How to choose your restaurant cover photo

What the public page cover is

Your restaurant cover photo is the Restaurant photo field in Settings, inside the General card. It's the big image at the top of your public page — the same page that opens when a guest scans the table QR code — behind the name, the description, the open-or-closed badge and the address. The storefront, the dining room or a well-shot dish all work well, and the image is cropped from the center to fill the whole strip.

That same image also works beyond the top of the page. It goes into the background of the QR code posters you download from Share, it appears in the preview image apps show when someone pastes your menu link, and it goes into the structured data search engines read about the restaurant. One photo, stored once, used in four places.

Why this image is worth the care

• It's your menu's first impression. The guest sitting at the table points the phone at the QR code and sees the cover before reading a single price. A photo of the place says in half a second what three paragraphs of description can't.
• A heavy photo doesn't mean a slow page. When you save, we shrink the image so its longest side fits in 1600 pixels and re-save it as WebP. The multi-megabyte file straight from the camera shrinks, and the menu opens fast even on the dining room's weak signal.
• You choose between a photo and brand colors. The Cream and Dark styles build the top with no image, and the Brand style builds a gradient from two colors taken from your logo. A restaurant without a good photo doesn't end up with a broken page.
• The same file serves the poster and the link. Change the cover and you also change the background of the QR code posters and the image that shows when someone shares the restaurant's address in the family group chat.

How to choose your restaurant cover photo in 7 steps

Seven steps, from the file on your phone to checking your public page.

1. Open Settings

   On the restaurant Dashboard, tap the Settings gear — it's also in the top menu and the footer. The first card on the page is General: that's where Name, Logo, Restaurant photo and Description live.

2. Upload the photo

   Just below the Logo is Restaurant photo, with a thumbnail on the left. Tap Choose photo — or Change photo, if you already have one — and pick the image on your phone. On a computer you can paste with Ctrl+V or drag the file onto the thumbnail. The thumbnail shows the new photo even before you save.

3. Choose the header style

   The Header style field has four options. Cover (photo) uses the whole photo, darkened, with the name on top. Brand (photo + logo colors) tints the photo with the colors taken from your logo. Cream (light) and Dark build the top with no image at all.

4. Decide between a photo and brand colors

   The Use the photo in the header switch controls the Brand style: on, the photo shows under the gradient; off, there's only the gradient in your logo colors. The Brand style also shows the Gradient field, with Diagonal, Vertical and Radial.

5. Tap Save

   The Save button is at the end of the card. That's when we process the image: shrink it until the longest side fits in 1600 pixels, respect the camera's orientation and re-save it as WebP. The heavy photo from your phone becomes a small file, without you doing a thing.

6. Check it on your phone

   Open your public page on your phone and look at the top as a guest would: the name and description need to be readable over the image. Landscape photos work best, and the crop is from the center.

   Tip: Keep the subject in the middle of the photo: a dish or storefront pushed against the edge can vanish in the crop, especially on a narrow phone screen.

7. Download the posters again

   QR code posters are built on the spot with the current photo, so it's worth downloading them again after changing the cover. In Share, in the Download to print or post block, choose Image or PDF and the Vertical, Square or Horizontal format.

Frequently asked questions

Glossary

Cover

The large image at the top of your public page. On the Dashboard it's the Restaurant photo field, in Settings.

Header style

The field that decides the look of the top of the public page: Brand (photo + logo colors), Cream (light), Dark or Cover (photo).

WebP

A lightweight image format. Every item photo is converted to it on upload, with the longest side capped at 800 pixels.

Menu

The screen that holds your items, categories, prices and photos. It's the source of the digital menu guests see through the table QR code.

Table QR code

The code printed on the table that guests scan with their phone, no sign-in needed.

Related resources