# Thumbnail > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Thumbnail > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Thumbnail.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumbnail > Source revision: 1355519168 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Reduced-size versions of images or videos}} {{About||the body part|Nail (anatomy)||Thumbnail (disambiguation)}} thumb|Thumbnail images being used to show a sample of image files within a folder, on a computer operating system. A '''thumbnail''' is a reduced-size version of a picture or [video](/source/video), used to help in recognizing and organizing them, serving the same role for images as a normal text [index](/source/index_(publishing)) does for words.{{Cite web |last=Sheridan |first=Jake |date=2021-08-04 |title=What Are Thumbnails? |url=https://loganix.com/what-are-thumbnails/ |access-date=2025-11-20 |website=Loganix |language=en-US}} In the age of [digital image](/source/digital_image)s, visual [search engine](/source/search_engine)s and image-organizing programs normally use thumbnails, as do most modern operating systems or desktop environments, such as [Microsoft Windows](/source/Microsoft_Windows), [macOS](/source/macOS), [KDE](/source/KDE) ([Linux](/source/Linux)) and [GNOME](/source/GNOME) ([Linux](/source/Linux)). On web pages, they also avoid the need to download larger files unnecessarily. ==Implementation== Thumbnails are ideally implemented on [web page](/source/web_page)s as separate, smaller copies of the original image, in part because one purpose of a thumbnail image on a web page is to reduce [bandwidth](/source/Bandwidth_(computing)) and download time.{{Cite web |title=What is a thumbnail and how is it used? |url=https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/thumbnail |access-date=2025-11-20 |website=WhatIs |language=en}} Some [web design](/source/web_design)ers produce thumbnails with [HTML](/source/HTML_element) or [client-side](/source/client-side) scripting that makes the user's browser shrink the picture, rather than use a smaller copy of the image. This results in no saved bandwidth, and the visual quality of browser resizing is usually less than ideal. Displaying a significant part of the picture instead of the full frame can allow the use of a smaller thumbnail while maintaining recognizability. For example, when thumbnailing a full-body [portrait](/source/portrait) of a person, it may be better to show the face slightly reduced than an indistinct figure. However, this may [mislead](/source/Deception) the viewer about what the image contains, so is more suited to artistic presentations than searching or catalogue browsing. Thumbnail makes for smaller, more easily viewable pages and also allows viewers to have control over exactly what they want to see.{{Cite web |title=The Power Of Youtube Thumbnails |url=https://www.thepolarbears.co.uk/insights/the-power-of-youtube-thumbnails |access-date=2025-11-20 |website=www.thepolarbears.co.uk |language=en}} In 2002, the court in the US case ''[Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corporation](/source/Kelly_v._Arriba_Soft_Corporation)'' ruled that it was [fair use](/source/fair_use) for [Internet](/source/Internet) search engines to use thumbnail images to help web users find what they seek.{{Cite journal |last=Appeals |first=United States Court of |last2=Circuit |first2=Ninth |date=2001 |title=336 F3d 811 Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corporation |url=https://openjurist.org/336/f3d/811 |language=en |volume=F3d |issue=336 |pages=811}} ==Etymology== The word ''thumbnail'' is a reference to the human thumbnail and alludes to the small size of an image or picture, comparable to the size of the nail.{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=thumbnail|title=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=2010-03-05|publisher=[Online Etymology Dictionary](/source/Online_Etymology_Dictionary)}}{{cite web|url=http://www.allwords.com/word-thumbnail.html|title=AllWords.com|access-date=2010-03-05}} The earliest use of the compound word ''thumbnail'' in the literal sense dates back to at least the 17th century;{{cite web|url=http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19971211|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011128010910/http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19971211 |archive-date=2001-11-28|title=Random House Word of the Day|access-date=2010-03-05}} the ''American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms'' documents that the figurative expression first appeared in the mid-19th century to refer to "a drawing the size of the thumbnail".