Chester Portrait Mission: 3 Photo Locations + Stuck Fix

The Chester portrait mission asks you to recover three lost photographs of Chester — your enchanted-wood business partner on the roughly 60/40 Tree Coin split. The current status is important: official Hotfix #10 on August 26, 2026 fixed the issue where the Get Chester’s Picture mission was incorrectly restarted.

Earlier Steam Community reports still explain what the pre-Hotfix behavior looked like. If an old save still shows a portrait objective, update the game through Steam and reload the save first. The Hotfix #10 note confirms the incorrect restart was fixed, but it does not explicitly describe retroactive cleanup for every save that was already affected.

What Chester is, officially and otherwise

Chester is the enchanted-wood NPC who acts as your business partner. The official Steam store page describes the game loop — chop, craft, sell, and upgrade the city — but does not name Chester or describe the portrait mission. Two details about Chester come from player sources rather than official material:

• Chester holds your currency on a roughly 60/40 split (the player takes 60%), and crafting recipes draw from Chester’s balance rather than your personal wallet. Treat the exact split as a player detail.
• The portrait mission itself — Chester asking you to recover three lost photographs — is documented across Steam Community threads and post-release guides.

Where to return the Chester photos

There is more than one Chester-shaped container in the world, and handing the photos to the wrong one does not advance the mission:

• Do not drop the photos into the inventory of the Chester on the tree stump. That Chester is a storage chest, not the mission turn-in.
• Do return the memory photos to the Chester inside the door beside the tunnel entrance. Interact with that Chester and hand in each photo.

If the Chester past the tunnel-entrance door no longer shows an interaction after you returned photos, check the current Hotfix #10 status below before following old bug advice.

The three photograph locations

These are the community-documented locations refined across the Chester Picture Locations Steam thread and corroborating replies.

1. “Chester and Companiola” — the Lab

Find it in the Lab, behind the whiteboard or blackboard on the back wall. Interact with the whiteboard to reveal the photo.

An older player claim placed this photo in a Walnut Tree biome chest behind a 14-plank bridge. Other players in the same thread contradicted that location; the Lab whiteboard is the documented spot.

2. “Chester in the Snow” — the spooky-forest Hell Well

Find it on the ground near the Hell Well in the spooky forest, commonly beside a fallen pillar. Despite the name, the photo is not in the Snowy or Ice Mountain area. The spooky-forest well is the location connected to the Mysterious Well guide.

3. “Chester and Question Mark” — the Beach treasure chest

Find it in a buried chest on the Beach that spawns after you find the Treasure Map. The map is at the end of the mine shaft; use the Mine Location guide for the route and Shelldon quest gate.

The full current map route is covered by the Treasure Map / Find the Treasure guide. The visible chest beside the boat is a different chest. One of the two Treasure Maps persists after use and the other despawns, so a used map may not be available again.

What Hotfix #10 changes

The restart issue is fixed in the current build

The official Hotfix #10 entry states that the issue where the Get Chester’s Picture mission was incorrectly restarted has been fixed. This is an official patch-status change, not a new community guess.

Older reports are pre-Hotfix history

Before Hotfix #10, players described a completed picture objective returning after photographs had been handed in. Some reports involved returning multiple pictures close together, while others suggested the find and return order could matter. Keep those reports as troubleshooting history, not as a description of the current build.

If an old save still shows the objective

1. Update Chop Chop Inc through Steam.
2. Confirm that the installed build includes Hotfix #10 or later.
3. Reload the affected save.
4. Re-check the Chester portrait objective.

Do not immediately restart a long save just because an old objective remains visible. Hotfix #10 confirms the incorrect mission restart was fixed, but the note does not say that every previously affected save is automatically cleaned up. If the objective remains after updating and reloading, check current official Steam posts and same-build Community discussions.

If “Chester in the Snow” will not complete

A pre-Hotfix player report described a quest-text and photo-name mismatch: the objective asked for Chester in the Snow, but the player was holding another photo, and the objective cleared after the Beach photo was placed on the wall. This is a player report, not an official mechanic.

If the objective does not clear, check the item name of every photo, try placing each photo at its documented location, and make sure you entered the portrait or coin-room portal behind the Chester door. If all three photos were already returned, update and reload before treating the display as a current mission blocker.

Hotfix #9 and Golden Chests are separate

Hotfix #9 on August 14 fixed a different Chester interaction: Chester no longer takes items from Golden Chests. That change is separate from the portrait mission. The portrait restart fix is the Hotfix #10 entry dated August 26, 2026.

Tips for the portrait hunt

• Reach the mine early. The Beach chest’s Treasure Map is at the end of the mine shaft, and the route uses Shelldon’s quest progression.
• Use the tunnel-entrance Chester. The stump Chester is a storage chest and never counts as the mission turn-in.
• Use the Lab and spooky-forest landmarks. The Lab whiteboard and Hell Well are the documented locations for the first two photos.
• Check the Beach after finding the map. The buried chest is separate from the boat-side chest.

Sources and version notes

• Official Steam Community hub and Hotfix #10 — current restart-fix status and the Automatic Furniture Crafter cleanup.
• Official Steam News and update history — Hotfix #9 and the separate Golden Chest change.
• Chester Picture Locations community thread — the three photograph locations and corrections to older location claims.
• Chester, Treasure Map, and mine-shaft connection — the Beach chest and mine progression connection.

The current official claim is limited to this: Hotfix #10 fixed the issue where the mission was incorrectly restarted. It does not guarantee that every old save is automatically repaired or that every historical portrait report had the same cause.

Related guides

• Nightstand Special Delivery — another mission with a separate blocker.
• Quests Hub — the mission system and job-board progression.
• Mine Location — the route needed for the Beach Treasure Map.
• Mysterious Well — the spooky-forest well near the Snow portrait.