Steam Capsule Sizes and Design: The Complete Guide
By the Cosindra team · Updated July 26, 2026
Your capsule is the single most-seen asset your game has on Steam. It appears in search results, discovery queues, tag pages, wishlist emails and the front page — usually scaled down to a fraction of the size you designed it at. A capsule that looks great in Photoshop and unreadable at 231 pixels wide is one of the most common reasons a good game underperforms.
This guide lists every capsule size Steam asks for, where each one shows up, and the design rules that actually move click-through.
Steam capsule sizes at a glance
These are the upload dimensions Steamworks currently requires. Steam frequently displays them scaled down — sometimes to half size or less — which is why designing for the display size, not the upload size, is the core skill.
| Asset | Upload size (px) | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|
| Header capsule | 920 × 430 | Top of your store page, recommendation feeds, grids |
| Small capsule | 462 × 174 | Search results, lists, tag pages — the most-seen asset |
| Main capsule | 1232 × 706 | Front-page featured spots and carousels |
| Vertical capsule | 748 × 896 | Front-page vertical layouts, some sale pages |
| Library capsule | 600 × 900 | The player's Steam library grid |
| Library header | 920 × 430 | Library detail view |
| Library hero | 3840 × 1240 | Banner at the top of the library detail page |
| Library logo | 1280 × 720 (max) | Transparent logo overlaid on the hero |
| Screenshots | 1920 × 1080 recommended | Store page gallery, hover previews |
The one rule that matters: design for the smallest size
The small capsule is frequently rendered at roughly half its upload size — around 231 × 87 pixels — in search results and lists. That is where most first impressions happen. Before you finalize any capsule, zoom your design out to that size and ask three questions: can I read the title, can I tell the genre, and does it stand apart from the dark-blue Steam UI around it?
A useful test: put your shrunken capsule in a screenshot of real Steam search results next to ten other games. If your eye does not land on it, neither will anyone else’s.
Design rules that raise click-through
- Make the title readable at thumbnail size — big, high-contrast lettering, not the elaborate logo from your key art.
- Communicate genre in one glance: a horror capsule should feel like horror before anyone reads a word.
- One focal subject beats a collage. Character face or key silhouette > four small scenes.
- High contrast against Steam’s dark UI — capsules with dark, low-contrast backgrounds disappear into the page.
- Do not paste a screenshot into the capsule slot. Screenshots read as "no art budget" at small sizes.
- Avoid cramming award laurels, review quotes and platform logos into the capsule — they become unreadable noise at display size.
- Keep text off the edges: Steam overlays discounts and badges on capsule corners.
Common mistakes
- Designing at 100% zoom and never checking the 50% render — the #1 mistake.
- Title in a thin or script font that collapses at small sizes.
- Different art styles across the capsule set — the header and small capsule should clearly be the same game.
- Leaving the auto-generated template capsule up during a Next Fest or festival, when your page gets its most traffic.
Want an honest score for your page?
LaunchKit grades your Steam store page 0-100 — AI vision looks at your actual capsule and screenshots, checks your description and tags, and gives you a prioritized fix list. Paste your store URL, or grade a draft before you publish.
Grade my Steam pageFrequently asked questions
What size is the main Steam capsule image?
Depends which asset you mean: the image at the top of your store page is the header capsule at 920 × 430 pixels, while the asset Steamworks literally names "Main Capsule" (used for front-page features) uploads at 1232 × 706. The small capsule used in search and lists is 462 × 174, often displayed at roughly half that size.
Can I use a screenshot as my Steam capsule?
You can, but you should not. Screenshots lose all readability at thumbnail size and signal low production value. Steam’s own guidelines ask for graphical asset artwork rather than raw screenshots.
How do I know if my capsule is working?
Shrink it to search-result size and compare it against the games it will sit next to. For a structured check, a page grader that actually looks at the image — like LaunchKit — can score readability, contrast and genre clarity for you.