Summer Sale Capsule Sale-Sticker Crush Readability Fails After Overlay - How to Fix

Problem: After a Steam Summer Sale overlay export (or partner badge mock), summer_sale_capsule_sticker_ok stays false—or art already uploaded—because the title / logo is illegible under %-OFF ribbons at 616×353 while the bare PSD looks fine on a studio monitor.

Who is affected now: Teams running the Summer Sale sticker art pass and Photoshop/GIMP Guide #52 before Sale traffic. This is recovery when S3–S5 fail after overlay export, not gradient banding after HDR (posterized skies), not store response S2 media parity alone, and not short-description 300-char proof (text fields, not art).

Fastest safe fix: Freeze store upload → reopen PSD/XCF → move title/logo outside UL/UR kill zones → re-export dual overlay squints at half-res → phone mock pass → rewrite summer_sale_capsule_sticker_receipt_v1.json → latch summer_sale_capsule_sticker_ok.

Direct answer

A bare capsule that reads clean without Sale chrome is not Sale-ready. Reposition title and logo so kill-zone overlap stays under ~15% of the title box, prove readability with dual overlay squints at 616×353, then rewrite the sticker receipt—do not flip summer_sale_capsule_sticker_ok because summer_sale_store_ok is GREEN.

Why this issue spikes during Steam Summer Sale 2026

1. Bare monitor lies — studio review hides the ribbon Steam will paint.
2. S2 store parity ≠ sticker survival — 5-day store response checks content match; overlays still crush geometry.
3. Badge in title bbox — logo parked in the UL/UR corners Steam uses for discount chrome.
4. No half-res squint — full-res PNG looks sharp; 616×353 loses the title.
5. Wrong cousin — teams treat crush as HDR banding and dither skies while the ribbon still covers the wordmark.

Symptoms and search phrases

• “summer_sale_capsule_sticker_ok false after overlay”
• Steam Summer Sale capsule title unreadable mobile
• sale sticker crush 616×353 capsule
• verify_summer_sale_capsule_sticker.sh fails S3 / S4
• %-OFF ribbon covers game logo Steam capsule
• Summer Sale capsule safe zone fail after export

Root causes (check in order)

1. Title / logo inside kill zone — overlap ratio of title ∩ UL/UR > ~0.15 (S3).
2. No overlay squint pack — receipt has bare PNG only; S4 never ran.
3. Double JPEG / soft export — title edges mush before the badge even lands.
4. Wrong safe-zone priors — using October screenshot HUD zones instead of Sale corner chrome (Guide #52 S2).
5. Banding mistaken for crush — sky posterizes at half-res but title was already under the ribbon (gradient help).
6. summer_sale_store_ok treated as art latch — store ritual GREEN while sticker receipt still RED.

Beginner path (first 25 minutes)

Prerequisites: Photoshop or GIMP capsule master (PSD/XCF), ImageMagick on PATH, write access to release-evidence/marketing/, Guide #52 open, Steamworks store assets sizes bookmarked.

1. Prove the failure:

REC=release-evidence/marketing/summer_sale_capsule_sticker_receipt_v1.json
jq -e '.summer_sale_capsule_sticker_ok == true' "$REC"
# expect fail — or receipt missing after a silent store upload

2. Open the master at 1232×706 (or your 2× capsule). Show guides. Drop a bright stand-in rectangle in UL and UR (~18–22% × 20–28% of width/height).

3. If the title or logo sits under either rectangle, move those layers—do not shrink the whole canvas and hope.

4. Export a clean PNG, then composite dual overlay squints (same pack as Guide #52 S4 / the sticker blog):

SRC=release-evidence/marketing/capsule_main.png
# Composite UL + UR stand-in overlays, then:
magick "$SRC" -resize 616x353\! release-evidence/marketing/proof/half_dual.png
# Arm-length test: can you still read the title on half_dual.png?

