AutoTube Thumbnail Generator with Google AI Studio

#deved #learngoogleaistudio #ai #gemini

Education Track: Build Apps with Google AI Studio

This post is my submission for DEV Education Track: Build Apps with Google AI Studio.

What I Built

I built a Next.js app that generates YouTube thumbnails using AI-generated images. The goal was simple: I wanted to stop wasting time manually designing thumbnails and instead leverage AI to automate the process with minimal inputs.

The app lets users:

Type a prompt (e.g., "Integrating GraphQL with NestJS")
Optionally upload logos or related images
Generate a 1280x720 thumbnail using a generative AI model (like Imagen or Gemini)

It combines visual design with contextual relevance — a great tool for creators, educators, and developers who frequently publish technical videos.

Prompt Given to Google AI Studio

To generate the base app using Google AI Studio, I provided this detailed prompt:

I want to build a Next.js app that uses Imagen or any image generation model to generate YouTube thumbnails based on a text prompt.

🔧 Core Features:

The user enters a text prompt (e.g., "Integrating GraphQL with NestJS").

The user can optionally upload one or more images (e.g., logos of GraphQL and NestJS).

The app generates a 1280x720 YouTube thumbnail image using the prompt and uploaded images.

A preview of the generated thumbnail is shown to the user.

The user can download the image or regenerate it with the same or new input.

Tech Stack:

Use Next.js (with the App Router or Pages Router)

Use TailwindCSS for styling

Allow local image upload (drag and drop or file picker)

Use an image generation API like Imagen, Gemini’s image model, or a placeholder mock function

Optional Features:

Save recent thumbnails

Show prompt history

Support templates like “tutorial”, “review”, “vs comparison” etc.

Build the full app including:

UI with input fields for prompt and image uploads

Call to image generation logic

Display area for result with download button

Basic error handling

This prompt helped Google AI Studio scaffold the core app logic and interface with ease.

Demo

My Experience

What I Learned

How to break down a product idea into a developer-friendly AI prompt
The power of using specific, structured prompts with Google AI Studio
How to rapidly prototype apps with Next.js and generative AI APIs
How AI generation can speed up creative workflows like video publishing

What Surprised Me

The responsiveness and quality of Google AI Studio in interpreting complex prompts
How easily the app handled image uploads and rendered generated content in a modern UI

PS. If you’re publishing regularly on YouTube or social media, I highly recommend building something like this — it saves time and looks.

This is far from production-ready but I intend to go down the road sooner =)