Generate a video thumbnail
Pull still frames out of a video as JPEGs, spread evenly across it.
Runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
A video needs a poster: a thumbnail for a page, a preview for a chat, a still for an article. The usual way to get one is to play the video, pause somewhere promising and take a screenshot — which gives you a picture at your screen's resolution, with a player's controls fading over it if the timing is unlucky.
This decodes the frames directly, at the video's own resolution and up to 4K wide, with nothing drawn over them. The times are spread evenly across the file and deliberately inset from both ends, because the first frame of a great many videos is black and a contact sheet that opens with a black square looks broken rather than accurate.
Ask for one and you get the middle. Ask for twenty-four and you get a grid you can scan to find the shot you actually wanted, and click to save. It runs on your machine, so a long film is a matter of seconds and nothing is uploaded.
Step by step
- 1Drop in the video.
- 2Choose how many frames and how wide.
- 3Click a frame to save it, or download the lot.
Questions
Why is the first frame not included?
It is very often black or a lens cap. The times are inset from both ends so every frame you get is likely to be a real one.
Can I pick an exact moment?
Not directly — ask for more frames and pick from the grid. Frame-accurate selection is a scrubber, and that is a different tool.
What resolution do I get?
Whatever you choose, up to 3840 wide, capped by the video's own resolution. It is decoded rather than screenshotted, so it is as sharp as the source.