You’ve started doing live feeds on Twitch, the famous streaming platform owned by Amazon, and in due time you’ve also managed to gain quite a few followers. For this reason, you thought of finding some way to involve the community, maybe adding some content that can be enjoyed by the most loyal users: specifically, since you’ve seen this kind of solution adopted by other channels and you particularly liked it, you’re wondering how to create emoticons for Twitch.
Well, if that’s the case, don’t worry: I can explain you everything you need to know on the subject. Before proceeding, however, I’d like to point out that, technically, Twitch emoticons should not be called emoticons, but rather emotes. In the common definition, in fact, emoticons are the faces that are made with normal writing characters, such as colon and brackets. Emoticons, on the other hand, are real images of extremely small dimensions, which can depict faces or other elements. Having said that, the Italian version of Twitch also refers to emotes as emoticons, so let’s say that there is “freedom of choice” as to which term to use!
Having cleared that up, I’d say it’s time to get to work, do you agree? If the answer is yes, then make yourself comfortable and get ready to get emoticons that reflect your channel in every way. It only remains for me to wish you a good read and a lot of fun.
Preliminary information
Before explaining how to create emote for Twitch, it is good that you are aware of some important information in this regard.
For example, you should know that custom emotes are only unlocked by owning the affiliation with Twitch. To get it, the channel, in addition to having at least 50 followers, must have met other requirements in the last 30 days: the ones you find listed below.
- Have a minimum of 500 total minutes of live;
- Have started a live in a minimum of 7 different days;
- Have an average of at least 3 viewers at the same time.
Once all these requirements have been met, the channel will receive a message to the email that has been assigned to it, which will contain the request to become an affiliate of Twitch and have access to all the benefits that come with it, including, precisely, the ability to add custom emote.
At this point, you should know that there are two types of emote that you can add to your Twitch channel: subscriber emote and bit level emote. There is no substantial difference between them, except for the fact that viewers can gain access to the former by making a subscription to the channel and to the latter by donating bits to the channel.
Each type of emote, then, must have certain requirements in order to be uploaded to its channel, which I’ll give you below.
- It must have a size that does not exceed 1 MB.
- The resolution must be between 112 x 112 and 4096 x 4096 pixels.
- Animated files cannot be uploaded.
- They must be square in shape.
However, if you need to get emotes and you don’t have the time or skills to create them yourself, you may want to hire professionals. A very established name in this field
As a last thing, before proceeding, I’d like to remind you to make sure that the emote you upload to your channel doesn’t violate Twitch’s rules. Using emotes that are not suitable for the platform could result in your channel receiving serious penalties, including being banned from the site.
How to create Twitch emote
If you’re interested in figuring out how to create emoticons for Twitch, here are some solutions you have on your side to succeed. All you have to do is identify the one that best suits you and proceed with the directions I’m about to give you.
Photoshop (Windows/MacOS)
If your idea was to create professional-looking emoticons on your own, then I recommend you to rely on Photoshop: the famous photo editing software from Adobe, the most famous in the world, can be tried for free for 7 days,ย
To get started, launch Photoshop, click on the Create New button and create a new image with a transparent background using pixels as the unit of measure and setting the dimensions provided by Twitch that I told you about in the previous chapter (between 112 x 112 and 4096 x 4096 pixels).
Then click on the Properties tab located at the bottom of the screen, on the right. At this point, under the Rulers and Lines category, click on the box and select the Pixels item and all dimensions will be calculated with them.
At this point, you can start working on the emote. Click on the File tab and, from the menu that appears, select the Open option. Next, select the images you want to load within Photoshop and then click the Open button.
If you want to create an image from scratch, you can use the tools that are provided directly by Photoshop. In this regard, I refer you to my tutorial where I show you how to use Photoshop.
Once the image is loaded, if necessary, you can remove the background to create a cleaner emote. To do so, press on the Magic Wand icon, located on the left side of the screen and click on the background you want to remove.
Then, click on the Selection tab, located at the top of the screen and from the menu that pops up click on the Reverse item. Next, press the Layers tab, located at the bottom of the screen and then click the Add a mask icon twice in a row. By doing so, the background will be removed.
If you need to remove a background made of more complicated colors, then you need to contour it. To do that, press the Selection tab and then the Select and Mask item.
