We are excited to announce that today we began our launch of primary image suggestions for title pages.
We are in the process of releasing this functionality incrementally with the plan to make this available to everyone within the next week or so.
From then onwards, if you navigate to an eligible* image in a title’s gallery and click ‘Edit Tags’, you will see a new ‘Primary Image’ option:

*What images are eligible for use as title primaries?
This functionality only appears for images of the preferred image type for the title type at hand:
o For Movies, TV Series and Video Games the image must be a poster.
o For TV Episodes the image must be a still frame.
This functionality will not appear if the existing primary image has been provided by an official studio partner.
What about the old process via ‘Report This’?
Some of you may be familiar with the old process, which is currently documented in our submission guide (https://contribute.imdb.com/updates/guide/images). We ask that contributors stop using that process going forwards. However, the submission guide will only show the old process until we’ve launched the new feature for all contributors, at which point we will switch it to the new guidelines.
Many thanks,
Mike
We are in the process of releasing this functionality incrementally with the plan to make this available to everyone within the next week or so.
From then onwards, if you navigate to an eligible* image in a title’s gallery and click ‘Edit Tags’, you will see a new ‘Primary Image’ option:

*What images are eligible for use as title primaries?
This functionality only appears for images of the preferred image type for the title type at hand:
o For Movies, TV Series and Video Games the image must be a poster.
o For TV Episodes the image must be a still frame.
This functionality will not appear if the existing primary image has been provided by an official studio partner.
What about the old process via ‘Report This’?
Some of you may be familiar with the old process, which is currently documented in our submission guide (https://contribute.imdb.com/updates/guide/images). We ask that contributors stop using that process going forwards. However, the submission guide will only show the old process until we’ve launched the new feature for all contributors, at which point we will switch it to the new guidelines.
Many thanks,
Mike
Mike, Employee
- 6 Posts
- 3 Reply Likes
Posted 1 year ago
- 8 Posts
- 1 Reply Like
- 1 Post
- 0 Reply Likes
What if the existing primary image that has been provided by an official studio partner is not the original theatrical poster for the film? What is the course of action in that case?
Mike, Employee
- 6 Posts
- 3 Reply Likes
Hi abdurahman
We no longer specify that primary images should be the original theatrical poster. Please see: https://contribute.imdb.com/updates/guide/images#titles
If an official studio partner has elected a certain image as the primary, then it should nearly always remain so. If you do identify an image which you believe is in such violation of our guidelines that it should be changed, then you can always let us know via Help Desk.
Many thanks
Mike
We no longer specify that primary images should be the original theatrical poster. Please see: https://contribute.imdb.com/updates/guide/images#titles
If an official studio partner has elected a certain image as the primary, then it should nearly always remain so. If you do identify an image which you believe is in such violation of our guidelines that it should be changed, then you can always let us know via Help Desk.
Many thanks
Mike
- 10 Posts
- 7 Reply Likes
Hi Mike,
There is a problem with the series "Hotel". tt0085032
I tried to change it several times, previously without luck.
It looks like a partner had put a random still of season 5, episode 15, as primary photo of the series. The still shows one-time guest stars. They both appear only once in this one episode of season five. The series had had hundreds of one time guests, like these two actors.
It is impossible to recognize the series with this photo. It doesn't match the guidelines :
Not iconic, nor widely recognized and not a poster.
On the other hand, picture 6 completely fulfill the guidelines: A poster, with iconic main characters of the show, widely recognized. (Official dvd cover) season one.
Guidelines "Series: The most iconic and widely-recognized poster..."
Can someone please change it to comply with the guidelines. Thanks
There is a problem with the series "Hotel". tt0085032
I tried to change it several times, previously without luck.
It looks like a partner had put a random still of season 5, episode 15, as primary photo of the series. The still shows one-time guest stars. They both appear only once in this one episode of season five. The series had had hundreds of one time guests, like these two actors.
It is impossible to recognize the series with this photo. It doesn't match the guidelines :
Not iconic, nor widely recognized and not a poster.
On the other hand, picture 6 completely fulfill the guidelines: A poster, with iconic main characters of the show, widely recognized. (Official dvd cover) season one.
Guidelines "Series: The most iconic and widely-recognized poster..."
Can someone please change it to comply with the guidelines. Thanks
Dibyayan Chakravorty, Champion
- 3196 Posts
- 1158 Reply Likes
- 17 Posts
- 4 Reply Likes
Hi,
What if there is no poster in the gallery and you still want to change the primary image? There are thousands of titles that do not have the luxury of having a poster and are lucky to have an image or two. A lot of times it's just not meant to be a primary - like a landscape and you want to change it for something at leadt better framed. What happens then?
Thnk you
What if there is no poster in the gallery and you still want to change the primary image? There are thousands of titles that do not have the luxury of having a poster and are lucky to have an image or two. A lot of times it's just not meant to be a primary - like a landscape and you want to change it for something at leadt better framed. What happens then?
Thnk you
Mike, Employee
- 6 Posts
- 3 Reply Likes
Hi VVP 14
In those cases the answer is to upload a poster first. I'd be interested to see any examples you have where that is not possible?
In those cases the answer is to upload a poster first. I'd be interested to see any examples you have where that is not possible?
- 18 Posts
- 4 Reply Likes
Mike, WP 14 is correct. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of titles—short films, DVD extras, music videos, recorded stage performances, you name it—
that have no official poster available but gallery images of some sort
have been uploaded (behind-the-scenes photos, film festival press
coverage, etc., many in landscape format that don't fit in the primary
poster window, which is portrait, resulting in a confusing splotch).
How do we move those non-poster images out of the primary slot when no poster is available to upload and no other shot in the gallery fits? There really needs to be an option to accomplish that, because the problem exists.
How do we move those non-poster images out of the primary slot when no poster is available to upload and no other shot in the gallery fits? There really needs to be an option to accomplish that, because the problem exists.
- 17 Posts
- 4 Reply Likes
Hi Mike,
Here's just one example of thousands of cases where a poster does not exist (and I mean not only in IMDb - anywhere): tt1956682. That is often the case with foreign films, early films, TV shows and films released on video. In this particular case the data managers made a landscape still shot a primary image where there is a DVD cover artwork in photos section of that title that is portrait orientation and clearly is a much better choice for the primary image.
What I was trying to ask is will the "report bad quality image" process to change the primary image still be available in order to change the primary image if there is no poster image?
Thanks
Here's just one example of thousands of cases where a poster does not exist (and I mean not only in IMDb - anywhere): tt1956682. That is often the case with foreign films, early films, TV shows and films released on video. In this particular case the data managers made a landscape still shot a primary image where there is a DVD cover artwork in photos section of that title that is portrait orientation and clearly is a much better choice for the primary image.
What I was trying to ask is will the "report bad quality image" process to change the primary image still be available in order to change the primary image if there is no poster image?
Thanks
- 28 Posts
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What if under the correct image no option like that appears? I'm currently updating a web-series, yet the official poster images are often not available to be suggested as primary images.
- 3 Posts
- 0 Reply Likes
Peter, Champion
- 3684 Posts
- 2587 Reply Likes
You may want to update this FAQ (the part that starts, "With Poster Services, after paying for an image, I used to be able to designate the primary image ..."):
https://contribute.imdb.com/help/2019...
https://contribute.imdb.com/help/2019...
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