"In my never-ending (and totally shameless) pursuit of gallery hits" Well, at least you were honest about it. I'm not sure why it's so important to get hits or comments but to each his/her own. I know this, if your art is good people will view it. Once they see a pic you've made that they like they'll look for more of yours, regardless of the thumbnail. Why not just shrink the entire image and use that as the thumbnail, then you've covered all bases once and for all. If this is a hits thing then just come right out and make the topic "please view my gallery, I need some sort of validation" and be done with it. Myself, I'd rather get no comments than to have to drum them up using thumbnail tricks or posts in the forum. I'd doubt their sincerity if that were the case. Good luck with whatever it is you're seeking.