{{cite web|url=http://podictionary.com/?p=202 |title=OPodictionary|access-date= 2010-03-05}} The word was then used figuratively, in both [noun](/source/noun) and [adjective](/source/adjective) form, to refer to anything small or concise, such as a biographical essay. The use of the word ''thumbnail'' in the specific context of computer images as "a small graphical representation, as of a larger graphic, a page layout, etc." appears to have been first used in the 1980s. ==Dimensions== *The [Denver Public Library](/source/Denver_Public_Library) Digitization and Cataloguing Program produces thumbnails that are 160 [pixel](/source/pixel)s in the long dimension.{{cite web|title=About the Digitization and Cataloging Program at The Denver Public Library|url=http://photoswest.org/neh/036.htm|publisher=Photoswest.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030704035848/http://photoswest.org/neh/036.htm|archive-date=2003-07-04|access-date=2013-03-13|quote=Thumbnail files are designed to display quickly and allow multiple images to be displayed simultaneously on a monitor screen for browsing. Thumbnails are 160 pixels on the long-dimension.}} *The [California Digital Library](/source/California_Digital_Library) Guidelines for Digital Images recommend 150-200 pixels for each dimension.{{cite web|title=CDlib.org|url=http://www.cdlib.org/inside/diglib/guidelines/bpgimages/reqs.html#guidelinesderiv|publisher=[California Digital Library](/source/California_Digital_Library)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051023060438/http://www.cdlib.org/inside/diglib/guidelines/bpgimages/reqs.html|archive-date=23 October 2005|access-date=2013-03-13}} *[Picture Australia](/source/Picture_Australia) requires thumbnails to be 150 pixels in the long dimension.{{cite web |url=http://www.libraries.vic.gov.au/downloads/Victorias_Virtual_Library_Digital_Collection/digitisation.htm |title=Local History Digitisation Manual |publisher=Libraries.vic.gov.au |access-date=2013-03-13 |archive-date=2011-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219021240/http://www.libraries.vic.gov.au/downloads/Victorias_Virtual_Library_Digital_Collection/digitisation.htm |url-status=dead }} *The [International Dunhuang Project](/source/International_Dunhuang_Project) Standards for Digitization and Image Management specifies a height of 96 pixels at 72 [ppi](/source/pixels_per_inch).{{cite web|url=http://idp.bl.uk/papers/standards.html |title=The International Dunhuang Project - Standards for Digitisation and Image Management |publisher=IDP.bl.uk |access-date=2013-03-13}} *[YouTube](/source/YouTube) recommends the resolution of 1280×720 (with a minimum width of 640 pixels) with an aspect ratio of 16:9.{{Cite web |title=Add video thumbnails on YouTube - Computer - YouTube Help |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/72431 |access-date=2023-02-02 |website=Google Help }} *[DeviantArt](/source/DeviantArt) automatically produces thumbnails that are maximum 150 pixels in the long dimension. *[Flickr](/source/Flickr) automatically produces thumbnails that are a maximum 240 pixels in the long dimension, or smaller 75×75 pixels. It also applies [unsharp mask](/source/unsharp_mask) to them. *[Picasa](/source/Picasa) automatically produces thumbnails that are a maximum 144 pixels in the long dimension, or 160×160 pixels album thumbnails. The term ''vignette'' is sometimes used to describe an image that is smaller than the original, larger than a thumbnail, but no more than 250 pixels in the long dimension. [Director](/source/Art_director)s, [storyboard artist](/source/storyboard_artist)s and [graphic design](/source/graphic_design)ers, as well as other kinds of visual artists, use the term "thumbnail sketch" to describe a small drawing on paper (usually part of a group) used to explore multiple ideas quickly. Thumbnail sketches are similar to [doodle](/source/doodle)s, but may include as much detail as a small [sketch](/source/Pencil_sketching). A "comprehensive" thumbnail sketch of a printed project, more or less to final size, is often referred to as a "comp", and can be highly detailed, with production information included. The purpose of thumbnails was to visualize the ideas in a miniature form, similar to an illustration shorthand. Often, the old school animators used this process to quickly jot down the key "poses" that were part of an animation sequence. These compact drawing were then pinned up above the animation table, within easy view. As the animator worked through creating the final drawings of each pose, the thumbnails helped to keep the original ideation relevant. ==See also== *[Image organizer](/source/Image_organizer) *[Contact print](/source/Contact_print), a [film](/source/Photographic_film) cognate of the thumbnail *[Thumbshot](/source/Thumbshot) ==References== {{reflist}} {{Authority control}} Category:Computer graphics Category:Graphic design --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Thumbnail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumbnail) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumbnail?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.