Create Your Own Thumbnail for Kaltura Media


Overview


This tutorial details one method of creating a thumbnail for your Kaltura media: using PowerPoint. Any Kaltura user can add a thumbnail to their Kaltura media, so this applies to everyone (instructors, staff, students, etc.). 

Critical Concepts


Things to Keep in Mind

Prerequisites

Steps to Take


You'd be surprised how useful PowerPoint can be for creating images, including thumbnails. With that in mind, here's a possible workflow for creating your own thumbnail. Most of the details will be left up to you - it's your preferred design after all - but we'll lay the groundwork for you. 

  1. Open PowerPoint on your computer and create a new presentation. If you want, you can use an existing template if you like the design. Otherwise, just create a blank presentation.
  2. Click Design at the top of the window to open the design ribbon.
  3. Click Slide Size and then select Widescreen (16:9).

A screenshot of the "design" ribbon in PowerPoint.

  1. Design your thumbnail.

Thumbnail Design Tips

  1. When you're done designing your slide/thumbnail, and with the appropriate slide selected (in case you have other slides in your deck), click File > Export at the top.
  2. In the pull-down menu next to "File Format," select PNG. (Note that you can use just about any image type you like with Kaltura.)
  3. Select the radio button for Save Current Slide Only.
  4. Set the width and height to 1920 and 1080, respectively.
  5. Click Export

A screenshot of PowerPoint's "export" options.

You now have an image file that you can use as your thumbnail. See our tutorial on adding a thumbnail to your Kaltura media to actually replace your existing thumbnail.

If you still have questions or need additional assistance, feel free to contact us at kaltura@ucsd.edu.