Photo locks that work first time

The matcher compares pictures — it doesn’t understand objects. A photo lock is reliable when the scene is designed so the correct arrangement looks unmistakably different from every wrong one. That design happens before you ever open the Studio, and it’s five habits.

1 · Give every object its own face

The engine tells regions apart by how they look. Two objects that look the same — two matching dice, two identical pawns, two same-colour blocks — cannot be told apart, no matter how carefully you mark them. If your puzzle uses lookalikes, make them different: a unique symbol, sticker, painted mark, or colour on each one. Make the mark big — it should be obvious at arm’s length, not a detail you squint at.

2 · Put the scene on a busy, fixed background

Before it compares anything, the engine has to line your photo up with the key image — and it does that by gripping visual detail. A plain white table or a blank sheet of paper gives it nothing to grip, and the whole match can fail before it starts. Use a background with plenty of pattern: a printed sheet, a patterned cloth, a map, a game board. Best of all, print a matching mat and shoot everything on it — the pattern anchors the alignment and fixes where the objects sit, so every player’s photo is framed the same way yours was.

3 · Big and close beats small and far

Each marked region is compared at a small size, so tiny details vanish: the pips on a die, fine engraving, thin text. Whatever distinguishes right from wrong must be large enough to survive that. Fill the frame with the scene, get close, and make the distinguishing feature a big share of its region — if the answer hangs on a detail smaller than a coin, redesign the puzzle so it hangs on something bigger.

4 · Light it evenly, shoot it straight on

Shoot the key image the way you’ll ask players to shoot theirs: even light from the front (no harsh shadows, no glare off glossy surfaces), camera square to the scene, arrangement centred. Avoid featureless glossy or transparent objects — they change appearance with every reflection.

5 · Mark only what the puzzle is about

Draw tight boxes around the objects that matter, give each a clear label, and stop. Loose boxes full of background match worse than tight ones, and rules about things that aren’t the puzzle (exact colour, exact size) just make the lock frustrating. If a rule changes nothing on any of your test photos, the editor will tell you — believe it, and remove the rule.

Then prove it: Test your lock

Don’t trust the design — measure it. In the lock editor’s Test step, photograph the scene the way a player will and upload both kinds of photos:

1. Photos that should open it — the solved arrangement, shot a few times from slightly different positions and lighting.
2. Photos that should refuse — deliberately swap two objects, remove one, rotate one. If a wrong photo opens the lock, the design needs a stronger difference (habits 1–3), not a stricter rule.

The editor suggests strictness settings from your own photos — apply them, and every photo you add makes the verdicts more trustworthy.