Show the change.
Tell the story.

Edition 2.0 - reviewed September 18, 2026

Show what changed without changing the evidence. This workbook helps a landscaping business plan a repeatable photo pair, select usable files, prepare a simple story and write captions that explain the actual work. The complete free exercise includes a shot checklist, a fictional image register, a finished three-slide storyboard and ten reference answers.

No customer images are supplied or generated here. Every visual observation below is an explicitly fictional input, not a claim that photographs were taken or inspected. Do not use invented before-and-after images as evidence of work. This is communication practice, not advice about treatments, drainage, structural work or site safety.

Allow an estimated 45-60 minutes with paper or a spreadsheet, a calculator and an image editor if you later adapt the workflow to authorized files. No paid software is required for this paper exercise; optional tools may cost money. Prerequisites for real use are permission to photograph and publish, an accurate work record, original files and a person able to inspect the actual exports. Optional Kimi is used only with the synthetic descriptions, never private customer images.

1. Start with the work and permission record

Fictional Moss Lane Landscapes completed project P7 on October 19, 2026. The approved work record says: collect loose leaves from the paved path and adjacent defined bed, and tidy that same bed to its agreed existing outline. No new plants, paving, drainage or structural work was included. The customer approved the completed scope; that does not establish long-term durability or any health benefit.

Permission record R7, signed in this fictional packet by the authorized property representative and the photographer, covers the selected original photographs and the approved edits below. Moss Lane owns the photographer's publication rights for these files. R7 permits organic Instagram, organic Facebook and the company website, with no property name, exact location or people shown. It does not permit paid advertising, third-party resale or a testimonial attributed to the customer. The reviewer must check the actual authority and scope rather than treat an address occupant as automatically authorized.

The customer approved publication of the final B1/A1 paired crops in version V1 on October 20 at 12:00 UTC. Original-file access remains restricted. The packet separately supplies an export privacy inspection in chapter 3; consent is not proof that a file has no private metadata.

The useful claim is narrow: "The same path and bed, before and after the agreed leaf collection and tidy-up." Do not turn this into "a safer garden", "increased property value", "permanent weed removal" or a quotation from a customer. None is established by this work record or the fictional observations.

For a real shoot, agree what will be shown before beginning. Record the work boundary, photographer, authorized approver, channels, dates, allowed edits, credit requirements and how a later change request will be handled. Attribution and permission are different: adding a person's name does not grant publication rights.

2. Capture a repeatable comparison, not two unrelated views

Use this shot checklist while standing in an appropriate, authorized location. Follow site instructions; do not climb, obstruct work or enter unsafe areas for a stronger angle. Take the before image before the documented work and the after image after the actual completion checkpoint. Record both dates without implying the work itself lasted the interval between photos.

For each shot, note camera position, approximate camera height, orientation, lens or field of view, framing anchors, lighting and weather. Keep those choices similar where practical. Avoid an intentionally dark or cluttered before image paired with a selectively flattering after image. If conditions differ, disclose that difference instead of implying an exact controlled comparison.

The synthetic source register contains six files. All dimensions are 4000 by 3000 pixels. B1 and A1 share a fixed position, 1.4-metre camera height, horizontal orientation and the same 35-mm-equivalent field of view. They were recorded at 09:00 UTC under overcast conditions on October 12 and October 19 respectively. These are supplied facts, not settings promised for every phone.

R7 covers B1 and A1 only. Even if A2 looked attractive, it lacks both the matched viewpoint and publication permission needed here. A4 might eventually be replaced by an authorized, truthful original, but this packet does not supply one. B2 cannot be assigned a date by guessing from foliage. A3 is a concept illustration and must not enter a completed-work portfolio.

Choose B1 and A1. The register's six files do not create six usable promotional assets. A careful selection can be smaller and more informative than a collage that conceals mismatched views.

3. Prepare the pair without manufacturing the result

The original B1 and A1 each contain a house-number plaque within horizontal pixel positions 0-300. The bench is at 700-1100, and the full path/bed comparison sits between 600 and 3300. These coordinates are supplied for a paper crop calculation, not measurements made by this workbook.

