Summer Sale Capsule Sale-Sticker Safe-Zone Pass Without Capsule Crush - 2026 Art Workflow

Day 1 of Steam Summer Sale: your main capsule looked clean on the studio monitor. Day 2: a red %-OFF ribbon and store chrome sit on the same corner as your logo. Day 3: wishlist threads say "can't read the title on mobile." Store response challenge S2 media parity is GREEN—screenshots match scope—but overlay crush is a different failure: sale stickers, ribbons, and discovery chrome that sit on capsules without asking art for a second pass.

Steam Summer Sale 2026 overlays punish micro-capsules that were designed for bare store chrome. This is not the same as summer gradient banding (HDR to sRGB zebra stripes) and not October screenshot safe zones (HUD in gallery shots). This Game Art & Design workflow is the sale-sticker survival pass: reserve title and logo from badge kill zones, run an ImageMagick/FFmpeg overlay squint pack, file summer_sale_capsule_sticker_receipt_v1.json with gates Z1–Z6, latch BUILD_RECEIPT summer_sale_capsule_sticker_ok: true.

Non-repetition note: Gradient band pass owns B1–B6 banding. October safe zones five gates own screenshot HUD composition. February capsule Z owns crop after winter HDR. Sale store response owns hub/reply rituals. This URL owns sale-badge and ribbon crush on main capsules during Summer Sale.

Pair gradient band pass, screenshot safe zones, Sale store challenge, 14 screenshot tools, Resource #48 forward.

Why this matters now (Steam Summer Sale 2026)

1. Stickers are temporary; crush sticks in memory — A crushed logo teaches cheap sale dump even when the game is not.
2. Bare-capsule QC misses Sale UI — Studio proof without overlay packs is incomplete for Sale week.
3. S2 parity is not sticker survival — Store response Day 2 checks content lies; this pass checks geometry under badges.
4. Gradient pass can still crush — Smooth sky with badge-over-title is still a CTR failure.
5. Phone discovery — Sale ribbons plus half-res thumbnails leave less legible real estate than bare fest presentation.

Direct answer: Mark sale-badge kill zones on 1232×706, protect title and logo bounding boxes, composite representative overlay PNGs with ImageMagick/FFmpeg, pass 616×353 sticker squint, file summer_sale_capsule_sticker_receipt_v1.json with Z1–Z6 GREEN before declaring Sale art done.

Who this workflow is for

Time: about 60–75 minutes first Sale capsule; about 20 minutes per variant once the overlay pack exists.

Format ladder (Summer Sale store art)

Order: Store response S2 GREEN (preferred) → this sticker pass → gradient pass if sky also banded → publish.

Beginner path — 5–10 minute sticker checklist

1. Open main capsule 1232×706 (or your documented main size).
2. Sketch two kill zones (paper or PSD guide): typically upper-left and upper-right corners (about 18–22% width × 20–28% height)—common badge and ribbon placement patterns. Exact store chrome changes over time; treat zones as conservative studio priors, not official specs.
3. Draw a box around title plus logo. If the box intersects a kill zone by more than about 15% of title area, move or shrink title.
4. Export a 616×353 half-res thumbnail.
5. Mentally place a bright discount sticker in each kill zone—can you still read the title at arm's length?
6. If no, REWRITE layout before any script.

Copy into release-evidence/marketing/summer-sale-capsule-sticker-checklist-2026.md:

# Summer Sale 2026 capsule sticker pass
capsule: capsule_main_1232x706_sale_v1.png
build_label: {match store response / receipt}

[ ] Z1 — kill-zone guides drawn (UL + UR minima)
[ ] Z2 — title/logo bbox documented (px)
[ ] Z3 — overlap with kill zones ≤15% of title area
[ ] Z4 — ImageMagick composite squints GREEN
[ ] Z5 — FFmpeg phone mock ribbon pass
[ ] Z6 — summer_sale_capsule_sticker_receipt_v1.json filed
[ ] BUILD_RECEIPT summer_sale_capsule_sticker_ok == true

Beginner mistake: Judging stickers only on a bare PSD layer stack with guides hidden—Sale shoppers never see your guides.