Now click on the Quick Selection tool icon and then on the parts of the image that you want to remain in the emote. Next, press on the Brush enhance border tool icon and click on the borders to remove the remnants left by the previous tool. When you’re done making changes, then, hit the OK button.
Before you go to download the image, make sure that the dimensions fit the ones set by Twitch, as I mentioned in the previous chapters. To do this, press on the Properties tab located on the right side of the screen, where you can view the image’s dimensions. If you need to tweak them, just press on the L box, which stands for width, or the A box, which stands for height and type in the number of pixels you prefer.
To save the image, press the File tab and in the menu that appears select the Save As option. Then click on the box to the right of the Save As item and select PNG. It is essential to use this format, otherwise the transparent background will be removed.
You can also save the project to continue working on it later. To do this just select the Photoshop item in the box to the right of the Save As item. This way you can reopen it whenever you want and continue where you left off.
GIMP (Windows/MacOS/Linux)
If, however, you were looking for a completely free alternative, you might consider GIMP, a popular free and open source photo editing software compatible with Windows, macOS and Linux.
If you want to create an emote for Twitch using GIMP, the process is almost identical to the one used in the previous chapter for Photoshop. In case you don’t know how to use GIMP
If you also need to know how to contour an image in GIMP
Bitmoji (Android/iOS/iPadOS)
If you’re looking for an even simpler solution that allows you to create emoticons for Twitch for free, then you could turn to a service specifically designed to create emoticons that can be used directly from smartphones and tablets: I’m talking about Bitmoji, an application for Android (available on the Play Store and alternative stores) and iPhone/iPad very easy to use.
After downloading Bitmoji (just look for it in the store of your device and press the button Install / Get; if you use iPhone/iPad you will also have to verify your identity), open the application, press the button Create avatar and proceed with the creation of your account. Then, enter your birthday and click the Continue button. After that, fill in the Email Address and Password fields with your data and finally press the Register button.
Now that you’ve created your Bitmoji account, you’ll be directed directly to the application’s editor. From here you can customize the emote’s protagonist as you see fit, and the appearance will apply to each emote you go on to create.
You can customize the character by simply selecting the tabs you find at the bottom of the screen. Within each one you’ll find various elements that you can use to create your emote. When you are satisfied with the changes, finally, press the Save button.
Now that you have created the main character of the emote, you can choose the position in which it will pose, the objects it will hold, the background and other elements. Remember, however, not to select animated emotes, as these cannot be uploaded to Twitch.
To download the emote you just created, press on its thumbnail and later on the Save button to download it to your phone. At this point you need to transfer it to a computer, since you can’t create emote on Twitch via mobile devices
Other solutions to create Twitch emote
Do you want to try some other solutions to create emote on Twitch? Then below you can find other services that might be for you.
Emotes Maker (Online) – a site that offers the ability to customize your avatar and make an emote out of it ready to be used on your Twitch channel. At a cost of $3.99 per emote, the site comes in very handy when you need individual emotes ready immediately.
Placeit (Online) – this site provides you with several templates that you can modify to your liking to create the emote you want. You can purchase each emote individually for $39.95**, or create an unlimited number of emotes for **$14.95 per month or $89.69 per year. The site is also useful for creating other Twitch-related materials, such as logos or banners.
OWN3D (Online) – this site also offers a wide range of tools you can use to customize your Twitch channel, including an editor to create emotes. You can make and customize them with just a few clicks, priced at $7.99 per emote.
How to add emoticons on Twitch
Now that you’ve created the emotes you needed, you’re ready to implement them in your Twitch channel. To do so, log in to the main page of the site, sign in to your account, press on the icon of your channel at the top of the screen and, from the menu that appears, click on the Author Dashboard item.
On the page that opens, click on the Spectator Rewards tab and then on the Emoticons option (the latter is only visible to users affiliated with Twitch).
At this point, you can see that the emotes are divided into categories, namely Subscriber Emoticon and Bit Level Emoticon. If you want to add an emote, you simply need to press on the + icon located below the category of the emote you want to add.
On the next page, you have to click on the arrow icon to load the emote. Select it, then press the Open button. After that, you can see the image in three different thumbnails, to give you an idea of how it will appear in your channel. If you’re satisfied with the results, finally, click on the Upload button.
Now that you’ve finished the process, the emote is ready to be used by your community, whether it’s subscribers or users who donate bits to your channel. That’s it! Easy, isn’t it?
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