As a streamer, it’s well known that Twitch has a lot of emotes allowing the viewers to exchange, to react but above all to transmit more emotions in the chat. In addition to allowing communication in a fun way between the viewers themselves, it is also a way to exchange with the streamer live.
And for the streamer, it’s also a way to create a community around you, with a well-defined style. Before creating Twitch emotes, it’s important to think about the atmosphere you want to give during your streams and the personality you want to bring out.
The size of Twitch emoticons
The Twitch emote (or emoji), is an emoticon dedicated exclusively to the Twitch platform. There are basic emotes, such as the most famous: kappa (the famous), lul, jebaited, PJsalt… Or, emoticons dedicated to creators, and accessible to “subs only”. Generally, it’s the streamer’s portrait or even personalized drawings.
Be careful though, not all emotes are accepted because they must keep a specific format:
- A Twitch emote must be issued in three dimensions, including size of :
- 28 x 28 pixels, for the web
- 56 x 56 pixels, for Retina display
- 112 x 112 pixels, for some platforms
- The images must be saved in PNG format
- The background of the Twitch Emote must be transparent
- The maximum size of the file must not exceed 25 kb
- No violent, sexual, or copyrighted images.
Who can own custom emotes on Twitch?
It is possible to create and add custom Twitch emotes as soon as a streamer has an affiliate and/or partner status. Namely, verified Twitch accounts can also create emoticons. This one is automatically assigned to Twitch partners but also potentially to other users of the type “brands” or “organizations”.
There is a way to create your own Twitch emote by following the Twitch regulations as well as some dimensions (see “Twitch emotes size”). The uploading (or the modifications) of the customized emotes will then be done directly from the dashboard. To do so, just go to the “Settings” tab.
How many emotes can I add to my Twitch channel?
As a Twitch affiliate, we can only have one custom emote when, as a Twitch partner, it is possible to have up to 6 subs emotes at startup (which remains a very limited number and sometimes rather frustrating).
But then how to get more custom emotes on your channel?
Well, it all depends on the “level” at which your Twitch channel is ranked. But the overall logic is that the more subscribers you have, the more custom emotes you’ll have on your Twitch channel.
How to Create Twitch Emotes
In other words, everything depends on the number of subscribers and the growth of the channel. The calculation is based on the number of subscribers as well as the subscription level of the subscribers. As a reminder: there are 3 levels of subscription Twitch Prime, as well as Prime Gaming (free).
How many subscribed emotes can you have on your Twitch channel?
Today, affiliates can have up to 5 Twitch emotes maximum, while partners have the possibility to expand the number of emotes up to 50. Note that when a new emote is available, it is permanently unlocked (even if you lose subscribers).
Which software to create an emoticon for your Twitch channel?
Once you have everything you need to integrate a Twitch emote on your channel and you already know exactly which image or drawing to integrate, you’ll have to start creating it!
For that, on our side we recommend you 3 software :
- Photoshop: a great classic that allows you to design almost anything you want in terms of photo editing / flat design. However, the problem is that it is not accessible to everyone because it is quite expensive (about 20$/month legally in my memories).
- Affinity Photo: if you’ve read our articles, you’ll know that we’re full members of Affinity Photo or Affinity Designer. Less expensive (about 55$, but with one-time payment), Affinity Photo will allow you to do a lot of photo editing, including blurring, quick removal of the background of a photo, etc. Affinity Designer, for the same price, is more specialized in vector drawing and will allow you to create Twitch emotes, if necessary. At this level, it all depends on the style!
- GIMP: Ah GIMP, that famous software that used to be found in college… Well yes, it is part of the recommendations! And this, for the good and simple reason that this one is free to download, quickly installable, and allows to realize various retouches and simple creations for the creation of emoting on Twitch.
Be careful though, it is not recommended to use Paint, simply because this tool does not allow you to save your Emote with the required transparent background.
GIMP: 10 steps to create your Twitch Emote
From the GIMP software, which is more accessible to all and especially in terms of simplicity, here is a small video from Banville that is rather well done and gives all the necessary information to create its Twitch emote.
To have a clear vision on GIMP here is how to create a future Twitch emote in 10 steps:
- Download and install GIMP
- Launch the software
- Go to the “File” > “New” tab. Choose the size and resolution of the image and make sure the background is transparent.
- Create a layer and choose a brush (size, hardness and color).
- Draw the image
- It is also possible to insert a text
- To insert an image, simply drag it into GIMP and make some adjustments.
- Now click on “Image” > “Duplicate” and work on the duplicate.
- Then go back to “Image” > “Image Scale and Size” to adjust the size (do this three times to get the three required sizes)
- Finally, click on ” File ” > ” Export as ” and rename your file. Attention: do not forget to save it in “png” format.
6 tips to create a better Twitch Emote
To give a little more soul and personality to your Twitch channel, you’ll have to think about how you want to look! Indeed, the emotes play a role in the fact that his channel remains in the memory of subscribers/viewers or not. It is especially them that participate in the atmosphere of his channel during the lives. Here are some recommendations to create emotes that are creamy:
1- Avoid texts!
Given the size of the images, the text is not very readable and therefore loses all its interest. An emote is not supposed to be textual, so you should avoid it as much as possible. At the limit, a word of 2/3 letters can pass, but it remains quite limited. Overall: it should be avoided.
2- Use as much space as possible
The dimensions of the emote are already quite limited, so it is really recommended to use all the space you have. Firstly because the image will attract the cat’s eye more, and secondly because it will be more adapted to Twitch.
3- Use contrasts
To have an emote that stands out, you should not hesitate to select bright colors and accentuate the contrasts. For example, for a 28 x 28 pixels Twitch emote, distinguishing the face, even the eyes, the mouth, and the eyebrows will be an excellent idea.
4- Think simplicity
A mistake often found among streamers … You must know that a Twitch emote is a very small image. It is therefore essential to avoid going into details and keep the image as simple as possible. Not only because it will work better as an emote but also because it will save money or energy.
5- Get inspired by neighboring channels
And yes, sometimes going to see other Twitch channels in France or even in the UK to see what is being done can be a good help. Without copying what is done by others, it allows you to get ideas and adapt it to your own taste! It’s also a good way to see what types of emotes work and are the most used by viewers.
6- In case of difficulty, do not hesitate to call a graphic designer
Sometimes, we try to do things ourselves even though it is not a subject we master at all. If it is really too difficult, you should not hesitate to call a graphic designer. There is no need to stress and push yourself when there are sometimes ways to find an affordable graphic designer on Fiverr for example.
If you need more information on how to delete or modify an emote already integrated in your Twitch account, we recommend you have a look at the documentation.