Developer path — gates Z1–Z6

Kill zone and bbox JSON (studio prior)

{
  "schema": "sale_sticker_kill_zones_v1",
  "capsule_w": 1232,
  "capsule_h": 706,
  "zones": [
    { "id": "ul_ribbon", "x": 0, "y": 0, "w": 260, "h": 180 },
    { "id": "ur_badge", "x": 972, "y": 0, "w": 260, "h": 160 }
  ],
  "title_bbox": { "x": 80, "y": 420, "w": 720, "h": 120 },
  "logo_bbox": { "x": 80, "y": 320, "w": 200, "h": 90 },
  "notes": "Conservative priors—recalibrate from live Sale screenshots each year"
}

Honest limit: Do not claim these rects are platform-official. Recalibrate by screenshotting your page with Sale chrome live (or last year's evidence), then update zones[].

Overlay squint pack — ImageMagick

Store overlays as semi-transparent PNGs under release-evidence/marketing/sale-overlays/ (studio-drawn stand-ins for badge and ribbon shapes—not ripped client badge art).

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# composite_sale_sticker_squints.sh
set -euo pipefail
CAP="${1:?capsule png 1232x706}"
OUTDIR="${2:-release-evidence/marketing/sale-sticker-squints}"
mkdir -p "$OUTDIR"

magick "$CAP" -resize 616x353! "$OUTDIR/half_bare.png"

magick "$CAP" \( release-evidence/marketing/sale-overlays/ul_ribbon_standin.png -resize 260x180! \) \
  -geometry +0+0 -composite "$OUTDIR/full_ul.png"
magick "$OUTDIR/full_ul.png" -resize 616x353! "$OUTDIR/half_ul.png"

magick "$CAP" \( release-evidence/marketing/sale-overlays/ur_badge_standin.png -resize 260x160! \) \
  -geometry +972+0 -composite "$OUTDIR/full_ur.png"
magick "$OUTDIR/full_ur.png" -resize 616x353! "$OUTDIR/half_ur.png"

magick "$OUTDIR/full_ul.png" \( release-evidence/marketing/sale-overlays/ur_badge_standin.png -resize 260x160! \) \
  -geometry +972+0 -composite "$OUTDIR/full_dual.png"
magick "$OUTDIR/full_dual.png" -resize 616x353! "$OUTDIR/half_dual.png"

echo "Wrote squints under $OUTDIR — human-read title on half_*.png at arm length"

Z4 human gate: At arm's length on half_dual, title remains readable without guessing letters. Log half_dual_sha256 in the receipt.

Quick contrast probe (optional)

magick release-evidence/marketing/sale-sticker-squints/half_dual.png \
  -crop 360x60+40+210 +repage -colorspace Gray -format "%[fx:mean]\n" info:

Calibrate against a known-good and known-bad capsule—do not invent a universal threshold.

FFmpeg phone mock (Z5)

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
HALF="${1:?half_dual png}"
OUT="${2:-release-evidence/marketing/sale-sticker-squints/phone_mock.mp4}"

ffmpeg -y -loop 1 -i "$HALF" -t 3 -vf "scale=360:-2,pad=360:640:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2" \
  -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p "$OUT"

Play once on a phone or narrow browser pane—title must survive under the same dual-overlay half image.

summer_sale_capsule_sticker_receipt_v1.json (template)

