Guide · reviewed 2026-11-03
Amazon product image requirements
What Amazon actually publishes about product photo size, format and background — with the numbers we could verify, and the ones we could not.
Requirements at a glance
Sourced from Amazon’s product photography guidance and read on 2026-11-03. Where the page is silent, the table says so.
| Rule | Value | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Longest side | 500 – 10,000 px | Required | Amazon states product images must be 500 to 10,000 pixels on their longest side. |
| Zoom threshold | More than 1,000 px per side | Recommended | Amazon prefers images larger than 1,000 px on each side so the zoom widget has data. |
| File format | JPEG, TIFF, PNG, non-animated GIF | Required | JPEG is the format Amazon says it prefers. |
| Background | White, RGB 255, 255, 255 | Required | For most product shots, especially the main image. |
| Product fill | 85% or more of the frame | Recommended | Get close enough that the product dominates, without cropping its features. |
| Number of images | At least 1, 6+ recommended | Required | Every product needs at least one image. |
| Sharpness | Clear, not pixelated, no jagged edges | Recommended | Stated as a quality expectation rather than a measurable threshold. |
| Maximum file size | Not published on the page we verified | Unverified | Seller Central article G1881 requires a login, so this number could not be confirmed. |
| Watermarks and added text | Not addressed on the page we verified | Unverified | Widely enforced in practice, but not stated in the public photo guide. Check G1881. |
The four checks you cannot automate
Size and format are mechanical. These are not, and no tool can sign off on them for you:
- Is the background genuinely white? A studio wall photographed at 5200 K reads as light grey. Sample the corner pixels at 255, 255, 255 — not 250, 250, 252.
- Does the product fill 85% of the frame? Eyeball the bounding box against the canvas. Most rejected main images are simply too far away.
- Is anything added to the photo? Watermarks, logos, promotional text, borders, collages and inset thumbnails all belong to the “added content” category that Amazon reviews.
- Is it the actual product? Renderings and stock photos of similar items are a content problem, not a file problem.
How to hit 1600 × 1600 without wrecking the photo
Crop to a square first, keeping the product centred, then scale. Doing it in the other order means scaling a rectangle and then cutting a square out of the middle, which wastes resolution and can push the product off-centre. The Amazon resizer applies the crop before the resize for exactly this reason.
If your source is smaller than 1600 px, do not upscale by default. A 900 px photo scaled to 1600 px is soft at every zoom level. Better to reshoot or accept 900 px — which is still above the 500 px floor, just below the zoom threshold.
Questions
What size should Amazon product images be?
Amazon accepts anything from 500 to 10,000 pixels on the longest side, and prefers more than 1,000 pixels on each side so zoom works. 1600 × 1600 is a practical default: above the zoom threshold, small enough to stay light.
Does Amazon require a pure white background?
Amazon states that in most cases product shots should be on a white background with RGB values 255, 255, 255, and describes it as the industry standard and a default setting. A light grey studio backdrop is not the same thing.
Can a resizing tool produce that white background for me?
Only partially. Transparent areas are flattened onto white when the output is JPEG, but an existing opaque background is preserved as photographed. Background removal and background replacement are different features that this tool does not have — shoot or edit the product on white first.
What file format does Amazon prefer?
JPEG. Amazon accepts JPEG, TIFF, PNG and non-animated GIF, but explicitly prefers JPEG.
Can I use PNG for Amazon?
Yes, PNG is accepted. It is a poor fit for photographs because the files are far larger, but it is the right choice for flat graphics where JPEG artefacts would show.
Why does this page say “unverified” for some rules?
Because we could not read them on an official page. Amazon’s detailed image requirements live in Seller Central (article G1881), which requires a seller login. Rather than repeat a number from a blog post, we mark it unverified.
Do watermarks really get listings suppressed?
Amazon’s public guidance says to avoid distracting props, models and backgrounds, and sellers widely report suppression for watermarks and added text. We have not verified a specific published rule, so the checklist asks you to look rather than claiming certainty.