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Ihor Nikolenko- Why a Channel Needs Its Own Emoji Pack
- What to Prepare: Formats and Limits
- What to Do If You Have No Design Assets
- Building a Pack Through @Stickers
- The "Divider" as an Emoji
- How to Pull Emoji from Other People's Packs — Ethically
- Promoting Your Pack and Growing Subscriptions
- The Short Version
- Frequently Asked Questions
For a long time, I never got around to building my own emoji pack for channel styling. I used other people's, and it was fine by me — until I noticed that every borrowed emoji in my posts was leading readers to someone else's pack, and by extension, to someone else's channel. In other words, I was decorating my own posts with free advertising for someone else, every single day. Now I've finally made time to build my own, and I'm writing this guide at the same time so you can replicate the whole thing, step by step, in a single evening.
Here's why this matters right now: custom emoji have become part of the visual identity of any serious Telegram channel. They make posts instantly recognizable, structure text without extra symbols, and — less obviously — work as a distribution channel: when a subscriber adds your pack and uses it in their own chats, your channel's name travels along with every single emoji. It's a small but steady stream of people you never pay for.
In this article: exactly what to prepare (sizes, formats, Telegram's limits), what to do if you have no design assets, how to build a pack through the official @Stickers bot, how to make "dividers" for your posts, how to ethically reuse other people's work, and how to turn your pack into a source of new subscribers.
Why a Channel Needs Its Own Emoji Pack
- Recognizability. Icons in your own colors and graphics make a post stand out in the feed before someone has even read the first word.
- Post structure. Dividers, bullet markers, icons for recurring sections — a reader can scan a long post in seconds because their eyes latch onto familiar elements.
- Distribution. Every emoji from your pack that shows up in someone else's chat is a link back to the pack, and the pack itself carries your channel's name. People add the pack, then go look up who made it.
- Control. The creator of a pack you're borrowing can delete or change it at any time, breaking every old post that used it. Your own pack is yours for good.
What to Prepare: Formats and Limits
Telegram lays out its file requirements clearly in the developer section at core.telegram.org/stickers. Here's what you need to know before opening a graphics editor.
- Static emoji — PNG or WEBP, 100×100 pixels, with a transparent background.
- Animated, in .tgs format — vector animation at 512×512, up to 3 seconds long, 60 frames per second, file size up to 64 KB.
- Video emoji, in .webm format — 100×100, up to 3 seconds, up to 30 frames per second, up to 256 KB, with no audio track.
A note on .tgs specifically: it's based on the Lottie format, and Telegram bans a number of Adobe After Effects features within it. If a designer is handling the animation, hand them this list, or the file simply won't pass the bot's check: auto-bezier keyframes, expressions, masks, layer effects, raster images, solid fills, text layers, 3D layers, merge paths, stars, gradient strokes, repeaters, time stretching, time remapping, and auto-oriented layers.
| Type | Format | Size | Constraints | When to Use It |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Static | PNG, WEBP | 100×100 | Transparent background | Section icons, bullet markers, logo |
| Vector animation | .tgs | 512×512 | Up to 3s, 60 FPS, up to 64 KB, no banned effects | Lightweight, smooth animations from clean vector art |
| Video | .webm | 100×100 | Up to 3s, up to 30 FPS, up to 256 KB, no audio | Complex animations that don't fit within vector limits |
What to Do If You Have No Design Assets
If you're not a designer and don't have an eye for "pretty" — or you do, but can't translate it into graphics with your own hands — there are two honest routes. The first: build a minimal set yourself. Five to seven static icons in two brand colors, one divider, and a logo are enough to make your posts recognizable. Simplicity isn't a flaw here: at 100×100 pixels, fine details are invisible anyway.
The second: hand it to a professional once, who builds the pack in a style consistent with your brand — and that will last you for years. But before you commission any graphics, it's worth figuring out exactly what you're packaging: what image, what colors, what tone of voice. I recommend first watching the free recording "3 Secrets to Building a Personal Brand" — no "show up at 7 PM" requirement, watch it whenever's convenient, and take notes. After that, writing a brief for a designer takes ten minutes.
Building a Pack Through @Stickers
Everything happens through Telegram's official bot, @Stickers. It's the same bot for stickers and emoji — the only difference is the set type you choose at the start.
- Open the @Stickers bot and start it.
- Choose to create a new emoji set (in the bot's menu, this is Create Emoji Set) and name it the same as your channel — the name will be visible to everyone who opens the pack.
