The addition of an overlay to your Twitch channel is an important first step for your audience and your brand. In an effort to educate the often asked question of what’s the best Twitch overlay size and other overlay, image format and OBS questions we will delve deeper and answer all questions with an easy to read quick guide.
Although this is meant for reference as there are a plethora of additional topics that are important for streaming. If you would like more information about the best streaming software for Twitch, how to stream on Twitch or more information about copyright free music for Twitch then consider yourself covered.
Additionally, this information will come in use if you’re also looking to build a dual pc streaming setup or want to learn how to use Voicemeeter Banana.
As this is a quick guide regarding Twitch overlay size, its broken down into a handful of easy to follow steps:
What is a Twitch stream overlay?
A stream overlay is a transparent graphic that is overlaid on your stream while you’re broadcasting live and can feature live streaming specific or game specific colors, brand and icons.
A Twitch stream overlay can include the entire screen, chat box overlay and/or a webcam overlay.
Additionally, a stream overlay isn’t artwork or graphics related to emotes, banners or panels which can be further explained in future articles.
Using OBS Studio or your preferred streaming software for Twitch is necessary for the placement of a stream overlay.
What’s the correct stream overlay size?
Twitch has made several improvements over the years to allow higher resolution and larger file sizes for stream overlays.
Currently, you are capable of streaming a 1920×1080 image and up to a maximum of 50MB image file.
These limitations are in place to minimize bandwidth while maximizing bitrate and live streaming content. Most viewers of streaming platforms like Twitch are hard capped at 1080p 60fps as a viewing experience.
Stream Overlay Size:
- 1920×1080 px
- 50MB file size
- Stream overlay format is both upload bandwidth and bitrate sensitive
What is the best stream overlay format?
You want a transparent graphic to overlay with your live streaming content, then you need the PNG format.
PNG will compress images and graphics up to 30% more than previous solutions making this the best stream overlay format. As discussed above, there is a file size and image resolution hard cap set in place by Twitch. PNG offers several advantages to other formats like JPEG, GIF, etc.
Advantages of the PNG format:
- Lossless compression – retains a higher degree of quality through compression
- Transparency – necessary for a stream overlay
- Support for a large number of colors – designed for digital images, artwork and graphics within the RGB colorspace
Can you make a Twitch overlay in Photoshop?
Yes, absolutely.
Twitch overlays can be created with nearly any modern image creation software. Photoshop is still the most popular image creation and editing software around and it provides the user with a powerful set of tools.
However, Photoshop isn’t free and today there are a plethora of other options out there that can provide some of the very same powerful creation and editing tools that Photoshop has.
Canva is one of the most popular image editing tools and offers guides on crafting Twitch overlays.
With Canva you can easily and seamlessly create, edit and save Twitch overlays.
Benefits of using Canva:
- Browser based
- Built-in Twitch templates
- Add animation easily
- Quickly download and import
What’s the ideal Twitch webcam overlay size?
A Twitch webcam overlay can be slightly different than a fullscreen overlay because of one major difference being the webcam. The webcam frame is normally a different aspect ratio than your live streaming content.
Ideally, you have a great webcam that can output a 16:9 aspect ratio, but some webcams will default to a 4:3 aspect ratio.
You have two options for Twitch overlay sizes:
- 1920×1080 px or 16:9 aspect ratio
- 1600×1200 px or 4:3 aspect ratio
If you are only using a webcam overlay then a 4:3 aspect ratio is perfectly fine.
It’s recommended to use the PNG image format, regardless of which image resolution or aspect ratio you choose to stream with.
Is there a handy guide for Twitch scene size?
When you’re designing a brand new Twitch overlay, you will need a lot more information about sizes and resolutions for each new image.
Part of building your brand and making a fun and enjoyable place for your viewers is constructing your overlays correctly.
In general when you’re building your brand you want all aspects of your Twitch streaming page to be optimal. Twitch makes it easy to express yourself and your brand when you create your channel. Here are some of the image options and placements for your Twitch channel and scenes.
Here’s a handy Twitch scene size cheatsheet:
- Profile Photo – 800×800 px
- Profile Banner – 1920×480 px
- Video Player Banner – 1920×1080 px
- Video Thumbnail – 1280×720 px
- Cover Image – 380×1280 px
- Info Panels – 320×200 px
How to setup your Twitch overlays in OBS
Setting up a Twitch overlay in OBS Studio is an easy and rewarding experience. Once you understand a few key sections of the OBS software it makes editing/changing/updating future graphics and overlays incredibly simple to do.
The image overlay section will be broken down into 5 easy to follow steps:
Image Overlay
1. Add a Scene
First thing you will need to do is to add a scene to your OBS Studio and this can be accomplished by going to the bottom left section of OBS and clicking on the +(plus) button under the Scene section.
It will be helpful to identify your scene with something memorable like a name related to your channel or brand.
2. Add a Source
The next step will be to add the source to OBS Studio and this allows the streaming software to set this PNG as the overlay scene when you decide to go live.
The Source section is next to the Scene section when looking at OBS Studio.
3. Click on Image
This tells OBS Studio what type of source you want to add to your Twitch overlay, this being a PNG image. Click on the +(plus) sign to bring up the drop down menu and select Image.
4. Add and name your Image
You are able to name your image source and let’s choose something notable for future reference.
5. Adjust Size and Placement of Image
Finally, re-sizing and placement of the Twitch overlay image is important to make sure you get it placed exactly the way you want it.
As you can see the image has a red bar and multiple anchor points to click on and drag. From here you can adjust and resize your Twitch overlay to your needs.
If you’re interested in adding a video file to loop or an animation as an additional overlay then you can follow these steps:
Video or Animation Overlay
1. Add a Source
Add your Source to OBS Studio.
2. Select Media Source
From the drop down box select Media Source.
3. Select your video or animation
Choose which video file or animation file you would like to be added to your Scene.
Hint: all animation or video files should be in the WEBM format.
4. Click on the Loop button
Once you’ve chosen your video or animation file from your hard drive be sure to select and enable the Loop option.
5. Right-click on the preview window
Right click on the center preview section of the OBS Studio software in order to open a new drop down menu. You will have a plethora of options and adjustments, however we’re currently interested in the Transform section.
6. Select Transform
7. Choose Fit to Screen
Select Fit to screen from the drop down menu, located above in order to cover the entire screen and viewing area.
Next, if you want to add text to your Twitch overlay in OBS, then follow these steps:
Add Text to your Overlay
1. Add a Source
From the Sources section of the OBS Studio software click on the +(plus) button to add a new source.
2. Select Text
A drop down menu appears and scroll down to the Text option to add text to your Twitch overlay.
3. Add your Text
The selected text will be overlaid on top of any image or screen you’re currently streaming and can be verified within the preview window of OBS Studio.
You are able to re-size and adjust the placement of text by dragging the red box surrounding the text box and by clicking onto the anchors.
Conclusion
The importance of having a Twitch overlay cannot be understated. Building your personal brand and sharing that excitement with your audience is part of what hooks viewers into the Twitch streaming experience.
Building the ideal overlay, sizing it correctly and learning to display it through OBS Studio is something that a lot of introductory Twitch streamers tend to struggle with.
Furthermore, learning to use the best streaming software for Twitch and taking advantage of articles like how to stream on Twitch aim to help new users with the boundaries and hurdles of new software. Additionally, reading about copyright free music for Twitch will help you avoid any copyright strikes in the future. If you’re building a dual pc streaming setup or need a software mixer, then an in depth guide like how to use Voicemeeter Banana is for you.