{
  "schema": "summer_sale_capsule_sticker_receipt_v1",
  "sale_window": "2026-steam-summer-sale",
  "generated_at": "2026-07-15T20:00:00Z",
  "capsule_path": "release-evidence/marketing/capsule_main_1232x706_sale_v1.png",
  "capsule_sha256": "aaa111…",
  "kill_zones_path": "release-evidence/marketing/sale_sticker_kill_zones_v1.json",
  "squint_dir": "release-evidence/marketing/sale-sticker-squints/",
  "half_dual_sha256": "bbb222…",
  "title_bbox": { "x": 80, "y": 420, "w": 720, "h": 120 },
  "title_kill_overlap_ratio": 0.08,
  "gates": {
    "Z1": "GREEN",
    "Z2": "GREEN",
    "Z3": "GREEN",
    "Z4": "GREEN",
    "Z5": "GREEN",
    "Z6": "GREEN"
  },
  "cousin_receipts": {
    "store_response": "release-evidence/summer-sale-2026/store-response/summer_sale_store_response_challenge_receipt_v1.json",
    "gradient_band": "release-evidence/marketing/summer_capsule_gradient_receipt_v1.json"
  },
  "summer_sale_capsule_sticker_ok": true,
  "notes": "Moved title down 64px; dual overlay half_dual readable"
}

BUILD_RECEIPT root rows

{
  "summer_sale_capsule_sticker_ok": true,
  "summer_sale_capsule_sticker_receipt": "release-evidence/marketing/summer_sale_capsule_sticker_receipt_v1.json"
}

verify_summer_sale_capsule_sticker.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
REC="${1:-release-evidence/marketing/summer_sale_capsule_sticker_receipt_v1.json}"
ZONES="${2:-release-evidence/marketing/sale_sticker_kill_zones_v1.json}"

jq -e '.schema == "summer_sale_capsule_sticker_receipt_v1"' "$REC" || exit 1
jq -e '(.zones | length) >= 2' "$ZONES" || exit 2
for g in Z1 Z2 Z3 Z4 Z5 Z6; do
  jq -e --arg g "$g" '.gates[$g] == "GREEN"' "$REC" || exit 3
done
jq -e '(.title_kill_overlap_ratio // 1) <= 0.15' "$REC" || exit 4
jq -e '.summer_sale_capsule_sticker_ok == true' "$REC" || exit 6
test -n "$(jq -r '.half_dual_sha256 // empty' "$REC")" || exit 5
echo "summer_sale_capsule_sticker verify: OK"

Worked example — logo in the corner (synthetic)

Elapsed: about 70 minutes first fix; about 25 minutes on sale_v2 after overlays exist.

RED / YELLOW / GREEN routing

Layout recipes that survive stickers

CI hook sketch (optional)

jobs:
  sale-sticker:
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/sale-art-2026'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: bash scripts/verify_summer_sale_capsule_sticker.sh
      - run: jq -e '.summer_sale_capsule_sticker_ok == true' release-evidence/BUILD_RECEIPT.json

Wire only when marketing declares Sale art freeze—do not block unrelated engineering PRs.

Common mistakes

Only exporting a clean capsule for QA — Missing overlay pack.
Copying October gradient receipt as done — Banding is not stickers.
Tiny title with heavy outline — Sale JPEG still muddies it at 616×353.
Claiming official Steam safe specs — Log studio priors and recalibration date.
Merging sticker ok with store ok — Two receipts; hub truth is not badge geometry.
Checking into git ripped badge art — Use neutral stand-in shapes.
Skipping half_dual — Single-corner tests miss stacking crush.
Running this instead of screenshot HUD gates — Gallery shots still need five composition gates.

Mid-Sale chrome recalibration (when Z4 was GREEN on Day 1)

Sale chrome can shift mid-event. Treat recalibration as a mini evening, not a redo of the whole art pipeline:

1. Screenshot your live store page on phone and desktop—save under release-evidence/marketing/sale-chrome-captures/YYYY-MM-DD/.
2. Measure where the ribbon or badge actually sits; update kill_zones_v1.json with revised_at and prior zone ids in notes.
3. Re-run only Z3–Z5: overlap math, ImageMagick dual composite, phone mock.
4. Bump receipt receipt_version or append recalibration[]—do not mutate Z1 evidence from Day 1 silently.
5. If title must move again, log the pixel delta so next year's prior is honest.

