Wheel of Edits #1: YouTube Thumbnail

Hey jammers! Panda here...

So, I've decided to start a new series called "Wheel of Edits" where I spin a random wheel picker thingy, which picks a specific type of edit. I'll then show you step-by-step how I would complete that edit, so that you can learn how to make them yourself! Also, it'll just be a fun little challenge. :)

If you have any other types of edits that aren't listed on the wheel below, make sure to leave them in the comments down below! I'd like to include some trickier ones (like, create a header using only shades of blue) so leave all of your ideas below!

Without any further ado, let's spin the Wheel of Edits!!!

Looks like we got "YouTube thumbnail." Hmm...

(Sidenote: I'll be making the edits as little gifts for some of my buddies, just so that I have some information to create the edit off of. It would be hard to make an edit for a nameless person I didn't know, right? :P)

I'll make a YouTube thumbnail for my good friend CosmicCheetah! You can check out her YouTube channel here!

So, I'll be making a thumbnail for her video called "Giveaway Results!" that she posted awhile ago! :D

First, let's open up a blank document in Photoshop with the dimensions of a YouTube thumbnail:

Now, it's time to decide which background to pick...

Alright! We're making some good progress! :P

Now, to make the text (which we'll be adding later) a bit easier to see, I'm going to lower the opacity of the background.

And since Cosmic has a purple theme on her channel, I'll be adding a purple undertone to the image as well.

Time to add the text! I like to add the text in separate layers for each word so that they are easier to reposition later on.

Now it's time to edit the text!

I always like to leave room for graphics and emojis when I make thumbnails, so that's why there's that weird empty space in the bottom left corner.

Time for my favorite part--adding the emojis! My favorite site to get photos of emojis for thumbnails is Emoji Stickers. Their emojis have a white border around them, making them perfect for edits!

Once I added the emoji, I played around with the text a bit more, moved it around, changed the fonts a bit, and came up with this final product:

It's not the greatest, but I have to go right now and had to cut my editing short. >.< I hope to do a better job with some of the other edits! :D

Ciao jammers! Make sure to comment down below your Wheel of Edits ideas, and also if you'd like to be featured in the next one! :D (Consider it a free commission! :P)

-Panda

How to Make Your Own Blog "Grab My Button" (With Custom Code)!

Hey jammers! Panda here...

So, yesterday I posted a notice up here saying how I was quitting the blog for about 2-3 weeks until my school ends, or at least until my school workload simmers down.

However, I posted a new video on YouTube (for my AJ YouTube channel) yesterday, and wanted to share it with you, since many of you have been asking how to make your own custom Grab My Button codes and button! :D

Here is the video!

 In the video, I show you how to make your own custom button, how to create code for it, and what programs/sites I use! :D The button made in this video is a present for my friend KG, who has always been so supportive and sweet!

I hope you enjoyed! As I said in my previous post, I'll probably be posting a few times here and there until I officially "come back," like this post.

Ciao, have a great Tuesday!

-Panda

Google Plus Commissions!

So, if you didn't know, I recently opened up Google Plus commissions! Basically, I take requests for commissions on Google Plus that are a bit more advanced than the ones I make on here. They cost an item (usually just an RIM or two, but sometimes a beta or larger rare) and consist of things like custom Google Plus covers, YouTube channel art, YouTube thumbnail templates and profile pictures. (Here's the post with more info on these commissions!)

Anyways, I just wanted to post the recent G+ commissions I've done to show y'all. ;)

I'll be posting some fresh AJ graphics soon! :D

-Panda

How to Make Custom YouTube Thumbnails : A Tutorial

Hey jammers! :D Wow, I've actually succeeded in playing Animal Jam for three days in a row... and blogging two days in a row! :D

Anyways... a lovely jammer emailed me asking for a custom YouTube thumbnails tutorial. Unfortunately they emailed me a couple of weeks ago when I had forgotten to check my email for awhile, and I'm not sure if they're still looking for a response. Nonetheless, I figured that some of you YouTubers out there might still find this tutorial helpful, and if you know anyone who'd like to learn how to do this as well, make sure that you share this post with them as well!

But without me rambling anymore, let's get into the tutorial!

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To start, you're going to want to open up PicMonkey. If you don't know what PicMonkey is, it's a free, online photo-editing program. You can pay $4.99/month for more advanced features, but those extra features aren't necessary in this tutorial. 

Note: You can also use Pixlr or any form of Photoshop/Photoshop Elements, but since PicMonkey is the most capable free platform that I know of, I'll be demonstrating with it instead.

Then, click on the "Edit for free!" link at the top right corner of the page.

Once you do that, you'll likely end up with a screen that looks like this:

Now it's time to resize the canvas so that it is the proper size for the YouTube thumbnail. In order for your thumbnail to fit appropriately into the YouTube thumbnail container, it must be 1280 pixels in width and 720 pixels in height, or 1280 x 720.

Your screen should look something like this once you've resized your canvas to fit the thumbnail size:

We've got the "bones" of our thumbnail down, and now it's time for the fun part! Start your thumbnail by adding a cool Animal Jam background for the background of your thumbnail. You can find some on this page.

To add your background to your thumbnail, first download the background and then go to the "Overlays" tab on the side (it's shaped like a butterfly) and select the "Your Own" option and upload it to PicMonkey.

Now all you have to do is resize it to fit the canvas better:

Starting to look more Animal Jam-y after adding that background, right?

Then, you'll want to add some text explaining what you video is about. Go to the "Text" tab (it's says "Tt") select a font and type out what you video is about. I suggest making the font BIG since this thumbnail will be shrunk when actually uploaded onto YouTube, so you'll want to ensure that people can read your thumbnail from a distance.

Once you've added the text and styled it the way you would like to, you can add tons of fun graphics and icons to your thumbnail! I personally didn't choose to add graphics for this example thumbnail because I chose for the text to be so large, but adding in graphics of your own animals, of things that appear in your video or just of random, cute animal graphics are great ideas to catch potential viewers' eyes!

After you're sure that your thumbnail is exactly the way you would like it to be, you can save it! Make sure that you save it in either the medium or highest resolution to avoid the thumbnail from getting too blurry.

And there you have it! Your very own thumbnail! Of course, yours will probably be way better than mine, because I just whipped this up randomly as an example. :P

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I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial! 

-Panda

Cami

If you don't already know the story of Cami, a leukemia survivor, here is a quick story about her:
A worker at SmartBomb Interactive had a daughter named Cami. She had a frog stuffed animal named Froggy, whom she loved very much. She was diagnosed with leukemia. Thankfully she survived and is now the host of the Wild Explorers series that Animal Jam is hosting! There is an item in Animal Jam, the Cami's Frog that is in honor of Cami.

I am glad to see that Cami and her frog are well!

In honor of Cami and her Froggy, I made a graphic of the Cami's Frog that she shows in the video. You can use it without credit if you like. It is also transparent.

Make sure to keep checking the Wild Explorer's YouTube Channel or The Daily Explorer for more episodes!

-Panda