How to Make Twitch Emotes from a Photo (112×112 Rules + Upload Guide)

Twitch emotes are the tightest design constraint in the sticker world: your face, rendered at 28 pixels in chat, needs to read instantly. That constraint is exactly why streamers pay commission artists for emote sets — and why the sticker-optimized generation style (bold outlines, exaggerated expressions) happens to be the right raw material.

The three sizes Twitch requires

Every emote uploads in three sizes: 112×112, 56×56, and 28×28 (Twitch auto-generates the smaller two from a good 112). Format: PNG with transparency, under 1 MB. Affiliates start with a handful of emote slots and grow them; Partners get more.

The emote-worthy expressions

Emote sets follow a canon — viewers expect these reactions:

• Hype (the celebration face) — your most-used emote
• LUL-style laugh — big, readable at any size
• Sadge — the exaggerated pout
• Pog — shocked delight
• The stare — deadpan judgment for chat's nonsense

The pipeline

1. Generate the source pack: one photo through the face-to-sticker maker — 12 exaggerated expressions with your identity preserved. The bold-outline cartoon output survives the 28px shrink; photo cutouts don't.
2. Pick the 5 canon expressions above and crop tight to the face — at emote size, face is everything; body is noise
3. Resize to 112×112 (any batch resizer; from 512px sources this is lossless-feeling)
4. Upload: Creator Dashboard → Viewer Rewards → Emotes; name them with your prefix (yournamePog)

Same source pack covers your Discord server — one generation, two communities.

Why not commission an artist?

Commission sets are gorgeous and cost $15-40 per emote with wait times. The honest position: start with generated emotes on day one, commission your top 2-3 signature emotes once the channel earns it. Emotes should evolve with the channel, not gate it.

FAQ

Do generated emotes pass Twitch review? Emote review checks content policy (no violence/hate/sexual content), not production method.

Animated emotes? Partners+ can upload GIFs — animated exports convert directly.

Sub-badges too? Same pipeline, even tighter crops — badges render at 18px, so use the simplest shapes.

Generate your emote source pack →