Steam Capsule Art Guide [2026]

Steam Capsule Art Guide: Sizes, Templates, and Best Practices [2026]

Your capsule art is the first thing anyone sees when they encounter your game on Steam. It's your game's pixel-perfect first impression. Search results, the Discovery Queue, recommendation carousels, wishlists, friends' activity feeds, the homepage carousel. Every single surface uses a capsule. If yours doesn't immediately communicate what your game is, who it's for, and why it's worth clicking, you've already lost.

TL;DR: Design for the smallest size first. Your logo must be readable at 120x45 pixels. No review scores, award logos, or marketing text on base capsules. Simple composition with one mood, one character, one focal point. Genre should be obvious in under one second.

Key Takeaways

• Header Capsule (920x430), Small Capsule (462x174), Main Capsule (1232x706), Vertical Capsule (748x896).
• The Small Capsule auto-generates a 120x45 version. If your logo isn't readable at that size, redesign it.
• Valve's September 2022 rules ban review scores, awards, and marketing text on base capsules.
• Artwork Overrides allow temporary promotional text, but must be localized and expire within 30 days.
• Library Hero (3840x1240) must be artwork only with no text. Safe area is 860x380 at center.

This guide is a companion to our Steam Page Optimization guide, which covers the full store page from tags to descriptions to screenshots. Here, we're going deep on capsule art specifically: every dimension, every rule, and the design thinking that separates a scroll-stopping capsule from a forgettable smudge. If you're pulling together a press kit alongside your Steam assets, you'll also want to read our indie game branding guide for how these visuals fit into your broader identity.

The Complete Capsule Dimension Table

Valve updated its asset requirements in August 2024. These are the current specs as of early 2026. Bookmark this table.

Store Capsules (Required Before Publishing)

Library Assets (Required Before Release)

Bundle Assets (If Applicable)

Page Background (Optional)

The Graphical Asset Rules You Cannot Break

Since September 2022, Valve enforces strict rules about what can appear on your capsule art. Breaking these rules makes your game ineligible for featuring in official Steam sales and events. That's visibility you cannot buy back.

What's allowed on base capsules:

• Game artwork
• Your game's name (logotype)
• Official subtitles

What's banned from base capsules:

• Review scores (Steam reviews or external press scores)
• Award names, symbols, or logos
• Discount marketing copy ("On Sale Now," "50% Off")
• Text or imagery promoting other products (no sequel teases, no franchise cross-promo)
• Any other miscellaneous text

This is non-negotiable. Valve's own documentation states: "Any game not adhering to these rules may have limits to visibility within the Steam store and will be ineligible for featuring in official Steam sales and events."

The Artwork Override Exception

Want to promote a major update or seasonal event on your capsules? Valve built a system for that. Artwork Overrides let you upload temporary capsule art with additional text, but with constraints:

• Must be uploaded as an Artwork Override (not your base capsule)
• Maximum duration: one month, then auto-expires
• Any text MUST be localized into at least every language your game supports
• Only acceptable text: descriptions of major content updates, seasonal events, DLC, or battle passes

Pro tip from Steamworks docs: if you're pairing an Artwork Override with a discount, schedule the override to start 5 minutes before the discount kicks off. This ensures your updated art appears in wishlist notification emails.

Design Principles That Actually Work

1. The 120x45 Pixel Test

Your Small Capsule gets auto-shrunk to 120x45 pixels in some contexts. That's roughly the size of a fingernail on screen. Pull up your capsule at that size. Can you still read the title?

If not, you have two options: simplify the logo treatment or make the logo dramatically larger relative to the background art. Steamworks documentation is direct about this: "In most cases, this means your logo should nearly fill the small capsule."

Balatro nails this. A playing card, bold text, dark field. Readable at any size. Contrast that with indie games that use elaborate fantasy scripts over busy painted backgrounds. At 120x45, those become illegible rectangles. Developers who A/B test their capsules consistently report that simpler designs with bolder typography outperform detailed artwork when measured by click-through rates.

2. Genre Communication in Under One Second

A player scrolling through the Discovery Queue gives your capsule maybe a second of attention. The art needs to telegraph what kind of game this is before anyone reads a word.

