Prepare photos for ImmoScout and portals

Every property portal has its own image requirements, and ignoring them wastes impact. ImmoScout24 recommends a minimum width of 1024 pixels but displays images far better when they are at least 2000 pixels wide. As a rule of thumb, supply the largest sensible resolution the portal accepts, because the system can always scale down but never up. An image 3000 pixels wide looks sharp on large monitors and in fullscreen view, while a 1024-pixel image quickly appears soft and pixelated there. The days when small images made sense because of slow connections are over.

Aspect ratio is the most underestimated point. Most portals expect and prefer landscape 4:3, and their thumbnails automatically crop other formats. If you shoot in portrait or extreme widescreen, the algorithm decides which section is shown, and it rarely matches your intent. So shoot deliberately in landscape and leave some breathing room at the edges, so an automatic crop does not cut off important details like a room corner or a door. For the cover image that appears in the results list, it is worth a separate export cleanly cropped to 4:3.

File size is a compromise between quality and load time. Portals compress images after upload anyway, so you should not compress too heavily beforehand, or the losses add up. Export as JPEG at a high quality setting; a file size between 500 kilobytes and 2 megabytes per image usually gives the best balance. Make sure the image is in the sRGB color space, because other color profiles are often rendered incorrectly by browsers and portals, leading to pale or distorted colors. On our platform you can pick a portal preset directly at export that sets resolution, aspect ratio, and color space appropriately.

Beyond the technical side, order determines success. The first image is the most important, because it decides the click in the results list. Choose the most attractive exterior view or the brightest, most spacious room for it, not the floor plan and not the bathroom. After that, guide the viewer through the property like a real viewing: entrance, living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, then outdoor area, and finally details like the basement or parking space. A logical sequence keeps prospects in the listing longer and subconsciously signals care.

One point many agents forget: captions and alt text, where the portal allows them, improve discoverability and help accessibility. Instead of IMG_4021, your files and captions should say what is shown, for example living room with a view into the garden. This looks more professional and is picked up better by search functions. Also check whether the portal strips EXIF data from the images, because these can unintentionally contain the location, camera model, or date, which have no place in a listing.

Finally, the reality check on the target device. The majority of prospects view listings on a smartphone today, not on a large screen. An image that looks perfect on a monitor can be too dark or too detailed on a phone. So check your most important images once on the phone before you publish the listing. If a photo works there, it works almost everywhere, and exactly this small check separates a solid listing from one that truly generates enquiries.