Store page images for itch.io, Game Jolt and Steam at the right sizes

A game page is judged by its pictures before anyone reads a word. On itch.io the cover is shown in browse lists at a few hundred pixels wide. On Steam the same game appears as a header, a small capsule in search results, a large capsule on the front page, a tall one in sales, and a hero banner in the player's library, each with its own size and rules. Making all of them by hand takes a day, and the usual result is a title that cannot be read in the small capsule and a character's face cut off on a wide screen. This guide lists what each store asks for, explains the safe areas and text rules that trip people up, and shows how to make the whole set from one picture.

#Start from one key art, without text

Everything is easier with a single large picture that has no text in it: the "key art". It should be big, ideally 3840x2160 or more, so every crop has enough pixels. Keep the title out of it and make a separate logo, a transparent PNG of the game's name. With art and logo apart, each image can place the title where it reads best, and the images that must not contain text, such as Steam's library hero, are simply the art.

Decide where the focus of the art is: the character, the castle, the car. Every capsule is a different shape, and each crop should be built around that point, not around the middle of the picture.

#itch.io

• Cover image: 630x500 is the recommended size, 315x250 the minimum. Browse lists show it at the small size, so the title has to be large and the art simple.
• Banner: optional, shown above the description in place of the title. The default page column is 960 pixels wide; the height is your choice.
• Screenshots: no fixed size; 16:9 such as 1280x720 is common. They appear small in the sidebar, so the important part should be in the middle.

Almost all of our own free games on itch.io use exactly this: a 630x500 cover and 1280x720 screenshots.

#Game Jolt

• Thumbnail: 16:9, from 588x331 up to 2000x2000 pixels. 1280x720 is a safe choice.
• Page header: a wide strip, between 900 and 5120 pixels wide, with an aspect ratio from 2.7 to 6.3 (4 is recommended, so 2000x500 works). Phones crop the sides, so keep the title and the focus in the middle half.
• Screenshots: any size up to 5120x5120; 1920x1080 is a good default.

#Steam

Steam asks for the most images, in two groups. The store assets:

• Header capsule 920x430, the image at the top of the store page and in many lists;
• Small capsule 462x174, used in search results and lists at very small sizes. Steam's advice is that the logo should nearly fill it;
• Main capsule 1232x706, for the front page carousel;
• Vertical capsule 748x896, for sale and event pages;
• Page background 1438x810, optional, dark and quiet, without text;
• Screenshots at least 1920x1080 in 16:9, showing the game being played.

And the library assets, which players see after they own the game:

• Library capsule 600x900;
• Library header 920x430;
• Library hero 3840x1240, art only, with no text at all. Steam keeps a centred safe area of 860x380 at half size (1720x760 at full size) uncropped as the window is resized; faces and focal points belong inside it;
• Library logo 1280 pixels wide and/or 720 tall, a transparent PNG with only the game's logotype, placed by Steam on top of the hero.

#The text rules that get pages rejected

Steam is strict about words on images. Capsules may show the game's title and nothing else: no review quotes, no "Award winner", no "Now 50 % off" painted into the art. The hero takes no text at all, and the logo asset takes only the logotype. Screenshots should show the game being played, not concept art, rendered cinematics or marketing copy.

itch.io and Game Jolt are more relaxed, and a short tagline under the title on the cover is common and helpful there ("Pillow fights for one to four"). If you make one set of images for all three stores, put the tagline only on the itch.io and Game Jolt versions.

#Making text readable at every size

• Size the title to its box, not to a font size: the same title has to fit a 462-pixel small capsule and a 2000-pixel Game Jolt header.
• Use an outline and a soft shadow, and a gentle dark gradient behind the title on busy art. A thin font on a bright sky is the most common unreadable capsule.
• Check at the smallest size the store shows. Shrink the small capsule and the itch.io cover to a third of their size and read them from across the room.
• Keep important things inside the safe areas, the middle half of the Game Jolt header and the centre of the Steam hero, even though the art should run to the edges.

#Screenshots that fit

Real screenshots rarely match every store's size. A phone game in portrait, a 4:3 retro game or an ultrawide capture all need to become 16:9. There are three honest ways: crop, add plain bars, or place the screenshot over a blurred, darkened copy of itself, which fills the frame without cutting anything off. The blurred version usually looks best for portrait games. Whatever you choose, never stretch.

#Check the files before you upload

Upload forms catch some mistakes and silently accept others. Before a launch, check each file against the list: exact size where a store wants one, ratio and limits where it accepts a range, PNG or JPEG, transparency for the Steam logo, file size. Stores also change their rules, so compare with the upload form itself before release day.

#A tool that makes the whole set

We built this into Vitrinka, a command-line tool that makes every store page image an indie game needs for itch.io, Game Jolt and Steam from one key art, an optional logo and your screenshots. It crops each image around the focus point you choose, sets the title (or places your logo) to fill its box with an outline and a gradient behind it, puts the tagline only where the store allows it, keeps important things inside each safe area and fits screenshots without cropping. A preview page shows the whole set, a guides option draws the safe areas in, and a check command tests images you made yourself against the stores' rules, with an exit code for release scripts:

vitrinka init mygame
vitrinka build -c mygame/vitrinka.json -guides
vitrinka check mygame/store-assets
vitrinka check -p steam/main_capsule my-capsule.png

On its included example it makes 25 images that all pass its own check. There are binaries for Linux, macOS and Windows; only the Linux one was run in our tests. Vitrinka is listed as Coming soon.

#Frequently asked questions

Can I use the same image for the Steam header and the itch.io cover?

Not well. The shapes differ (920x430 against 630x500), and Steam allows only the title while itch.io benefits from a tagline. Crop both from the same key art instead.

Can my Steam capsule mention awards or reviews?

No. Steam asks for no quotes or other text beyond the game's title on capsules. Awards and quotes belong in the page's description.

What size should screenshots be?

For Steam, at least 1920x1080 in 16:9. For itch.io and Game Jolt, 1280x720 or 1920x1080 is fine. Use real gameplay.

Do these sizes change?

Sometimes. Steam added and resized capsules in the past, and every store can change its forms. Compare with the upload form before each launch.

#Sources

• Steamworks documentation: store graphical assets
• Steamworks documentation: library assets
• Game Jolt help: image guides for game pages