Apply the same crop to both files: horizontal interval 500 to 3500 and vertical interval 0 to 3000, treating intervals as continuous pixel boundaries. Each resulting image is 3000 by 3000: nine million pixels from twelve million, retaining 75% of the original area. The plaque is outside the crop; the bench and complete comparison region remain inside. Do not remove an inconvenient part of the actual work from only the after image.

Export each crop at 1200 by 1200 pixels for this exercise's square storyboard. The export contains 1.44 million pixels. That number is not a platform requirement or a quality guarantee. A human must inspect legibility, detail, compression, color and how the actual channel displays the result. Keep originals unchanged and save separate edit and export versions.

Allowed V1 edits are the identical crop, resizing and a small matched exposure adjustment that does not obscure leaves or invent surfaces. No object removal, added planting, selective greening or generated replacement areas are approved. If a visual edit changes the evidence, do not call it the same comparison merely because its filename says "after".

The fictional export inspection E1 explicitly reports: both square exports preserve the described work region; no people, house number, vehicle plates or identifying reflection is visible; GPS coordinates and other private location metadata are absent; color differences do not exaggerate the result; filenames are P7-before-V1 and P7-after-V1. These findings are inputs for the exercise. In real use, inspect the exported files, not only the editor preview, and verify metadata with a suitable tool. A renamed file is not evidence that metadata was removed.

Reusable export record: source IDs; edit version; crop coordinates; exported dimensions; permitted channels; permission reference; visible-privacy check; metadata check; caption version; reviewer and date; final file checksum or stable identifier. If one field is unresolved, keep the asset in draft rather than filling the blank with "AI checked".

4. Tell the story with captions and image descriptions

This storyboard is ready to adapt after replacing the fictional facts with verified work. It uses two photographs and one original text card, not three claimed site images. R7 and approval V1 cover the two crops and their placement in this organic post. The text card uses Moss Lane's own words and no borrowed logo or customer quotation.

Instagram caption: "The same path and bed, before and after the agreed leaf collection and tidy-up. These photos were taken on October 12 and October 19, 2026, from the same recorded viewpoint. The bed's existing outline was retained; no new paving or planting is shown as our work. Both images use the same crop and modest exposure adjustment. Thinking about a similar tidy-up? Send Moss Lane Landscapes a general description of your project and preferred timing. We will discuss the next step before agreeing any work. Please keep access codes and private documents out of social messages."

Facebook caption: "A small project, shown clearly. Slide one records loose leaves on this path and adjacent bed on October 12. Slide two records the completed, agreed leaf collection and bed tidy-up on October 19. The photos share a viewpoint and crop so you can compare the same area. This was not a paving, drainage or planting project. If you would like to discuss work at your property, contact Moss Lane Landscapes with your general location and goals. Availability and scope need a separate conversation; this post is not a quote."

Text card T1: "What changed: leaves collected from the path and adjacent bed; the existing bed outline retained. What did not: no new paving, planting or drainage work. Want to discuss a project? Contact Moss Lane Landscapes with your goals and preferred timing."

Image description for slide 1: "Before view: loose leaves lie across a paved path and the adjacent defined bed. A bench appears beside the path. Photo dated October 12, 2026."

Image description for slide 2: "After view of the same path and bed: loose leaves have been cleared, with the existing bed outline and bench retained. Photo dated October 19, 2026."

For slide 3, provide the meaningful card wording as accessible text in the channel's supported form rather than assuming everyone can read lettering inside an image. W3C's image guidance makes context important: describe what this comparison communicates, not an unrelated list of landscaping keywords. Verify available accessibility controls in the chosen channel before publishing; this workbook promises no particular interface.

5. Handle permission changes and reuse carefully

The release worksheet initially schedules Instagram and Facebook for October 21 at 10:00 UTC and the website for October 22. At 09:30 UTC on October 21, update R8 withdraws Instagram permission for these photos while explicitly leaving Facebook and website approval unchanged. No post has yet been published in this branch.

