Contractor‑Ready Visual Pack: Exact Screenshot, Icon & Preview Video Briefs That Avoid Rework

Founders and indie teams often begin handoffs with mood, inspiration links, or abstract style directions. That’s useful for creative direction, but it’s the deliverable checklist that prevents rework. For app store assets, the product you actually need is a wrapped set of files that meet store specs, include final caption text, use deterministic file names, and have an automated acceptance checklist.

Begin every brief with a one‑sentence deliverable definition: e.g., “Five iPhone App Store screenshots (primary: 6.9" slot), one 30s App Preview video (1920×886 H.264), single adaptive app icon export set.” Put that at the top so the contractor can immediately scope the job without digging through paragraphs of taste prose.

Apple and Google accept only specific image sizes and video formats; submitting the wrong size is a guaranteed source of back‑and‑forth. Include the exact App Store Connect screenshot slot you want (for example: 6.9" iPhone portrait primary), pixel dimensions, accepted file formats, and maximum file size if relevant. When in doubt, link the official App Store screenshot specification and list the exact resolution you expect exported.

For preview videos and icons, include codec and color/bit depth instructions. Example: App Preview — H.264 baseline profile, 30 fps maximum, no transparency; Icon — deliver PNG 1×, 2×, 3× for each platform and a 1024×1024 store icon. These concrete rules remove ambiguity and give contractors a checklist to validate before upload.

A predictable file tree and deterministic naming avoid lost files and mistaken uploads. Provide a single example path and naming convention and require the contractor follow it. Example convention: screenshots/ios/6.9-primary_en-US_01.png, screenshots/android/phone_en-US_01.jpg, icons/ios/AppIcon_1024@1x.png. That single example should be the first file in your brief.

Supply export presets for the tool you expect them to use (Figma, Sketch, Photoshop). If you use Figma, paste the exact export settings: format, scale, color profile, and any SVG flags. That means contractors can create an export profile that produces bit‑identical outputs across iterations, and you can script quick acceptance checks.

A brief should end with acceptance tests: a short, machine‑friendly list you can run locally (or with a CI script) to confirm outputs match the brief. Keep tests simple and binary so the contractor can run them before delivery and you can reproduce failures quickly.

Recommended checks: correct pixel dimensions, file format, filename pattern, presence of required captions (text layer or paired .txt file), and preview video codec/length. Include exact shell commands or small Node/Python snippets for each test — contractors who see those will run them before handing over work, and you’ll eliminate most subjective QA.

Captions are surprisingly political: versions with emojis, punctuation, or trademarked terms can be rejected or cause last‑minute edits. Include the final caption copy in the brief — and for any localized builds, provide a table mapping locale codes to caption text and character limits. That removes iterative copy reviews and ensures the creative has space set for each language.

Also decide who will handle store metadata vs. image copy changes after delivery. If you want contractors to deliver captioned image files and separate plain caption files (for store console copy), say that explicitly. One quick rule: require a captions.csv (locale, screenshot_filename, caption_text) so you can automate upload or copy/paste into store consoles without retyping.