YouTube Thumbnail template

The youtube-thumbnail template renders a social image as a PNG. POST a JSON payload to the endpoint below and you receive a CDN URL in the response.

Endpoint

POST https://app.html2img.com/api/v1/templates/youtube-thumbnail
X-API-Key: <your-api-key>
Content-Type: application/json

Authentication uses the X-API-Key header. See the authentication docs for details on issuing and rotating keys.

Inputs

The full set of inputs the template accepts:

Defaults

Defaults applied automatically when not overridden in the request:

Code examples

curl -X POST https://app.html2img.com/api/v1/templates/youtube-thumbnail \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"title":"I built a $0 SaaS in 7 days","eyebrow":"CASE STUDY","duration":"14:22","host_name":"Devon Reed","host_avatar_url":"https://i.pravatar.cc/160?img=33","background_image_url":"https://picsum.photos/seed/yt-thumb/1280/720","background_color":"#0F172A","accent_color":"#FACC15"}'

<?php
$response = \Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http::withHeaders([
    'X-API-Key' => 'YOUR_API_KEY',
])->post('https://app.html2img.com/api/v1/templates/youtube-thumbnail', ['title' => 'I built a $0 SaaS in 7 days', 'eyebrow' => 'CASE STUDY', 'duration' => '14:22', 'host_name' => 'Devon Reed', 'host_avatar_url' => 'https://i.pravatar.cc/160?img=33', 'background_image_url' => 'https://picsum.photos/seed/yt-thumb/1280/720', 'background_color' => '#0F172A', 'accent_color' => '#FACC15']);

$url = $response->json('url');

const response = await fetch('https://app.html2img.com/api/v1/templates/youtube-thumbnail', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'X-API-Key': 'YOUR_API_KEY',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "title": "I built a $0 SaaS in 7 days",
    "eyebrow": "CASE STUDY",
    "duration": "14:22",
    "host_name": "Devon Reed",
    "host_avatar_url": "https://i.pravatar.cc/160?img=33",
    "background_image_url": "https://picsum.photos/seed/yt-thumb/1280/720",
    "background_color": "#0F172A",
    "accent_color": "#FACC15"
}),
});

const { url } = await response.json();

import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://app.html2img.com/api/v1/templates/youtube-thumbnail',
    headers={'X-API-Key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'},
    json={'title': 'I built a $0 SaaS in 7 days', 'eyebrow': 'CASE STUDY', 'duration': '14:22', 'host_name': 'Devon Reed', 'host_avatar_url': 'https://i.pravatar.cc/160?img=33', 'background_image_url': 'https://picsum.photos/seed/yt-thumb/1280/720', 'background_color': '#0F172A', 'accent_color': '#FACC15'},
)

url = response.json()['url']

Looking for a fuller integration sketch in your language? The usage guides cover PHP, Laravel, Rails, Python, JavaScript, React and Vue.

Response

A successful render returns:

{
 "success": true,
 "id": "abc123",
 "url": "https://i.html2img.com/abc123.png",
 "credits_remaining": 1234,
 "template": "youtube-thumbnail"
}

The url field is a CDN URL for the rendered PNG. credits_remaining tracks your monthly quota. Shared response fields are documented in the API parameters reference.

Errors

The template endpoint returns the following error responses:

422 Validation failed

Returned when one or more inputs fail validation. The errors object lists field-specific messages.

{
 "success": false,
 "error": "validation_failed",
 "errors": {
 "title": ["The title field is required."]
 }
}

404 Template not found

Returned with {"code": "template_not_found"} if the slug is not registered. Check the template list for current slugs.

401 Unauthorised

Missing or invalid API key. See the authentication docs.

429 Too many requests

You have hit the rate limit or used your monthly credits. The pricing page covers higher-volume plans.

Related templates

Other templates in the social media category:

• Facebook post - Bold share images sized for Facebook feed posts
• Instagram square post - Bold square images sized for the Instagram feed
• Instagram story - Vertical 9:16 covers for Instagram and TikTok stories
• LinkedIn post - Polished share images sized for LinkedIn feed posts
• Pinterest pin - Vertical 2:3 pins with strong typography that stand out in feed
• Tweet mockup card - Render a tweet-style card from supplied data — avatar, body, image, metrics
• Twitter post - Generate share-ready images sized for Twitter/X posts

Browse by category

A starting point from each of the other template categories. The templates index lists every reference page.

Business and commerce: Business card , Certificate of completion

Content and marketing: Blog hero image , Code screenshot

See the YouTube Thumbnail marketing page for sample renders and use cases.