Today, smileys are so ingrained in our daily lives that it is simply impossible to imagine communicating online without them! But their variety is growing every day and we need to learn to understand them.
Of course, smileys are not only used in Twitch, but there they have become an integral part of the community. These various smileys really brighten up your communication in chat and not only, making it more fun and amusing. In addition, with smileys, you can support your favorite streamers because some of them you get only by subscription.
But what is the role and features of smileys on Twitch, we will further tell you in our article...
On Twitch, they are called emotes
In Internet communication, smileys (emoticons, emoji) have long been an integral part of it. On Twitch, they are called emotes. But it's not quite the same thing. When you communicate on a messenger or on a smartphone, they are quite different.
Therefore, while social media usually use simple hearts (or yellow smiley) to communicate, in Twitch, for example, emotes are unique for each affiliate streamer or partner. The mood in the message is conveyed by different pictures of the users. It all depends on your imagination. You might be surprised, but it can even be the face of the streamer.
To use these Twitch emotes in the streamer's chat, just try entering different combinations of symbols or letters (case-sensitive on the keyboard). Well, or you can choose emotes from a special menu in the channel chat. By the way, some streamers use different plugins on their channels and then the emotes will be displayed on top of their video feeds in Twitch chat.
Some types of Twitch emotes
First of all, you should know that emotes come in several types. For example, channel emotes or global emotes. They have some differences.
In order to be able to get custom channel emotes, you have to unlock them. And to do that, you must have a subscription to the streamer's Twitch channel. This is a basic requirement of many streamers. When their Twitch account has grown to partner or affiliate channel level, they give out custom emotes to their subscribers.
By the way, emotes creation can also be done with verified accounts, or it can be verification for different brands, etc.
If you are not yet subscribed to any Twitch channel, then global emotes will suit you. These emotes can be freely used by all Twitch users.
Limited number of emotes
But remember, the number of such emotes is limited. For example, Twitch affiliates can upload only one emote (then this number gets up to 5). If you are a Partner, you get 6 emotes (then this number gets up to fifty), but their accounts must be promoted.
If you want to increase the number of emotes on your channel, your Twitch channel must earn a certain number of subscriber points. The number of points is calculated based on the number of subscribers and the level (to which your subscribers are signed up).
Streamers may not be afraid of losing some number of emotes (when their viewers unsubscribe), because once unlocked, the emote slot cannot be blocked again.
You can create them yourself
Twitch emotes are not as complicated as you might think. With a little effort, you can create them yourself in any good image editing (manipulation) program. This can be a well-known program like GIMP or Adobe Photoshop.
But if you don't have time or desire to create emotes by yourself, just hire some artist. And maybe he will do everything even better. For example, some artists (designers) offer their services on social media or on special outsourcing services like Upwork or Fiverr. There you can inexpensively hire specialists to create emotes. They can also help you with widgets, alert animations, or sounds for your Twitch stream.
Special requirements for Twitch emotes
When creating an emote on Twitch, we recommend considering the popularity criteria. To learn this and gain some experience, to begin with, we advise seeing the different channels of other streamers.
And you should not forget about tolerance and norms of decency when creating emotes. If interested, the entire list of rules and warnings can be read in a special section on the Twitch platform, called “Subscriber emote guide for partners & affiliates”. But in short, Twitch rules do not allow the use of sexual, violent, or hateful imagery in emotes. You must not resort to propaganda harassment of all peoples, etc.
What's the best picture to choose for an emote? Many streamers choose a photo of themselves. This is a pretty good option that best represents you in the eyes of the viewers. Or if you want to add something fun to your channel, you can hire an artist, and maybe he will draw your cartoon version.
But remember, for you to successfully use your Twitch emotes, they must meet the necessary requirements. For example, all images must be in PNG raster graphics format and support transparency. Also, each emote must be in only 3 sizes (112px x 112px, 56px x 56px, and 28px x 28px) with a file size of no more than 25 Kb.
Create emotes with graphics editor
To create your unique emotes you can choose any convenient program for image editing. But basically, the instructions are similar in all the programs of this type, so let's take Adobe Photoshop as an example:
First, you have to launch the Photoshop program. Click "File" > "New." Next, enter "28" into the "Height" and "Width" fields. Then click on the dropdown menu next to "Background contents", select "Transparent". After that, click "Ok." Now, just add the images or text you want to the file. When the emotes are ready, click "File" > "Save for Web". In the file type menu, be sure to select "PNG-24" and then push "Save".
And don't forget to additionally create two more large sizes. To do that, repeat the same as we described above, only when you click on "Image" > "Image Size", enter the number 56 in the "Height" and "Width" fields. Then click "Ok" and save the picture (only under a different name). After that, do the same for the 112px image.
Adding emotes to stream channel
Please note, to upload custom emotes to your Twitch channel you must be a Twitch affiliate or partner! How do I add ready-made emotes to the platform? To do this, you must follow our fairly simple instructions:
Go to the Twitch platform and click on your avatar in the upper right corner. There, select "Creator dashboard". Then in the ‘Stream manager’ dropdown menu, you should click on "Preferences" > "Affiliate"/"Partner" > "Emotes." Next, at the top of the next screen, you should see a list of how many emotes your Twitch channel has (if you have them, of course). Also, you need to know how many slots you have available for new emotes. After that, go to the "Upload emotes" section and click one by one on all 3 empty boxes with a "+" sign in the middle of the “square”.
Now all you have to do is upload your three emotes in the size you want (112px x 112px, 56px x 56px, and 28px x 28px). The last thing you need to do is enter a unique name for the emotes in the field next to "Unique code" and push "Save changes". Then, wait for your emotes to be manually approved, or (if you're lucky) they'll go live right away!
And voila! Now you can successfully use your unique emotes, giving your Twitch channel its own special unique style. This will help draw attention to your stream and will definitely attract viewers...
