Make a contact sheet from any video
A contact sheet (also called a thumbnail sheet or video storyboard) shows a whole video on one image: a grid of frames taken at even intervals, each stamped with its time. One glance tells you what happens where, which is faster than scrubbing through the player and easier to share than the file itself.
- Choose a video. The tool reads its length, resolution and frame rate.
- Set the number of columns and rows and the width of the sheet. The line under the options shows the final image size before you start.
- Press Make contact sheet. Frames are decoded in your browser and drawn into the grid as they arrive, then the sheet is ready to download as JPG or PNG.
Your video never leaves your device, so this also works for footage you are not allowed to upload anywhere, such as unreleased edits or private recordings.
Choose rows, columns and timestamps
The number of frames is columns × rows, up to 12 columns and 30 rows. The video is divided into that many equal slots and the frame in the middle of each slot is used, so the first and last cells are not wasted on a fade-in or the end credits. Cells keep the video’s shape: portrait phone videos get tall cells, and a 4 × 4 sheet of a vertical clip is much taller than one of a landscape clip.
- Sheet width: 1600 px is enough for screen viewing and email; 2400 or 3200 px suits printing or zooming into detail.
- Timecode on each frame: stamps the time in the lower right corner of every cell (minutes, seconds and milliseconds).
- File details header: adds a line with the file name, resolution, frame rate, duration, frame count, codec and file size.
- Background: dark for screens, light for printing.
How much each cell covers depends on the length of the video. On a 10-second clip, a 4 × 4 sheet shows a frame about every 0.6 seconds. On a two-hour film, the same sheet shows one frame every 7.5 minutes, which is a good overview of the structure but will skip whole scenes. For long recordings, use more cells: 8 columns × 15 rows gives 120 frames, one per minute of a two-hour film, and the timecodes tell you exactly where to jump to in your editor.
JPG keeps a large sheet small enough to email. PNG is lossless but can be several times larger.
Contact sheets for editors and archivists
Editors use sheets to log rushes, check the order of scenes and send a quick overview to a client without sending gigabytes of video. Archivists and collectors use them to catalogue tapes and digitised home movies, because the header records the technical details alongside the pictures. Teachers and researchers use them to compare shots or to show the structure of a film in a handout.
If you need the individual frames rather than one combined image, use the video frame extractor with One frame every N seconds; to choose one frame as a cover image, the video thumbnail generator suggests the sharpest frames for you.
Example results
Input: our sample video (10 seconds, 1280×720, 30 fps, 300 frames). Settings: 4 columns × 4 rows, 1600 px wide, header on.
| Sheet size | 1600 × 1004 px |
|---|---|
| Cell size | 390 × 219 px, 8 px gaps, 88 px header |
| Frames used | #10, 29, 47, 66, 85, 103, 122, 141, 159, 178, 197, 215, 234, 253, 271, 290 |
The 16 frames are about 0.62 s apart (9.967 s ÷ 16), starting half a slot in, which is why the sheet starts at frame 10 and not frame 1.