Visual Guides was a free ongoing feature of StarWars.com, providing an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look into the films of the Star Wars Saga. It was introduced on April 30, 2007 as part of the year-long 30th anniversary of the Star Wars saga. Currently, several "chapters" from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope are available. The feature was roughly analogous to the Star Wars Visual Dictionaries, Star Wars: Behind the Magic, and Pablo Hidalgo's defunct former website, The Indexed Trilogy.
Each "chapter" contained a portion of the original screenplay concerning the scene or scenes covered, a behind-the-scenes trivia section, rare stills and photographs, and a gallery of annotated screenshots. The annotated screenshots explained aspects in the movie both in-universe and during production. Elements that were in-universe were colored white/black (depending on the lighting), while production notes were colored green.
For six months following late May 2007, the Visual Guide feature was on hiatus. It restarted on November 19 of that year and then soon after ceased for a second time. It remains on hiatus again indefinitely. By the time of its discontinuation, eight chapters have been released. Although the site and its chapters themselves can be accessed via Internet Archive, the images accompanying the chapters are no longer accessible on the archived site, and thus can only be found on fan pages.
- Chapter 1: Opening Logos
- Chapter 2: A New Hope
- Chapter 3: Imperial Boarding Party
- Chapter 4: Artoo's Mission
- Chapter 5: Vader Confronts the Princess
- Chapter 6: Lost in the Desert
- Chapter 7: Land of the Jawas
- Chapter 8: Droids for Sale
- Bothan Thermal Unit (BTU)
- Standard in degrees
- Kuba