Producer rule: Mid-Sale recalibration does not unset summer_sale_store_ok. It only refreshes sticker geometry.

Title plate recipe (when Z4/Z5 fail on soft type)

When dual overlays still bury readable letters:

After any plate change, re-run half_dual before declaring Z4 GREEN.

Relationship to June aftermath REWRITE

If June aftermath tagged the capsule REWRITE for October, do not treat a Sale Z GREEN as October art lock. Sale sticker survival and October bare-chrome presentation are different product states—archive Sale proofs; schedule an October bare-capsule (and gradient) pass later.

Prevention when Sale recurs next year

1. Keep last year's kill_zones_v1.json and update from live screenshots in week one.
2. Archive half_dual proofs beside capsules in marketing evidence.
3. Add Z6 to Sale art freeze checklist next to store response S5.
4. Teach new artists the lower-third title default for Sale variants.
5. Recalibrate stand-in overlays when chrome colors change.
6. Store composite scripts where interns can run them without art-director overtime.
7. Never commit ripped platform badge PNGs—stand-ins only.

Outbound references

• Steamworks store presence — capsule and graphical asset guidance (sizes evolve; verify current)
• ImageMagick — composite and resize
• FFmpeg — phone mock encodes

Recalibrate kill zones against live Sale pages each year—chrome changes.

Key takeaways

1. Sale stickers crush capsules that passed bare-store QC.
2. Gates Z1–Z6 cover kill zones, bboxes, overlap, ImageMagick/FFmpeg squints, and receipt.
3. summer_sale_capsule_sticker_receipt_v1.json proves overlay survival.
4. Keep separate from gradient B-gates and store S-gates.
5. Use studio prior kill zones; recalibrate from live screenshots.
6. Always test dual overlay at 616×353.
7. Pair screenshot safe zones for gallery HUD—not capsule ribbons.
8. Prefer title in the lower third during Sale art swaps.
9. Neutral stand-in overlays—no ripped store badges in git.
10. Resource #48 forward expands tooling bookmarks.
11. verify_summer_sale_capsule_sticker.sh fail-closes missing dual proof.
12. Phone mock (Z5) catches desktop-only false GREEN.
13. Recapture zones when live Sale chrome shifts mid-event.
14. After Z GREEN, still run gradient pass if sky banding remains.

FAQ

Is this the same as the summer gradient band pass?
No—gradient owns banding; this owns badge and ribbon occlusion.

Do we need the store response challenge first?
Preferred for S2 media parity—but sticker geometry can run in parallel once the candidate capsule exists.

Are kill zone coordinates official?
No—conservative studio priors. Update from live Sale screenshots.

Can we skip FFmpeg if ImageMagick half_dual looks fine?
Z5 may waive with producer note—still recommend one phone-width mock.

What if Sale chrome only appears on some pages?
Run dual overlay anyway; worst-case is the design constraint.

How does February capsule Z differ?
February owns crop after winter HDR; this owns Sale stickers on summer traffic.

Does this replace screenshot composition gates?
No—five gates still own gallery HUD layout.

Related GamineAI reads

• 5-Day Summer Sale Store Response Ritual Challenge
• Summer Steam Capsule Gradient Band Readability Pass
• Steam Store Screenshot Composition Safe Zones Five Gates
• February Fest Capsule Safe-Zone Pass After Winter HDR
• 14 Free Steam Screenshot Capture and Safe-Zone Tools
• Steam Store Palette Lock Worksheet
• June 2026 Next Fest Aftermath — REWRITE art if stickers force layout change
• Forward: Resource #48

Closing

Bare capsules lie during Sale week—draw kill zones, protect title boxes, composite dual overlay squints, and file summer_sale_capsule_sticker_receipt_v1.json before you call art done. Pair store response for truth and gradient banding for sky quality so Sale traffic sees a game worth clicking—not a ribbon over a mystery logo.