5. Resize a 360-wide phone mock. If title dies, shrink or shift title further and re-export.

6. Rewrite receipt + BUILD_RECEIPT (below). Do not re-upload Sale capsules while S3–S5 stay RED.

Developer path (recovery gates)

R1 — Pick the correct cousin

R2 — Kill-zone reposition (sketch)

On 1232×706 masters, treat UL and UR corners as hostile until proven otherwise:

Document title_bbox and logo_bbox in the receipt. Recompute overlap after every move—eyeballing “looks fine” is how R4 fails later.

R4 — Overlay squint proof

1. Composite representative Sale stand-ins (UL ribbon + UR badge) on the new export.
2. Resize to 616×353 (half_dual).
3. Arm-length read: title contrast still ≥ ~4.5:1 against crush.
4. Phone mock at ~360-wide with at least one ribbon simulation.
5. Save proofs under release-evidence/marketing/proof/.

Full-res-only review does not close R4.

R5 — Receipt rewrite

{
  "schema": "summer_sale_capsule_sticker_receipt_v1",
  "receipt_id": "summer-sale-2026-capsule-sticker-recovery",
  "master_path": "art/store/capsule_main.psd",
  "export_png": "release-evidence/marketing/capsule_main.png",
  "title_bbox": [280, 220, 920, 320],
  "logo_bbox": [40, 40, 180, 160],
  "kill_zones": {
    "UL": [0, 0, 270, 200],
    "UR": [960, 0, 1232, 200]
  },
  "overlap_ratio_title": 0.08,
  "proof": {
    "half_dual": "release-evidence/marketing/proof/half_dual.png",
    "phone_360": "release-evidence/marketing/proof/phone_360.png"
  },
  "recovery": {
    "reason": "Sale ribbon covered wordmark after first overlay export",
    "previous_overlap_ratio_title": 0.41,
    "repositioned_utc": "2026-08-14T19:20:00Z"
  },
  "gates": {
    "S1": "GREEN",
    "S2": "GREEN",
    "S3": "GREEN",
    "S4": "GREEN",
    "S5": "GREEN",
    "S6": "GREEN"
  },
  "gate_crosswalk": { "S1": "Z1", "S2": "Z2", "S3": "Z3", "S4": "Z4", "S5": "Z5", "S6": "Z6" },
  "summer_sale_capsule_sticker_ok": true,
  "notes": "Do not set summer_sale_store_ok as a substitute for this latch"
}

R6 — BUILD_RECEIPT + verify

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

bash scripts/verify_summer_sale_capsule_sticker.sh \
  release-evidence/marketing/summer_sale_capsule_sticker_receipt_v1.json

Verify

• Arm-length read of half_dual.png keeps title and logo legible under both stand-ins.
• Phone mock (~360-wide) still shows the title.
• jq -e '.summer_sale_capsule_sticker_ok == true' on receipt and BUILD_RECEIPT.
• summer_sale_store_ok (if used) remains a separate boolean—do not OR them together.
• Steamworks capsule upload only after R6 GREEN (store assets).

Prevent

1. Run Guide #52 S1–S6 before locking Sale assets.
2. Keep kill guides visible during art review—Sale shoppers never see your guides.
3. Pair the sticker art-pass blog for Z1–Z6 policy + ImageMagick pack.
4. If skies also posterize at half-res, run gradient help after sticker geometry is GREEN—not instead of it.
5. Prefer store response S2 GREEN for content truth, then this latch for overlay survival.

Related GamineAI reads

• Photoshop/GIMP Summer Sale sticker safe-zone preflight (Guide #52)
• Summer Sale capsule sale-sticker safe-zone art pass
• Summer Steam capsule gradient banding after HDR (cousin)
• 5-day Summer Sale store response ritual
• February fest capsule safe-zone after winter HDR
• 14 free Steam screenshot / safe-zone tools
• Official: Steamworks store assets · ImageMagick

Bare capsules lie during Sale week—move title out of the kill zones, prove half-res overlay squints, rewrite summer_sale_capsule_sticker_receipt_v1.json, then latch summer_sale_capsule_sticker_ok only when S3–S5 are honestly green.