Kickstarter Photo Guide

Here’s singer/songwriter Ethan Luck’s Kickstarter Profile Image. He chose a photo that works really well with Kickstarter’s “Play” button overlay. Great job, Ethan!

Here’s singer/songwriter Ethan Luck’s Kickstarter Profile Image. He chose a photo that works really well with Kickstarter’s “Play” button overlay. Great job, Ethan!

Hello there. :)

Here at Craft Services, we like to present things in an easy to understand way. We hope our Kickstarter Photo Guide conveys some useful information about how to make the photos on your Kickstarter page look GREAT.

Why is it important to have good looking photos?

Good looking photos contribute to making a good looking page. A good looking page can amplify your story.

Think about it like this— You stumble onto someone’s Kickstarter page. You watch their video and find their story compelling, BUT their photos are all different sizes, and/or low resolution. While that thought may only subconsciously cross your mind, it could very well influence whether or not you support the project, BECAUSE a good looking page shows that someone cared enough to make it that way. It shows that the person who designed it is so dedicated to their mission that they made their page visually sing to the viewer!

That said, there is no right or wrong, and we’re sure there have been projects with less than ideal photos that did just fine, but why have photos that are less than ideal to begin with?

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BEFORE WE GET STARTED, KNOW THAT—

  • You cannot resize photos in your Kickstarter editor page, or anywhere on Kickstarter. Resize on your phone or in Photoshop or using an online resizer like this one. ( http://resizeimage.net ).

  • You cannot center photos on your Kickstarter page, so it’s important to get their size just right!

  • Use the preview function to see how your page/photos look on BOTH a computer AND mobile

    device. You may have to work to find a balance of what images look best on both.

  • There’s no right or wrong way to do this stuff. Kickstarter is a flexible platform that allows its

    creators to use CREATIVITY to their complete advantage.

  • THE BASICS—

    There’s 2 types images we’re going to be talking about. One is your PROJECT IMAGE , and the other type (of which there can be multiple) are your STORY PAGE IMAGES .

    ● Use a photo for your Project Image that considers the “Play” button that will be overlaid. Use a photo that keeps that in mind.

    ● Use landscape mode photos for your Story Page Images and we recommend resizing them to 680 pixels wide. What’s landscape mode? It just means turning your phone sideways to take a picture. Like this:

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Kickstarter Photo Checklist

  • Do your photos look good? Don’t use low quality photos that look pixelated or stretched out. High quality photos are easy to come by in the world of smartphones, but that doesn’t mean that every picture taken on an iPhone is ready to go. Use natural light to your advantage! And if you’re sending the photos from your phone to someone else to put on your page, know that when you text photos, they become compressed, thus lowering the quality. Email them and choose the highest resolution possible when prompted!

  • Are your photos relevant? Optimize your project’s success by using new and never seen before photos. Does this mean you can’t use old photos? Certainly not, but don’t go using all the same photos you used in promotion of your last album. Woo potential backers by stimulating their eyes with new photos!

  • Do your images look good together? Size and filter your photos similarly as part of an effort to make your Story page look cohesive and professional. Making your page and photos look nice may translate to potential backers on a subconscious level that you cared enough to put the time into making your page look nice on the eyes.

  • Do the photos mesh within the context of your page? Check to see if there’s a balance between photos and text on your Story page. You don’t want to have too many photos, or too little/too much text!

  • Are the photos yours to use? This is common sense, but use images that you have the rights to use and credit the photographers when applicable!

  • Are your photos the right format/technical specifications? Photos should be less than 50 MB and the accepted formats are JPEG, PNG, or BMP.

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Additional Tips

Consistency via photo filters

Make the pictures on your page match by using the same filter on all of the pictures. Note that most places that offer photo filters have the option of turning down the amount of the filter used. We wanted to let you know this because so many filters default to what can appear to be quite extreme! Check out the app VSCO. It’s free!

The goal here is to create compelling visuals

Maybe you don’t have a big budget or budget at all for professional photos. That doesn’t mean you can’t compete with projects that do. But how? CREATIVITY!

You can update your pictures throughout your campaign

There are some things you can’t change once a project is launched, but thankfully photos are not one of them! You could totally update your photos throughout the campaign to freshen up the page and give your base a reason to visit your page (to see said new photos!).

Taking pictures from Instagram to use on your page

Why can’t I right click on a picture to ‘Save As’? Instagram removes this function to keep people from using images that are not rightfully theirs to use. There are tricks around this! Like this one. ( https://www.lifewire.com/save-instagram-photos-4125398 )

It’s our former client Lonely Benson! This was his project Kickstarter project image.

It’s our former client Lonely Benson! This was his project Kickstarter project image.

Choosing The Right Kickstarter Project Image

This image should be the one that represents you the most, looks the best, and works well framing wise with the ‘Play’ button that will be overlaid on top of it. Stay away from adding logos/text to your project image, too.

Projects We Think Did A Great Job With Their Photos

Helpful Resources

PS - Never forget that one time this guy ran a Kickstarter project to make a bowl of a potato salad. It was very successful.

PS - Never forget that one time this guy ran a Kickstarter project to make a bowl of a potato salad. It was very successful.

Steve Soboslai