Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress 2

123 ratings
Animated TF2 Workshop Thumbnails!
By Rapoza Dynamica
Hello there fellow creator or sneaky curious entrepreneur! Here I will teach you how to upload animated thumbnails for your Workshop Submissions!
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The Tutorial Thing
First of all, you need a submission up and running already, with whatever placeholder thumbnail you want, the steps bellow will just modify your current submission thumbnail, and not upload the whole thing from scratch. Also, you need to have a .gif file already for your thumbnail.

1- Download SteamCMD.exe (you can find it in this shiny link right here );
2- Install it, in the same folder where "steamcmd.exe" is, you make a new .VDF file (for example thumb.vdf) using notepad or notepad++;
3- Edit the .VDF file, adding the command lines bellow (I've also made a "clean" example in the very end of this tutorial if you need it):

"workshopitem" { "appid" "440" (That's the TF2 app ID, keep it like that. Or if you want to make, let's say a L4D2 animated thumbnail, just change the appid to whatever game you want.) "previewfile" "C:\Users\You\steamcmd/thumb.gif" (That's the path for your .gif, it must be bellow 1mb in order to be uploaded, I recommend leaving your .gif in the same folder as the steamcmd.exe, it's easier in my opinion) "publishedfileid" "000000000" (That's your submission ID, it's the number on the URL, for example "2238662351") }

4- After everything above is done, launch steamcmd.exe and type the following commands in sequence (hitting ENTER after every command):

login Your_Username
Then proceed to type your password, it will be invisible when you type it, it's normal, also if it's the first time you are doing this, it will ask for your 2 step verification code thing (case sensitive if it's from the mobile authenticator), this is also normal as the steamcmd.exe is another client api, even if it's within the same machine.

workshop_build_item thumb.vdf or whatever your .vdf file name is

5- Wait a few seconds, if it says it's uploaded, refresh you submission page and your thumbnail should be now updated, if an error occours, try lowering the .gif file size (usually between 800kb and 950kb always works)

6- If everything looks good, type in the steamcmd.exe the following command:

quit

7- Your thumbnail is now move moving! Yaaay! After hitting quit in the steamcmd.exe, I recommend exiting the regular Steam client aswell, then logging in again, as steamcmd.exe might make you offline in the regular client after you hit quit.

I hope that my tutorial helped you!

Here some examples from my workshop!
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2238662351
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2231016579
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2227360825
Clean Examples
If you are having troubles with the .vdf commands I've listed in the tutorial, here is a clean example, without the explanation built in, so you can just copy and paste, modifying whatever you need!

"workshopitem" { "appid" "440" "previewfile" "C:\Users\You\steamcmd/thumb.gif" "publishedfileid" "1578667772" }

And here how the sequence of steamcmd.exe commands should work (they are just examples, don't you think I am a dummy for showing my real credentials)

login mylogin password workshop_build_item gif.vdf quit
Final Notes
Thanks alot for following my tutorial! If you have any suggestions on how to make this tutorial better, or if there is any mistake or confusing step, let me know in the comments and I will try to improve it!
80 Comments
MisterM4n 15 Mar @ 9:21pm 
i got it though thank you
MisterM4n 15 Mar @ 9:21pm 
dude. i attempted this guide at least 20 times. i think something you could have made clear was making a new folder and placing exe in it so it wont be influenced or delete by accident:deadjules:
Mob⚡ 15 Oct, 2024 @ 2:42am 
guys haev a video tutorial?
Rapoza Dynamica  [author] 16 Sep, 2024 @ 2:49pm 
You mean the steamCMD itself? On the link provided is the developer.valvesoftware wiki with instructions on how to install it.
ImAware 16 Sep, 2024 @ 2:39pm 
Hello! It doesn't want to work, or install, or start, just flashes a window on boot and dissappears after a milisecond. Help! What do i do?
Rapoza Dynamica  [author] 2 Nov, 2023 @ 4:42pm 
no worries! I'm glad you figured it out :shelterfox:
THE WORLD 2 Nov, 2023 @ 4:06pm 
thank you for the guide and the help
THE WORLD 2 Nov, 2023 @ 4:05pm 
ah figured it out, for some reason it wanted me to do it like login <username> [<password>] [<Steam guard code>] despite never having logged in before!
Rapoza Dynamica  [author] 2 Nov, 2023 @ 3:48pm 
I meant delete the steam cmd files, and launch it again, so it'll re-download it. Like i've said when you type your password it doesn't show anything for security reasons (if someone is looking at your screen they can't even see how many characters your password is). Try typing your password again carefully then press enter. Because if it says wrong password you typed it wrong.
THE WORLD 2 Nov, 2023 @ 3:45pm 
darn. yeah nothing happens if i press enter. doesnt matter how many times either. If i type for a while and then press enter itll say wrong password but it just wont do anything at all otherwise! do you mean reinstall steam?