You may be wondering to yourself what the best banner size for Twitch is. You may also be asking yourself what is the best resolution, and can you get too large? The answer is actually not as cut and dry as you would think.

There are several sizes you can choose to use for your banner. Twitch even recommends several sizes. Why is that? We’ll discuss that in this article, as well as run through the options you have.

The technical stuff

We first need to discuss what pixels are and pixel sizes. Pixels are those tiny little blocks that make up your screen. To be more technical, they’re a “unit of digital screen length.” That is left open because screen pixels can all be different sizes, and that can get quite confusing. So, the industry quantifies a pixel as a unit rather than a specific size. For example, one pixel equals one inch.

Pixels in creative work can refer to a bunch of things. Digital cameras have sensor pixel sizes. At the same time, it can refer to the size of an area, like the measurement for HD video, which is 1920 by 1080 pixels.

Typically, creators work with pixels as a measurement. A badge is quantified as 40 pixels by 40 pixels. An ad is 150 pixels by 150 pixels. The more pixels you have, the higher the resolution is. That’s because you are packing more information into the image. Also, the higher your resolution is, the larger the file will be.

What is Twitch looking for in its banners?

Twitch accepts banner sizes up to 10 MB in size, and they can technically be any size as long as it falls within that size. However, it can slow things down for your viewers because larger files naturally take longer to load. That is why Twitch recommends you upload banners with a dimension of 1920 by 480 pixels. This is the optimum size for banners. It has enough resolution to look clear, and it isn’t so large that it’s hard to load.

However, if you aren’t a fan of the size, you can use a higher resolution than the amount recommended. The recommended 1920 by 480 pixels size has an aspect ratio of 16:9. This ratio is the best-looking aspect ratio for banners on Twitch.

After picking the size

So now that you have an idea of what Twitch is looking for in terms of banner size, let’s get into creating your banner and where you can crop your banner if you have one that doesn’t fit Twitch’s requirements.

Making a great Twitch banner

Having a great-looking banner is a must for many streamers. A great banner allows people to see your channel’s branding front and center. You can also communicate important information, like your stream schedule, or promote upcoming content or streams.

If you don’t have a banner, Twitch will show a purple background with your channel name on it. It works for temporary purposes, but you should try to get your own banner up as soon as you can.

How to create a Twitch banner

Now that you know what size you should shoot for when creating a banner, let’s briefly discuss how to create a banner for Twitch. To start, you first need to know where you’re making the banner. Photoshop is the go-to option if you already have a subscription to Creative Cloud. However, if you don’t, there are plenty of places where you can create a banner. For example, Photopea is completely free and offers most of Photoshop’s fundamental tools. There are also quite a few places where that offer banner templates, like Evanto Elements, Canva and Snappa.

When making your banner, you have the creative license to make whatever you want, as long as it doesn’t break Twitch’s Community Guidelines. Create something that speaks to you and fits with your branding. For example, take a look at the banner for Twitch streamer Puppers. For his brand he uses cute cartoony puppies in most of his branding. His banner is no different.

Image courtesy: Puppers

Play around and try things out. There’s no limit on how often you can change your banner, so you can change to your heart’s desire. However, you might not want to change too often. That might confuse your audience, especially if the banners don’t have consistent branding.

Time to make your banner

Banners are a great way to show off your brand to new viewers and to customize your Twitch channel. The best size you should shoot for is 1920 by 480 pixels, but at least shoot for the 16:9 aspect ratio. There are also various areas you can create your banner. You aren’t limited to Photoshop, but if you can use Photoshop, that would offer you the most creative flexibility.