Amazon product images: main image rules and tips

Images are the first thing shoppers see and often the main reason they click, or scroll past. Amazon has strict rules for the main image, and much looser ones for the rest. This guide explains the main image rules, the technical specifications to ask for, what your other images should show, and the most common reasons images are rejected.

Amazon’s image requirements differ between categories and change from time to time, so check the current product image requirements in Seller Central Help for your category before a shoot.

Why images matter so much

• In search results, the main image is usually the only picture a shopper sees, at a small size, next to your competitors.
• On the product page, the other images do most of the selling. Many shoppers look at them before reading any text.
• Images answer questions about size, quality, and use faster than words can.

Main image rules

For most categories, Amazon expects the main image to:

• Have a pure white background (RGB 255, 255, 255).
• Show only the product being sold, without props or accessories that are not included.
• Fill most of the frame. Amazon’s guidance is for the product to take up about 85% of the image.
• Have no added text, logos, watermarks, badges, borders, colour blocks, or inset images.
• Be a realistic, accurate picture of the actual product, not a drawing or a placeholder.
• Show the whole product, without cropping off part of it.

Some categories have extra rules. Clothing, for example, has specific requirements about models and mannequins. Check the rules for your category.

Technical specifications

• Size: Amazon enables zoom when the longest side is at least 1,000 pixels. Many sellers supply 2,000 pixels or more so that detail stays sharp when shoppers zoom in.
• File type: JPEG is preferred. Amazon also accepts TIFF, PNG, and non-animated GIF.
• Colour: use the sRGB colour profile so that colours look the same on shoppers’ screens as they did on yours.
• Quality: in focus, evenly lit, and true to the real product’s colour.
• File names: follow the naming guidance in Seller Central if you upload in bulk.

What your other images should show

The other image slots are where you can add context, scale, and, if you want, text and graphics. A strong set usually includes:

1. Other angles: front, back, side, and any part a shopper would want to inspect.
2. Scale: the product in a hand, next to a familiar object, or with its dimensions marked.
3. The product in use: a lifestyle image that shows who it is for and where it is used.
4. Close-ups of key features, such as a closure, a texture, or a port.
5. What is in the box: everything the shopper receives, laid out clearly.
6. A short infographic: three or four key facts in large, readable text.
7. Variations or a size chart, where relevant.

If you own the brand and are enrolled in Brand Registry, you can usually add product videos too, which work well for products that need to be seen in action.

Common reasons images are rejected or suppressed

• An off-white or grey background on the main image, often from a shadow or uneven lighting.
• Text, logos, or badges on the main image.
• The product too small in the frame.
• Images that misrepresent the product, such as the wrong colour or parts that are not included.
• Low resolution, so the image is blurry or zoom is unavailable.

If a main image is rejected, the listing can be suppressed from search until it is fixed, so check main images carefully before you upload them.

A quick checklist

• Main image on pure white, with nothing but the product, filling most of the frame.
• No text, logos, or badges on the main image.
• At least 1,000 pixels on the longest side, ideally more.
• sRGB, sharp, and true to colour.
• Other images covering angles, scale, use, features, and contents.
• Infographic text large enough to read on a phone.

Get help from a reviewed specialist

A specialist Amazon photographer knows these rules and shoots with them in mind. You can compare reviewed product photography and A+ Content specialists, or describe what you need and we will suggest suitable specialists. Before you book a shoot, read our guide on how to brief an Amazon product photographer.