🖼️ Thumbnail Generator API

Generate YouTube thumbnails, Instagram posts, and LinkedIn banners — powered by SDXL, ready in ~30 seconds.

Overview

The Thumbnail Generator API creates professional thumbnails for YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn from a text prompt. Each generation uses SDXL to produce high-quality, bold images sized perfectly for each platform's requirements.

Quick Start

1. Get your API key

Sign up at pixelapi.dev/app and grab your API key from the API Keys tab.

2. Make your first request

curl -X POST https://api.pixelapi.dev/v1/thumbnail/generate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "prompt": "A chef holding a delicious pizza with melted cheese, dramatic lighting, dark moody background",
    "preset": "youtube",
    "style": "vibrant"
  }'

3. Poll for result

# Wait ~30 seconds then check status
curl https://api.pixelapi.dev/v1/thumbnail/YOUR_GENERATION_ID \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Response when complete:

{
  "status": "completed",
  "output_url": "https://api.pixelapi.dev/outputs/images/2026/04/22/xxx.png",
  "preset": "youtube",
  "width": 1280,
  "height": 720,
  "credits_used": 10
}

Thumbnail Formats

Styles

Parameters

Code Examples

Python

import requests

API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY"
BASE_URL = "https://api.pixelapi.dev"

def generate_thumbnail(prompt, preset="youtube", style="vibrant", text_overlay=None):
    # Step 1: Submit job
    resp = requests.post(
        f"{BASE_URL}/v1/thumbnail/generate",
        headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"},
        json={
            "prompt": prompt,
            "preset": preset,
            "style": style,
            "text_overlay": text_overlay,
        }
    )
    resp.raise_for_status()
    data = resp.json()
    gen_id = data["generation_id"]
    print(f"Job queued: {gen_id}")

    # Step 2: Poll for result (every 2s)
    import time
    while True:
        time.sleep(2)
        status_resp = requests.get(
            f"{BASE_URL}/v1/thumbnail/{gen_id}",
            headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"}
        )
        status = status_resp.json()
        if status["status"] == "completed":
            print(f"Done! URL: {status['output_url']}")
            return status["output_url"]
        elif status["status"] == "failed":
            print(f"Failed: {status['error_message']}")
            return None

# Example: YouTube gaming thumbnail
url = generate_thumbnail(
    prompt="A fierce gamer wearing a headset, RGB neon lights in a dark gaming setup, dramatic lighting",
    preset="youtube",
    style="dark"
)

JavaScript / Node.js

const API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY";
const BASE_URL = "https://api.pixelapi.dev";

async function generateThumbnail(prompt, preset = "youtube", style = "vibrant") {
  // Submit
  const res = await fetch(`${BASE_URL}/v1/thumbnail/generate`, {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "Authorization": `Bearer ${API_KEY}`,
      "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ prompt, preset, style })
  });
  const data = await res.json();
  const genId = data.generation_id;

  // Poll
  while (true) {
    await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 2000));
    const statusRes = await fetch(`${BASE_URL}/v1/thumbnail/${genId}`, {
      headers: { "Authorization": `Bearer ${API_KEY}` }
    });
    const status = await statusRes.json();
    if (status.status === "completed") {
      console.log("Done!", status.output_url);
      return status.output_url;
    }
    if (status.status === "failed") {
      console.error("Failed:", status.error_message);
      return null;
    }
  }
}

generateThumbnail("A chef holding a pizza with melted cheese", "youtube", "vibrant");

Pricing

Tips for Best Results

• Be specific about the subject: "A chef in a red jacket holding a pizza" beats just "pizza"
• Include lighting mood: "dramatic side lighting", "soft diffused daylight", "neon RGB backlight"
• Add contrast in prompts: "dark moody background with a bright subject" creates clear focal point
• Use negative_prompt: Add "blurry, text, watermark, low quality" to avoid common issues
• For Hindi text: Include "Hindi text" in prompt — SDXL handles Devanagari script well on our GPU nodes
• YouTube thumbnails: Include "bold composition, cinematic lighting" for maximum CTR
• Instagram: Use "vibrant" or "bold" style — high saturation reads well on mobile feeds
• LinkedIn: Use "minimal" or "cinematic" style — professional, clean, text-space friendly