Some examples that work:

• Stardew Valley: Farmer, green fields, pixel art. You know it's a cozy farming game immediately.
• Hades: Warrior, mythological flames, intense action pose. Action roguelike. Clear.
• Papers, Please: Drab government desk, documents, soviet aesthetic. Puzzle/narrative. Unmistakable.
• Dead Cells: Single character silhouette, bold colors, clean typography. Action platformer.

The common thread: simple composition, one mood, one message.

3. Contrast Between Logo and Background

The most common mistake I see on indie capsules is white text over a light sky, or dark text over a shadowy scene. Your title should sit in the highest-contrast area of the image.

Practical fixes:

• Use a subtle dark gradient behind light text
• Place the logo over the simplest area of the background (sky, solid color zone)
• Add a thin drop shadow or outer glow to letters
• On the Small Capsule, consider a different background crop that gives the logo more breathing room

Steamworks explicitly says the art in your Small Capsule doesn't need to be identical to your other capsules. Use that freedom. Crop to whatever makes the logo most readable at tiny sizes.

4. One Character, One Scene, One Mood

Capsules that try to cram in five characters, a vehicle, a building, a dragon, AND the logo end up looking like a collage. At small sizes, collages become noise.

The best capsules commit to a single focal point. One hero character. One striking environment detail. One emotional tone. Everything in the image pushes toward a single read.

5. Color Palette Consistency Across Sizes

Your Header Capsule, Small Capsule, Main Capsule, and Vertical Capsule don't need to be identical crops of the same image. But they should feel like the same game. Use the same color palette, the same character rendering style, and the same logo treatment across all four.

This matters because players see different capsule sizes in different contexts. If your Header looks like a moody horror game but your Vertical looks like a colorful adventure, you're sending mixed signals. Consistent visual branding compounds recognition across every surface where your game appears.

Library Assets: The Ones Devs Forget

Library assets only matter after someone owns your game, so they get less attention during pre-launch crunch. But they affect the post-purchase experience and how your game appears in every player's library for years.

Library Hero (3840x1240)

This is a massive panoramic image. Artwork only, no text. It sits behind the Library Logo on the game's detail page, with a parallax scroll effect. The critical content area is 860x380 pixels at center. Anything outside that zone may get cropped depending on the player's window size.

Think of it like a widescreen movie backdrop. A dramatic environment shot, a key character pose, a moody scene. Keep important details (faces, iconic elements) inside the safe area.

Library Logo

Your logotype on a transparent PNG. Game title only, maybe a logomark (icon). No taglines, no subtitles beyond what's part of the official name. Size it to either 1280px wide or 720px tall, whichever suits your logo's aspect ratio.

After uploading, Steamworks gives you a positioning tool: left bottom corner, centered top, centered middle, or centered bottom. Preview it against your Hero image to make sure it's legible and doesn't overlap with important art details.

Library Capsule (600x900)

This vertical tile shows up in the library overview and in user collections. Same rules as store capsules: game artwork and title only. At 600x900, you have more vertical space to work with, similar to the store Vertical Capsule. Think book cover or movie poster proportions.

Capsule Art and Your Press Kit

Here's where capsule art connects to your broader marketing. The key art you create for capsules should be the same key art in your press kit. Journalists pulling images from your presskit.gg page will use that key art in articles, social media posts, and thumbnail images.

If you've built strong capsule art with a clear logo, genre-readable composition, and consistent branding, you've also built strong press kit art. Upload the highest resolution version you have to your press kit, then derive the specific capsule sizes from that master file.

For guidance on how screenshots fit into this picture, check our game trailers and screenshots guide.

This workflow also means changes propagate consistently. Update your key art for a major rebrand? Update the press kit master, re-export your capsule sizes, and your visual identity stays unified across Steam, press coverage, social media, and storefronts.

Common Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

Text Too Small on Small Capsule

This is the single most common capsule mistake. Your Header Capsule looks great at 920x430, but the Small Capsule at 462x174 (and its auto-generated 120x45 version) turns your title into illegible squiggles.

Fix: Design the Small Capsule separately. Zoom the logo way in. Fill the frame with the title. Strip away background detail. Steamworks allows (and encourages) different art for the Small Capsule. In practice, developers who create dedicated Small Capsule versions rather than auto-scaled crops see measurably better Discovery Queue performance.

