference
Generate a high-converting YouTube thumbnail from a reference thumbnail the user likes + a description of their video's theme/subject. Recreates th…
From Alexander Ahdab's library.
Famous Thumbnail (reference-driven, GPT Image 2)
Take ONE reference thumbnail the user likes + their video's theme/subject → produce a 16:9 YouTube thumbnail that steals the reference's converting structure (layout, emotion, contrast, text treatment) but carries the user's topic.
Work inside one project folder per thumbnail, e.g. ~/thumbnails/<video-name>/.
Inputs (collect BOTH before generating)
- Reference image — a thumbnail the user likes (file path or pasted image). If they only gave a YouTube URL, grab the thumbnail:
curl -L -o ref.jpg "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/<VIDEO_ID>/maxresdefault.jpg". - Theme/subject — what the video is about, in the user's words. If they gave only a vague topic, ask ONE quick question: "What's the one claim/result/emotion the video delivers?" (that becomes the thumbnail's hook). Don't interrogate them — one question max, then proceed with sensible defaults.
- Optional: a photo of the creator's face (if the reference features a person and the user wants themselves in it), brand colors, exact text they want on it.