In under two decades, Amazon has grown to be a juggernaut in the eCommerce space, with many people happy to pay for a Prime membership and product prices that are sometimes a dollar (or five) more than what they can pay in a long supermarket just for the convenience and accessibility. You can search for anything, and immediately see hundreds of options for whatever you’re looking for with reviews attached, and you aren’t bound by geography.
There’s a lot that goes into a great Amazon product listing, but there’s one part of the equation that weighs the most heavily on whether or not you get clicks to the product listing all together – the Amazon product image.
Product images are what users typically scan through most intently in their search results, and it’s what will catch their eye if you’ve run an ad to try to draw attention to you, and there’s a lot to keep in mind. If you don’t have the right Amazon image size, users won’t be able to zoom, and the wrong image files will be rejected by Amazon all together.
We don’t want any of that to happen, so in this post, we’re going to take a look at Amazon image requirements for product photos and best practices to help you get those sales.
Amazon Image Requirements: The Technical
One of the first things to look at when considering what Amazon wants from an image is the technical side of things, because if those aren’t on track, it won’t be great. Here’s what you need to know:
- Amazon recommends using dimensions that are larger than 1000 pixels on a single side
- The minimum Amazon image dimension for the image’s longest side is 500 pixels.
- The maximum Amazon image dimension for the image’s longest side is 10,000 pixels.
- Thus you are given a 500 pixel to 10,000 pixel range for one side, which is very large.
- Amazon recommends using a 1:1 square image with the dimensions 2000 x 2000.
- With these optimized dimensions, Amazon allows for maximum zoom, or a 5:1 aspect ratio
- Image zoom abilities starts when the image is at least 1000 pixels on the longest side and 500 pixels on the shortest
- The maximum file size is 10mb for each image
- You can use JPEG, TIFF, or GIF files, but JPEG is the preferred and best Amazon image file format
- It’s recommended to crop the photo well, with limited white space to maximize the product’s size
- Compress the image; Amazon will compress it again once uploaded. You can use a website like TinyJPG to compress your photos to meet Amazon’s image requirements.
- These image requirements go for all Amazon product images.
Best Amazon Product Image Size
The best photo size to use for your Amazon product image is 2000 by 2000 pixels. These dimensions form an aspect ratio of 1:1.
Amazon Image Requirements: Design
If you’ve ever scrolled through Amazon before (and haven’t we all), you’ve likely noticed that the pictures can be relatively uniform, so you know the technical side of things won’t be the only requirements Amazon has. They also have pretty strict requirements about the design of the product images, too.
Note that there are different design requirements for the primary photo listing image, which will show up as the thumbnail in searches and the first product image, and the alternative images that users can scroll through on the listing’s page.
Amazon Main Image Guidelines
These are the design requirements specific to the main, primary photo listing image:
- The image must be a professional photograph or cover art of the product being sold, with cover art being acceptable in the case of digital books, files, etc. Drawings or illustrations of the product aren’t accepted.
- The image needs to be in-focus and look professionally lit.
- The product needs to contain realistic colors and look like what you’re selling.
- The image can’t contain additional objects that are confusing. Example, you can have a woman modeling a jacket also wearing pants and a hat, but pictures of just the clothing laying flat shouldn’t contain these objects.
- Products should fill 85% or more of the image frame, with limited whitespace in the background.
- Backgrounds need to be pure white, which is RGB 255, 255, 255 on the color wheel.
- The full product needs to appear in the frame.
- The image can’t contain unnecessary graphics or text.
- The image must have smooth edges, as opposed to jagged edges.
- You can’t feature any sort of designs, including watermarks, on the images.
Alternative Product Photo Requirements
These are the design requirements for alternative view photos (aka, the ones you use to offer additional information for your audience):
- No pornographic, racist, or otherwise offensive images are allowed (it goes without saying, this applies to the main product listing photo, too).
- The image must either be of or pertain to the product being sold.
- It still needs to be in-focus, professionally lit, and having realistic colors.
- Other products or objects are permitted here, so long as they can help demonstrate the use or scale of a product. Think a soda can next to an object for comparative purposes.
- The product and probs should take up at least 85% of the frame.
- Close-up images are allowed.
- You can have environments in the background, or show the product in use.
- Text and graphics are allowed as long as they’re useful.
Best Practices for Amazon Product Images
We’ve got the technical side of it down, but if you want to sell in the hyper-competitive Amazon marketplace, there are certain ways you can use your images (restrictions or not!) to give yourself an edge and get the sale.
Let’s take a look at a few things you should make sure you’re doing on every listing.
Go Big Enough to Get the Zoom
Amazon images can’t be zoomed in by customers unless the image is large enough, and you don’t want to deprive your customers of the chance to see an up-close view if it could be what helps them decide to convert.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to use a 3000 pixel image in order to get the zoom effect; zoom abilities start at 1000 pixels as mentioned in the Amazon requirements, and the 2500 pixel mark is typically a good place to be.
Add Multiple Images
You have the option to add multiple images to every product listing– use that to your advantage! I’m personally a little skeptical when I click on a product and only see one picture, even if it’s relatively self-explanatory.
Multiple images can give you the chance to feature the product from different angles, giving customers a well-rounded view of the product.
Remember that you can add graphics and text to alternative photos, so you can establish context or provide relevant information customers may need, like this:
Another great use for these images is offer them additional information they may need for purchasing, like a full size chart. Even if you have this listed in your product description, placing it in an image will maximize its visibility and ensure customers see it before they click away.
Show the Product In Use
Featuring the product in use is always a good call from a selling standpoint. It shows how easy the product is to use or how great it is and it helps the customer envision having it in their life. That dress may look “just ok” when laying flat; seeing the skirt in motion while the model twirls is another thing altogether.
Similarly, showing a hose nozzle’s different spray settings or demonstrating how far it can reach is a huge selling point. When people visualize it, they’re more likely to believe it, and more likely to feel like they need it.
Check Out Industry Specific Amazon Guidelines
Before you start creating your images, you need to double check and see if Amazon has any industry-specific guidelines for images that you’ll be posting.
The clothing industry, for example, has strict ones:
- Women and men’s clothes must be portrayed either flat, or on a model; infants’ clothing, however, must be laid flat in the primary image.
- All accessories must be photographed flat
- Lingerie and swimsuit products must appear demure, and not “sexy”
Review the full list of product guidelines here before you post.
Conclusion
When it comes to Amazon, they have a ton of image requirements that you need to consider, but there’s a lot of flexibility in how you can present your products to customers, too. Use that to your advantage, playing by all the rules and Amazon guidelines, while still finding creative ways to help your products stand out and give customers all the information they need to feel confident in their purchase with you.
Think like a customer, and ask yourself what questions and objections you’d have that you’d need addressed before purchasing, and you’ll find ways to beat out the competition.
Need a little help creating gorgeous, useful images for your Amazon product listings? Start your free trial with Snappa today!
What do you think? How do you feel about Amazon’s image requirements? Which best practices do you use to sell more? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!
