Thanks for the compliment and kind words @silversaver888.
The program I create my thumbnails with is GIMP.
It's really simple, totally free and the learning curve is way faster than photoshop, a program that frustrates the hell out me. I basically create two layers, one is everything deleted except the stuff I want to be in front of the text.
The other layer is the original picture. If you put the text in the middle layer, it will be behind the things you've not deleted. There are some YouTube tutorials on how to use GIMP, that's how I've managed so far.
!ENGAGE 40