---
name: step-8-add-photos-and-featured-image
description: "Add real pictures or a clear diagram. Show the reader what the article means."
category: Content Factory — Process
stage: Process
definitive_article: https://localservicespotlight.com/article-guidelines/
status: complete
---

# Step 8: Add photos and featured image

A good picture can make a hard point easy to grasp. This guide helps you choose real proof or a clear diagram for your page. Start with the point you want the reader to see.

**The path:** Point to show → Real source or honest diagram → Clear placement → Phone and desktop check.

**Use this when:** The article needs a meaningful lead visual, useful supporting media and a suitable featured image.

## Inputs
- The full article and its opening/visual plan, with the source recording and real media library.
- Rights and identity/context for photos, screenshots or figures; private information that must be removed.
- The existing featured image and site media rules, plus access to its supported editor/media library.
- An image editing tool, actual target layout, and a saved original for any resized asset.

## First-run prompt

> Choose and place meaningful source-based visuals for this article. Keep real proof distinct from conceptual diagrams, preserve privacy and image proportions, and write useful alt text. Check the lead at desktop and phone sizes, or record that check as pending. Do not invent photos, results or a guaranteed load time.

## Steps
1. List the points that need a visual explanation or real proof. Prioritize one meaningful asset in the first desktop and phone screen. Add supporting visuals where they improve understanding rather than decorating every heading.
2. Choose a relevant real photo, permitted source-video frame, actual screenshot or evidence-backed diagram. Do not present stock or generated people as the subject or as proof of work. Clearly identify a conceptual diagram as such.
3. Verify who/what is shown and the right to use it. Remove exposed private data from the published copy while keeping the original protected. Do not alter a screenshot to imply a result that was not observed.
4. Select an article-specific featured image. Check existing usage and relevance; retain a suitable canonical image unless the task calls for a replacement. If a new choice is needed, avoid a generic duplicate hero that makes different articles indistinguishable.
5. Crop without cutting off the key person, text or evidence. Resize to the actual display needs and compress while checking legibility. File size alone cannot guarantee a three-second page load; measure the rendered page under stated conditions later.
6. Use a descriptive filename. Give informative images alt text that conveys their purpose. Decorative elements can have empty alt text; do not add keyword-stuffed descriptions or repeat a long caption word for word.
7. Place each asset beside its explanation. Caption real proof with known identity and context, and link the actual source where useful. Keep diagram labels short and readable; preserve image proportions on phone and desktop.
8. Save the draft and inspect the actual layout at 1440×860 and 390×844 when available. Confirm the lead’s meaningful content is visible, not merely its border, and nothing overflows. Record any pending rendered check and give the next editor the asset/source map.

## Definition of done (QA checklist)

- [ ] The lead visual explains the topic and has a real source or honest conceptual label.
- [ ] Rights, identity and private-data handling are checked.
- [ ] Images remain legible, proportionate and accessible in their actual placement.
- [ ] Featured-image choice and desktop/mobile evidence are recorded without a load-speed guarantee.

## Example(s)

**Fictional teaching example — no real photos or results.** The sample quote guide uses a conceptual diagram: “Whole bike photo → Close-up of issue → Note on when it happens.” Its caption explains that these inputs help a shop prepare; it does not claim they prove a diagnosis.

If a real source photo later shows a mechanic holding a bike wheel, an accurate alt text might describe that scene. It would not say “best cheap bike repair quote” unless those words genuinely describe the image’s purpose. A narrow phone crop that hides the damaged part fails even if the file is small.

## Handoff and Content Factory context

The link editor receives the article, media/source map and any unresolved visual checks for [Step 9: add useful links](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/?task=step-9-add-internal-links-with-proper-anchor-text#task-step-9-add-internal-links-with-proper-anchor-text).

Produce supplies the real source. **Process**, this stage of the [Content Factory](https://blitzmetrics.com/content-factory/), turns it into useful finished assets. Post saves or publishes them on the agreed channels. Promote tests and distributes suitable work within its own scope. The handoff above names this task’s actual next step; catalog neighbors alone are not prerequisites.

## When this runs

Once for each article’s visual pass, then after a relevant layout or source-image change. No recurring image replacement is implied.

## First-run setup and continuity

Open the supplied task file and its linked source. Verify the project’s real inputs, account, access and output folder before work. This Markdown file is a guide; it does not install an app, connect an account, supply a subscription or create a schedule. Carry out work already authorized; do not ask for the same approval again. Keep any unsupplied destination or new action outside that scope clearly pending.

Save source IDs, versions, decisions, checked outputs and next owner in the project tracker. Before a retry, check the saved state and other workers’ changes. A model name does not guarantee memory or a running timer. Repeated work needs an actual configured trigger and durable state; one-off work can be started by the prompt above.

Keep agent media muted with volume zero before playback. If mute cannot be verified, use captions, metadata or still frames. State the limit: silent visual checks do not prove spoken-word accuracy or audio quality. Do not start sound through the user’s speakers unless explicitly asked.

## Write up the real run

For every actual attempt, [write its meta article](https://blitzmetrics.com/meta-article-prompt/) with this recipe and revision, trigger, steps performed, output evidence, measured result, gaps and next owner. Failed, blocked and partial attempts also get a written record. A draft can satisfy writing; publishing it follows the existing job scope.

Keep one stable execution ID across retries and edits. A separately scoped child task may have its own ID linked to its parent. Writing the parent’s meta record is part of that run, not an endless new chain. The [recipe and meta-article guide](https://localservicespotlight.com/meta-articles/) explains this distinction. Teaching examples are not real executions and must not enter the run count.


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## Factory chain (do not treat this as isolated)

- **Phase:** Process
- **Importance:** 4/5 `●●●●○` — frequency 4, revenue 3, gating 2 (runs every factory cycle or weekly)
- **Suggested previous station:** `step-7-write-hook-and-establish-context`
- **Suggested next station:** `step-9-add-internal-links-with-proper-anchor-text`
These stations are generated neighbors, not verified prerequisites or handoffs. Follow the task’s actual Inputs and Handoff sections.
- **Handoff:** Process-stage artifact examples include `transcript.md`, `gct.md`, `article.html` (or a staged draft), `clips/`, or `04-Promote-Creatives/`. These are examples, not requirements for every task. Follow this task's actual Inputs and Handoff sections for the required output, evidence, and next owner. Pass the files or records, not one vendor's memory.

## Model routing (same factory, any engine)

- **This task's lane:** `any` — Any capable chat model (Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini). SOP following, drafts, checklists.
- **Single-engine path:** Use the capable AI app you already have. Check its required tools and access before starting. Pass the actual result and proof to the next task.
- **Optional multi-engine:** A tested local model may draft; a stronger model may review facts and voice. Use supported tools for approved actions. Pick models from observed quality and cost; a model name does not prove it can run this task.
- **Never** store the working state in one vendor's memory. Files in the Content Library are the bridge.

<!-- factory-layer:end -->
## Definitive article & links

- Canonical article: https://localservicespotlight.com/article-guidelines/
- Exact task: [Step 8: Add photos and featured image](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/?task=step-8-add-photos-and-featured-image#task-step-8-add-photos-and-featured-image)
- Writing standard: [Article Guidelines](https://localservicespotlight.com/article-guidelines/)
- [Task recipe and publishing standard](https://blitzmetrics.com/definitive-article-guide/)

## Review and evidence still needed

The source contributor status is preserved. It is not certification of this draft or proof of account access, completed work or a live outcome. The worked example teaches the method and is explicitly fictional.
- Actual images, rights and rendered layout must be checked; this teaching example supplies no real media.