How to Bulk Download Thumbnail Images of YouTube Videos using YT-DLP (Mac)

by sengideons posted on March 23, 2024 in Apple, Computers

In the digital age, multimedia content reigns supreme, with platforms like YouTube offering an endless array of videos catering to every interest. As content creators and enthusiasts, we often find ourselves needing to manage and organize these videos efficiently, which includes accessing their thumbnail images. However, manually downloading thumbnails for a large list of videos can be time-consuming and tedious. Thankfully, with tools like YT-DLP, the process can be streamlined and automated, particularly for Mac users. In this guide, we’ll delve into how to bulk download thumbnail images of YouTube videos using YT-DLP on your Mac system.

Understanding YT-DLP:

YT-DLP is a powerful command-line utility built upon youtube-dl, a popular tool for downloading videos from YouTube and other video platforms. YT-DLP extends the functionality of youtube-dl, offering additional features, bug fixes, and improvements. One such feature is the ability to download thumbnail images of YouTube videos directly from the command line interface, making it an ideal choice for our purpose.

Why Use YT-DLP for Downloading Thumbnails?

While there are browser extensions and online services that claim to download YouTube thumbnails, YT-DLP offers several advantages:

  • Efficiency: Downloading multiple thumbnails in one go saves you significant time compared to manual methods.
  • Customization: You can specify the directory where you want to save the thumbnails, ensuring organization.
  • Error Handling: YT-DLP skips errors gracefully, so a single unavailable video won’t halt the entire download process.
  • Command-Line Power: For users comfortable with the command line, YT-DLP offers a powerful and flexible way to manage downloads.

Before we dive in, a note about YouTube’s Terms of Service: Downloading content from YouTube falls under their Terms of Service. Always ensure you have the right to use any downloaded thumbnails before incorporating them into your projects.

Getting Started: Installing YT-DLP on Mac

There are two main ways to install YT-DLP on your Mac:

1. Using Homebrew (Recommended):

Homebrew is a popular package manager for macOS that simplifies the installation process. If you don’t have Homebrew installed, you can get it by following the instructions on their website https://brew.sh/. Once you have Homebrew, open your terminal and run the following command:

Bash
brew install yt-dlp

2. Manual Installation:

If you prefer manual installation, download the latest YT-DLP binary from the official GitHub repository https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp. Choose the appropriate version for your macOS architecture (ARM or Intel) and extract the downloaded file. You’ll then need to add the location of the yt-dlp executable to your system path environment variable. This can be a bit technical, so if you’re unsure, using Homebrew is the easier option.

Verifying Installation

Once you’ve installed YT-DLP, open your terminal and type:

Bash
yt-dlp --version

This should display the installed version of YT-DLP, confirming successful installation.

Preparing Your List of YouTube Video URLs

YT-DLP requires a text file containing the YouTube video URLs you want to download thumbnails from. Here’s how to create one:

  1. Open a text editor like TextEdit on your Mac.
  2. Paste each YouTube video URL on a separate line. Ensure the URLs are complete and include the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= part before the unique video identifier.
  3. Save the file with a descriptive name (e.g., “youtube_thumbnails.txt”) in a location you can easily access from your terminal.

Downloading Thumbnails with YT-DLP

Now comes the magic! Open your terminal and navigate to the directory where you want to save the downloaded thumbnails. You can use the cd command to change directories.

Here’s the basic YT-DLP command for downloading thumbnails:

Bash
yt-dlp --skip-download --write-thumbnail --playlist-items <path/to/your/file.txt>

Let’s break down the options used in this command:

  • --skip-download: This tells YT-DLP to skip downloading the actual video files, focusing solely on the thumbnails.
  • --write-thumbnail: This instructs YT-DLP to extract and save the thumbnail images.
  • --playlist-items: This option specifies that we’re providing a list of video URLs (even for single videos, it’s treated as a playlist of one item).
  • <path/to/your/file.txt>: Replace this with the actual path to the text file containing your YouTube video URLs.

For example, if your text file is named “youtube_thumbnails.txt” and saved on your Desktop, the command would look like this:

Bash
yt-dlp --skip-download --write-thumbnail --playlist-items ~/Desktop/youtube_
In conclusion, YT-DLP proves to be a valuable tool for bulk downloading thumbnail images of YouTube videos on Mac systems. By following the simple steps outlined in this guide, you can efficiently manage and organize your multimedia content with ease. Whether you’re a content creator, researcher, or enthusiast, the ability to access thumbnail images in bulk can greatly enhance your workflow. Experiment with YT-DLP’s various options and unleash its full potential in your video-related endeavors.