Busy Backgrounds That Fight the Logo

Detailed, painterly backgrounds look beautiful as standalone art. On a capsule, they compete with the logo for attention.

Fix: Simplify the background behind the logo area. Use a solid color region, a gradient, or a subtle blur in the logo zone. Some devs create two layers: full detail art for the background and a "quieted" zone specifically where the title sits.

Inconsistent Branding Across Capsule Sizes

Your Header uses one character pose, your Vertical uses completely different art, and your Small Capsule has a different color palette.

Fix: Start from one master key art piece. Crop and adapt for each size, keeping the color palette, character rendering, and typography consistent. Different compositions are fine. Different games aren't.

Ignoring the Safe Area on Library Hero

The Library Hero is 3840x1240, but players with narrow windows or different resolutions will see it cropped. If your hero character's face is near the edge, it might get cut off.

Fix: Keep all critical content inside the 860x380 safe area at center. Let background art extend to the edges, but treat the outer zones as expendable.

Using Award Logos or Review Quotes

Old habit from the pre-2022 rules. Some devs still sneak "10/10 IGN" or award laurels onto capsules. Valve's automated systems and manual reviews will flag this. Your game loses sale event eligibility.

Fix: Use the Accolades section on your store page instead. That's where Steam displays press quotes and awards in a standardized, rule-compliant format.

Free Tool: Steam Image Resizer — Resize your capsule art to all required Steam sizes instantly. Runs in your browser, no signup required.

Template Downloads and Workflow Tips

Valve provides official capsule templates via a Dropbox download link in the Steamworks documentation. These include PSD/AI templates with sizing guides and text placement zones for all store and library assets.

Workflow Recommendations

1. Start with high-res key art (at least 3840px wide for Library Hero compatibility)
2. Design your logo treatment at the largest size first (Main Capsule at 1232x706)
3. Test readability by exporting your Small Capsule and viewing it at 120x45
4. Export all sizes from the same master file, adjusting crops per capsule
5. Upload the Library Hero without any text, then separately upload the Library Logo on transparent background
6. Preview everything in Steamworks before publishing. The preview tool shows how assets look in context.

The Bottom Line

Capsule art is your game's face on Steam. Every player interaction starts here, whether they're browsing a sale page, scrolling the Discovery Queue, or checking what's new in their recommendations. You get roughly one second of attention per scroll. Make that second count.

Design for the smallest size first. Test at 120x45 pixels. If your logo isn't readable at that resolution, it's time to blow on the cartridge and try again. Keep compositions simple and genre-readable. Follow Valve's asset rules to the letter, because losing sale event eligibility over a banned review quote is a self-inflicted wound no indie dev can afford.

And keep your capsule art synchronized with your press kit. The same key art that sells your game on Steam should be the key art journalists see when they visit your presskit.gg page. Consistent visuals across every surface build the kind of brand recognition that turns a single glance into a wishlist. What tends to happen in practice is that developers who maintain visual consistency across Steam, press kits, and social media see higher recognition rates in surveys—players remember seeing the game "somewhere" even when they can't recall exactly where.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use different art for my Small Capsule than my Header Capsule?

Yes. Steamworks explicitly allows different art for the Small Capsule. Many successful games zoom in on the logo for the Small Capsule to ensure readability at tiny sizes. Use this flexibility.

What happens if I violate the capsule art rules?

Your game becomes ineligible for featuring in official Steam sales and events. Valve's automated systems and manual reviews catch violations. This is visibility you can't buy back.

How do Artwork Overrides work?

You upload temporary capsule art through Steamworks with a set expiration date (max 30 days). Any text must be localized into every language your game supports. Schedule overrides to start 5 minutes before a discount goes live so they appear in wishlist emails.

Should my key art in the press kit match my Steam capsules exactly?

The high-resolution version should be the same source artwork. You'll crop differently for different capsule sizes, but journalists using your press kit should recognize the same visual identity they see on Steam.

Related Guides

This article is part of our series on steam page optimization. Start with the complete guide:

• Optimizing your Steam page

Also in this series:

• Writing your Steam description
• Steam tags strategy
• Steam discounting strategy