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Google Play Feature Graphic Maker: Lock 1024×500 and Export Opaque Locally
Stuck on Play Console Graphics? You often already have phone screenshots—what is missing is the mandatory 1024×500 Feature Graphic. Specs, no-alpha rules, and center-first layout are covered in the existing Feature Graphic how-to. This article is only the maker workflow: open the tool, compose, export a file Console will accept.
Tool: Play Feature Graphic maker. Canvas locked at 1024×500; theme presets or custom gradients; headline/subheadline; logo; optional screenshot and phone frame; safe-zone and play-button overlays are preview only and never baked into the export. Everything runs in browser Canvas—assets are not uploaded.
How this splits from the specs article and screenshot tools
| Job | Where |
|---|---|
| Remember hard rules (size / no alpha / center priority) | Feature Graphic guide |
| Compose on a locked canvas and export opaque art | /en/tools/feature-graphic |
| Recheck pixels and file size after export | /en/tools/screenshot-check |
| Build portrait phone screenshots (not the banner) | /en/google-play-screenshot-generator or /en/preview |
Feature Graphic and phone screenshots are different slots. A great portrait shot will not fill Feature graphic; stretching a banner into a phone slot breaks aspect ratio.
Hands-on: page open → Console upload
- Open /en/tools/feature-graphic. The preview should show a fixed 1024×500 canvas. There is no resize control on purpose—off-by-one pixels usually fail Console validation when people freehand sizes in other editors.
- Pick a theme or custom gradient/solid, then set text color. Lock background before writing copy; swap backgrounds after a full headline pass creates more rework. If brand color is flat, use a two-stop gradient so center type stays readable.
- Enter headline / subheadline. Keep copy toward the upper-center; edges get cropped on some surfaces. Prefer a concrete benefit in the subhead (“works offline”, “export in 30s”) over a slogan-only line.
- Upload a logo if needed; add a UI screenshot when the product must be recognizable at a glance. Google advises avoiding device imagery on Feature Graphics. The tool still offers an optional phone frame—better for off-store ads or landing banners. For the listing itself, prefer a rounded UI crop or pure brand visual.
- Toggle the safe zone (~924×400) and play-button preview overlays. Check that title/logo are not covered by the center control—especially if you ship a preview video. You can turn overlays off before download; they never write into the file.
- Download opaque PNG or JPEG. The tool always fills a solid/gradient base first so you do not ship 32-bit PNG with alpha. Prefer JPEG when file size matters; try PNG when logo edges need crispness, then recheck size in the compliance tool.
- Upload in Play Console → Grow → Store presence → Main store listing (or the listing you are editing) → Graphics → Feature graphic. With a preview video, this asset often becomes the video cover.
Decision table: banner vs framed screenshot
| Approach | Best for | Watch-outs |
|---|---|---|
| Brand gradient + logo + short title | Listing + large recommendation cards | Can feel empty—use the subhead for the benefit |
| Rounded UI shot inside the safe zone | Utility apps that must show the UI | Edge crop may cut status-bar details; keep margin around the shot |
| Full device frame | Off-store ads / social banners | Can look like a marketing poster on the listing; keep a frameless file for Console |
Practical A/B: ship a frameless brand banner to the listing first; when you need promo creatives, enable the frame and export a second file with a promo suffix so you never overwrite the listing asset.
Pre-upload checklist
- Exact 1024×500 (locked in-tool; if you left to Figma/Photoshop, re-verify with screenshot compliance check and Google Play selected).
- No alpha (JPEG has none; PNG must read as fully opaque).
- Readable type inside ~924×400; corners are background only.
- No portrait shot forced into a banner—wrong ratio means blur and empty sides.
- Logo/headline clear of the center play-button placeholder (toggle preview overlays once).
After the Feature Graphic is done, build phone/tablet shots in /en/preview or the Play screenshot generator, then run compliance again. Official wording and edge cases stay in the Feature Graphic guide; this page is the maker path from open tool to uploadable file.
Rework patterns we see after first export
- Uploading a vertical screenshot into Feature graphic → immediate size error. Banner only.
- Exporting PNG from a transparent logo PSD in another app → alpha warning under Play’s no-alpha rule. This maker fills a base; if you switch tools, recheck transparency in compliance.
- Oversized type filling the safe zone → collide with the play overlay. Shorter copy at higher weight wins.
- Looking fine only on a dark theme → some surfaces crop onto lighter chrome. Spot-check light and dark themes, or keep a neutral gradient backup.
Those four are fixable locally in minutes. Those failures rarely need a new design system. They need a locked canvas, an opaque base, and one compliance pass before Console. If you also maintain Chinese Android listings, keep Feature Graphic separate from phone-slot exports—those channels do not share Play’s banner slot, and mixing folders is how teams overwrite the wrong file the night before release. Keep the specs article for policy language; keep this tool for production exports.
Cross-link habit after you ship the banner
Once Feature Graphic is green in Console, run phone screenshots through the same compliance checker instead of assuming “Play already accepted one asset type.” Phone shots use the 320–3840 range with aspect ≤ 2:1; the banner is exact 1024×500. Treating them as one checklist item is how teams pass Graphics on the banner and still fail phone slots later.