The thumbnail gets decided before it gets rendered.

Start with your video, an authentic frame, a visual asset or a reference. The studio needs something real to build from.

Turn the story into a title hook, visual hook, subject hierarchy and a thumbnail direction worth pursuing.

Review the proposed direction before the render. This is where you decide whether the concept is actually the right one.

Generate from the approved direction instead of asking an image model to discover the idea for you.

Iterate on the result and continue into Canva when that workflow is available for your account.