Pause the Instagram item and remove its queued assets; do not merely hide its caption. Facebook and website may continue only after checking that V1 remains the actual approved export/copy version and nothing else changed. Record the channel-specific update so a later "reuse all assets" action does not restore Instagram accidentally. If a platform's queue state is unclear, reconcile it before treating cancellation as complete.

Customer acknowledgment draft: "Thank you for clarifying where the P7 photos may appear. We have recorded your instruction to stop the planned Instagram use. Your existing Facebook and website permission remains unchanged under the supplied update. We will check the queued item before confirming its cancellation and keep future reuse tied to these channel choices. Moss Lane Landscapes."

That draft intentionally promises a check, not a completed cancellation. After the fictional queue log Q1 confirms Instagram removed at 09:40, use: "The queued Instagram item was removed at 09:40 UTC on October 21. We have recorded the restriction against the P7 assets for future reuse. Facebook and website remain under the unchanged approval."

Independent exercise: start again from V1 before R8. A proposed paid ad uses exactly the same approved crop and caption. Should it be released? No: organic publication permission does not include paid advertising. Request specific approval rather than claiming that identical pixels carry identical rights across channels. This is a packet decision, not a universal legal ruling.

Optional Kimi prompt: "Audit this synthetic publication register, not real images. R7 permits only B1/A1 V1 crops on organic Instagram, organic Facebook and the website, not paid ads. Originals are 4000x3000; both crops use x=500..3500,y=0..3000; work lies x=600..3300 and house number x=0..300. Exports are 1200x1200. E1 supplies privacy and faithful-color pass findings. R8 removes only Instagram; Q1 later confirms its queue removal. Calculate retained area, list eligible files/channels and distinguish requested cancellation from confirmed removal. Do not invent a visual inspection or publish."

6. Check the story before release

1. Which source files form the supported comparison? B1 and A1. Their dates, viewpoint, scope and R7 permission are supplied; the other four fail at least one requirement.

2. What does the work record establish? Leaf collection from the path and adjacent bed plus a tidy-up retaining the existing outline. It does not establish new planting, paving, drainage, safety or property-value results.

3. What is each original image's area? 4000 times 3000 = 12,000,000 pixels. Dimensions alone do not establish image quality or truthfulness.

4. What is the identical crop's area and retention? 3000 times 3000 = 9,000,000 pixels; 9/12 = 75%. The same crop is applied to both originals.

5. Does the supplied crop remove the plaque without hiding the comparison? Yes. The plaque at x=0-300 lies outside x=500-3500, while the work at x=600-3300 and bench at x=700-1100 remain inside.

6. What does resizing establish? Each export is 1200 times 1200 = 1,440,000 pixels. It does not prove privacy, acceptable compression or a channel's current format requirements.

7. How many photographs are in the three-slide story? Two photographs and one original text card. Do not present the card as a third photographed result.

8. What evidence supports privacy clearance? The supplied E1 export findings, not a filename or an assumption that cropping removes GPS. Real files need their own inspection.

9. What changes after R8 and Q1? Instagram permission ends and its queue removal is confirmed at 09:40. Facebook and website permission remain unchanged; keep checking versions before use.

10. Can the independent paid-ad proposal proceed? No. R7 excludes paid advertising even for the same images and caption. Obtain specific authority or keep that proposal on hold.

Sources and limits

Primary sources reviewed September 18, 2026: W3C WAI - An alt decision tree informs context-sensitive image descriptions; Google Business Profile - Business-specific photos asks for images representing reality on that product; FTC - Advertising FAQs supports substantiated claims; Kimi identifies the optional synthetic-data assistant.

Google's product guidance is not presented as a universal Instagram or Facebook policy. The packet is original fiction, not a rights opinion, real portfolio or actual image inspection. Editorial review role: visual-evidence and workflow reviewer. Edition 2.0 adds a complete free shot-to-publication exercise, exact crop arithmetic, finished copy, accessible descriptions and a channel-specific withdrawal drill.