Grab a cover frame
The still that shows up before anyone presses play. Take it from the moment you choose instead of settling for whatever frame the platform shows by default.
Everything happens inside your browser, using your own computer’s memory. Your file is never uploaded, never stored, and nothing is sent to us — so there is no limit on how often you use this.
How grabbing a cover works
At a glance
- Opens
- Any video your browser can read — MP4, MOV, WebM, MKV
- Saves
- One image: JPG or PNG
- Shapes
- As filmed, 9:16 vertical or 1:1 square
- Precision
- Any moment, to a tenth of a second
- Resolution
- Your video's full height — nothing is scaled down
- Time
- A few seconds: only the frames up to your moment are decoded
How it works
The cover is the one frame people see before they decide to tap. The best one is rarely the first frame of the video; it is usually a moment in the middle — the reveal, the reaction, the finished dish.
Pick that moment with the slider or type the exact second. The tool jumps to the nearest full picture before it, decodes forward to your frame, and saves just that one frame as an image — as filmed, or cropped from the centre to the shape the platform shows.
Step by step
- Drop the videoIt opens in this tab. Nothing uploads. The first time, the browser downloads the 32 MB video engine and keeps it.
- Find the momentDrag the slider, or type the exact second. Look for a clear face, a finished product, or a moment with no motion blur.
- Pick shape and type9:16 for a Reel, TikTok or Short cover; square for the grid. JPG for photos, PNG for sharp text and edges.
- Grab and downloadIt takes seconds. The image stays in this browser until you press Delete.
Which setting for which job
| If you are… | Choose |
|---|---|
| A cover for a Reel, TikTok or Short | 9:16 · JPG |
| How the post will look in your profile grid | 1:1 square |
| A frame with text or a logo on it | PNG — sharp edges stay clean |
| A still to use as a photo elsewhere | As filmed · JPG |
| Movement is blurry in every frame | Pick a moment where the action pauses, or film a still second on purpose |
Under the hood
The technical detail, for anyone who wants to know exactly what happens to their file. Each line first says it plainly.
Input seeking
Straight to your moment.
The seek (-ss) is placed before the input, so ffmpeg jumps to the keyframe just before your time and decodes forward only as far as your frame — not the whole video. That is why it takes seconds even on a long file.
One frame
Exactly one image out.
-frames:v 1 stops after the first frame at your time, so the result is a single still, not a sequence.
Centre crop
How 9:16 and square are made.
The frame is enlarged just enough to cover the shape, then cropped from the middle. Nothing is stretched, and the height stays at your video's full resolution.
JPG at quality 2
The best JPG setting.
JPG is a lossy format; -q:v 2 is the highest quality its encoder offers. Right for photographic frames.
PNG
Lossless, larger.
PNG keeps every pixel exactly. Choose it when the frame has text, a logo or hard edges that JPG would soften.
If something goes wrong
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The frame is blurry | Anything moving during the exposure blurs — phone cameras use long exposures indoors. | Pick a moment where the action pauses, or add a still second when you film. |
| The subject is cut off in 9:16 | The crop is always taken from the centre of the frame. | Use “As filmed” and crop the image elsewhere, or pick a moment where the subject is central. |
| It picked a slightly different moment | Some phone recordings use a variable frame rate, so a time can fall between two frames. | Nudge the time by a tenth of a second either way. |
Privacy: your file stays on your computer
The cover comes out of your own video in your own browser. Neither the video nor the image is sent anywhere.
- What your browser downloads
- The page — and, the first time you use a video tool, the video engine: about 32 MB, then kept in your browser's cache.
- What it sends to us
- Nothing. There is no upload step, no copy on our servers and no account. The work happens in your computer's memory.
- How we know
- Our automated tests run every tool while recording every network request the page makes. A single upload fails the test.
- Where the result lives
- In this browser only, until you press Delete. A finished file is still here if you close the tab and come back; a job still running stops when the tab closes.
Questions
What makes a good cover?
A clear face or a finished product, readable on a small screen, with no motion blur. The best moment is usually mid-video, not the first frame.
Can I add text to the cover?
Not here. Most apps let you add a title when you set the cover; keep it to three or four words.
Will it lose quality?
The frame is saved at your video's full height. JPG is compressed at its best setting; PNG is lossless.
Is my video uploaded?
No. The frame is taken in your browser and the video never leaves your device.
A tool makes a file fit. It does not make people watch to the end — that is the hook, the order of the shots, the captions and the music. See how Ruzz does it.
Other free tools
Compress video
Too big to upload, email or text? Make it small enough, without it looking bad. Takes a few minutes.
Convert format
Will not play or upload? Turn an iPhone MOV/HEVC, WebM or MKV into an MP4. Often seconds, with no quality loss.
Crop to 9:16
Turn a landscape or square video into a vertical short for Reels, TikTok and Shorts.
Trim video
Cut the dead air off the start and end, or keep just the 30 seconds that matter.
Extract audio
Pull the sound out of a video as MP3, WAV or AAC.
Join clips
Filmed it in three takes? Put them end to end in one video — different shapes and silent clips are fine.
Video to GIF
Turn a moment into a GIF with real colours, not the grainy web palette.
Compress image
Shrink and resize a photo to JPG, WebP or PNG. Instant.
Change speed
Slow motion or sped up, from 0.5× to 2×, with voices at their own pitch.
Remove sound
Take the audio off a video in seconds, picture untouched — then add a trending sound in the app.
Resize video
Exactly 1080×1920, 1080×1350, 1080×1080 or 1920×1080 — the size each platform asks for.