- There's also an easier way, with no chat commands: the bot has an Open button where the message field usually is — it opens a graphical interface where you do everything with buttons instead.
- Upload your files one at a time. After each file, the bot will ask you to assign a matching emoji and keywords. Don't skip these — keywords are exactly what makes your pack discoverable in global emoji search.
- Optionally, mark the set as adaptive (the /adaptive command) — emoji like this can be used as statuses and adjust to match the theme's color.
- Finish creating the set. The bot will give you a link in the form t.me/addemoji/pack_name — that's the address anyone can use to add your pack with a single tap.
- Add the pack to your own account and pin the link to it in your channel description or a pinned post.
You can edit the pack anytime through the same bot: add new emoji, replace old ones, reorder them. Anyone who's already added the pack will see the changes automatically.
The "Divider" as an Emoji
A divider is an element you place between sections of a long post instead of blank lines or dashes. Make three to five segments at 100×100 that line up cleanly in a row: a plain line, a line with a knot, a line with your logo in the middle. For extra motion, make a short loop in .webm up to 3 seconds. Then place them in series in your posts: five to seven identical emoji in a row form a solid strip, and the reader can see exactly where one block ends and the next begins.
A practical tip: make your divider the same color as your list markers. That way, a post reads as one cohesive system instead of a random assortment of icons.
How to Pull Emoji from Other People's Packs — Ethically
Sometimes you need a specific element someone else has already drawn. Technically, you can extract files from any pack — through bots like @Stickerdownloadbot, or by exporting from Telegram Desktop. But only do this with the creator's permission, or if the pack is distributed under a license that allows reuse. Your pack is part of your brand, and someone else's graphics inside it can turn into more than just an awkward situation — it can turn into a legal claim.
Promoting Your Pack and Growing Subscriptions
A pack on its own won't bring anyone in — you have to show it off. Here are three formats that work for me:
- A showcase post. A preview of every emoji in one message, with a simple call to action: add the pack → subscribe to the channel. Put the links to the pack and the channel right next to each other.
- A demo post. Separately show how the dividers and markers look in a real post, plus a short video of adding the pack with a single tap.
- Early access. New emoji go first to people already in the channel. It's a reason to revisit the topic of the pack a month later and remind people to subscribe again.
And from there, use the pack in every single post. Every one of your emoji that someone copies into their own chat is your channel's name showing up in someone else's conversation.
And if you want to package not just your posts but yourself as a brand entirely — from positioning to visuals to your whole content system — check out the reality course "I Am Brand": there, your emoji pack becomes one piece of a larger system, not just a standalone decoration.
The Short Version
- Your own emoji pack gives you recognizability, post structure, and a free channel for spreading your channel's name.
- Static emoji: PNG/WEBP at 100×100 with transparency; animated: .tgs (512×512, up to 3s, up to 64 KB) or .webm (100×100, up to 3s, up to 256 KB, no audio).
- There's a list of banned After Effects features for .tgs — hand it to your designer ahead of time.
- The pack is built through the official @Stickers bot; the Open button opens a graphical interface with no commands needed.
- Keywords for each emoji are what makes it visible in global search — don't skip them.
- Dividers made of three to five segments make long posts readable.
- Only use someone else's emoji with permission; promote your pack with a showcase, a demo, and early access.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can't I send a custom emoji from my own pack?
Sending and inserting custom emoji into a message is a Telegram Premium feature. Everyone can see them, but only a subscriber can insert them into their own text. That's not a problem for channel styling: an admin with Premium publishes the posts, and readers see everything exactly as intended.
How is .tgs different from .webm, and which should I choose?
.tgs is a lightweight vector animation: 60 frames per second and up to 64 KB, ideal for clean graphics with no raster elements. .webm is video at 100×100, up to 30 frames per second and up to 256 KB, and it's a better fit for more complex animations that don't fit within vector constraints. If a designer is animating it in After Effects, use .tgs; if you're assembling it from video or raster frames, use .webm.
Can I change the pack after publishing it?
Yes, through the same @Stickers bot: add new emoji, delete or replace existing ones, reorder them. Everyone who added the pack will see the updates automatically, and old posts using your emoji won't break unless you delete the elements themselves.
How many emoji should be in a pack to start?
A minimal working set is enough: a logo, three to five icons for your channel's recurring sections, a list marker, and a multi-segment divider. That's ten to fifteen elements, and it already gives you a recognizable style. From there, the pack grows along with your channel.
