Images and file storage
What this is for
Two related things: where uploaded files are kept, and which screens show them.
Where files are stored
Under Settings › Storage.
| Option | What it means |
|---|---|
| Local | Files live on the server running Restodesk. |
| S3-compatible | Files live in cloud object storage. |
Local is simplest and fine for a single restaurant with a modest number of photos.
S3-compatible — Amazon S3, or any provider speaking the same protocol — is worth it when you have a lot of images, more than one branch, or want images served faster to guests in other places.
Switching needs credentials from your storage provider. It's a technical change, and the safe order is: set it up, verify new uploads work, and confirm existing images still load before you rely on it.
Never hand-build a link to an uploaded file. Restodesk generates the right address for wherever storage currently points. A pasted URL breaks the day storage changes.
What gets uploaded
- Menu item photos — the ones that do the most work.
- Restaurant and branch logos
- Area photos — shown when guests choose a seating area.
- Inventory item photos, where Stock & Recipes is on.
- Expense receipts — up to 5 MB, images or PDF.
- Room type images, on the hotel side.
- Offline payment receipts uploaded by customers.
Where menu images show, and where they don't
Under Settings › Menu Item Images:
| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| Hide Menu Item Image on POS | No photos on the till. |
| Hide Menu Item Image on Customer Site | No photos for guests. |
The two are separate because they serve opposite purposes.
On the POS, hiding photos is often right. A cashier knows what the dishes are, and without images you fit far more items on one screen — which means less scrolling during a rush. On a small tablet this alone can speed up service.
On the customer site and kiosk, never hide them. There's no waiter to describe anything. The photo is the sales pitch, and an item without one loses to an item with one, every time.
A sensible default: photos off on the POS, on everywhere guests look.
Getting photos right
They're worth doing properly once:
- Shoot the actual dish, as it goes out. Stock photography is obvious and it disappoints people at the table.
- Consistent framing and lighting. A menu of mismatched photos looks worse than a menu of none.
- Landscape, and reasonably square-ish crops survive layout changes.
- Keep files sensible. A 6 MB photo per item makes your site slow on a phone, which is where most people look at it.
- Do them in one session. Half a menu with photos looks unfinished; the items without them get ordered less.
Supported formats are the usual ones — JPEG, PNG, WEBP — with size limits shown on each upload screen (2 MB for most images, 5 MB for expense receipts).
Good to know
- Storage settings are per restaurant.
- Changing storage doesn't move existing files. Plan the migration if you switch.
- Deleting a menu item deletes its photo.
- Area photos matter more than they look — guests booking online see them when choosing a seating area. See Areas and floors.