How to Use Photo Mode

One of The Callisto Protocol’s strengths is its visuals and setting — the game undeniably looks great, and Jupiter’s moon has been lovingly (and often terrifyingly) rendered. If you want to capture these striking vistas, you’re best off using the game’s onboard Photo Mode. In this guide, we’ll explain how to open it up, and briefly go over how Photo Mode’s various settings work.

How to Open Photo Mode

This part’s a cinch — hit the pause button ( computer key esc t / button xbox pause /) to open the pause menu, and the third option down will be photo mode.

Once photo mode is open, you’ll be able to immediately take a picture by hitting computer key space bar t / button xbox righttrigger — but if you do so, you’ll still have the UI in the shot! Before taking a picture, you’ll almost always want to hide the UI with computer key f t / button xbox y / button play triangle . Otherwise, all the Photo Mode controls will appear in your screenshot.

photo mode leaving ui in the shot callisto protocol

If you’re playing on PC via Steam, you need to make sure you have the Steam Overlay Enabled. Otherwise, your photos won’t actually be stored anywhere. To enable the overlay, go to Settings via the Steam dropdown menu, then select the In-Game tab, and click the first tick box labeled “Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game”.

Settings

If you aren’t familiar with photography, it’s not always clear what each option on the Photo Mode menu does. Below, you’ll find brief explanations for each of the options.

Camera
- Hide Player – Self explanatory — removes the player character from the shot
- Aspect Ratio – Changes the ratio of length to width of the image
- Lens – Larger lenses will zoom your shot in, smaller zoom it out (this allows you to zoom in or out more than the regular zoom option)
- Depth of Field – Changes how much of the image is in focus — enable to get the following options:
  - Aperture – The higher the F number, the more of the shot will be in focus
  - Focus Distance – The distance from the “camera” that is in focus
Lighting
- Exposure – Changes the brightness in the image
- Contrast – Changes the range of brightness (higher contrast means darker shadows and brighter lights, lower means colors blend together)
- Color – Allows you to place a colored filter over the image
Filters
- Allows you to place the following filters over the image
  - Horror – Red, possibly higher contrast
  - Sepia – Like an old-timey photo
  - Chroma – Increased saturation
  - Noir – Black & white
Frames
- No Logo – removes any applied logo
- SDS logo – places a Striking Distance logo in the bottom right of the image
- Places a The Callisto Protocol logo in the bottom right of the image

Where Callisto Protocol Photo Mode Screenshots are Saved

In a nice change of pace from most other games, TCP uses Steam’s screenshot feature to take Photo Mode pictures. This means you’ll be able to easily access all the photos you take in Photo Mode from your steam interface. Select the game in your library, then scroll down a bit and on the right you should see the Screenshots section — hit “Manage my X screenshots” and you’ll be able to check out your snaps. You can then view them in your online steam library, or access the actual files by clicking “Show on Disk”.

steam where to find photos how to use photo mode the callisto protocol

We hope this walkthrough of The Callisto Protocol’s Photo Mode was helpful! If you’ve got questions or suggestions, or just want to share some awesome screenshots, you can do so in the comments below.