This post will cover the best practices for images on Amazon product listings. The old saying is a picture is worth a thousand words. In the case of selling on Amazon, good Amazon product listing images are worth a thousand (hopefully more!) dollars. What I mean by that is when a listing has great images, everyone benefits - sellers sell more products, and customers are more confident in their purchase because they know exactly what they are buying. On the other hand, if a listing has sub-par images, this leads to customer confusion, a decline in sales, and possible suppression from Amazon. Deciding what images to accompany your product listings on Amazon is a vital part of your business that can often be overlooked. Putting effort into making sure your images are compliant, informative, and organized is imperative to accomplishing your goals selling on Amazon. This blog post will cover current Amazon image guidelines, the different types of images to use, and some dos and don’ts when deciding on your images.
Amazon Product Listing Guidelines
Let’s start with the Amazon Product Listing Guidelines or rules related to what you can and can’t do for images on your product listing. There is an important distinction between your main image and your secondary images - Amazon has different requirements for both.
Amazon Main Product Listing Image
The main product listing image is important as this is featured in many areas of merchandising on Amazon including the search results page, Amazon Ads like Sponsored Products, and the first thing a customer sees when visiting your product listing. The main image must fit into the following guidelines in order to ensure consistency among all products on Amazon:
Pure white background (RGB 255,255,255)
Product only, no text, logos, props, or watermarks
Image must fill 85% or more of the frame
Minimum size: 1000 pixels on the longest side for zoom functionality
File format: JPEG (.jpg/.jpeg), PNG, TIFF, or GIF
Additional Product Listing Images
With secondary and the additional product listing images, there is a bit more flexibility with the guidelines. These secondary images are where sellers can really tailor their images to accurately convey product details. You can include lifestyle photos, infographics, or close-ups, but they must still accurately represent the product and not mislead the customer.
Different Types of Amazon Product Images to Use
Depending on your product type or the category, there are several different types of images you may want to include. For example if your product is more technical and the specifications are a major selling point, infographic images will be more beneficial. However, if you are trying to paint a picture of how a customer might incorporate your product into their home or everyday life, you may want to focus more on lifestyle images or photos of the product out in the real world. To make the most of your allotted image slots (up to 9 total, with 7 often visible), consider using a mix of the following image types:
Main Image: A clean, high-resolution photo of only the product with a white background
Lifestyle Image: Shows the product in a real-world setting or in use
Infographic: Highlights key features or dimensions with text overlay
Comparison Image: Contrasts your product with others to emphasize advantages
Feature Callouts: Zoomed-in visuals showing texture, material, buttons, ports, etc.
Packaging Image: Displays what the customer will actually receive
Instructional Image: Explains setup or usage (ideal for electronics or tools)
Using diverse images helps reduce uncertainty, answer customer questions, and build trust, leading to fewer returns and higher customer satisfaction.
Amazon Product Listing Image Examples
Let’s review a few examples of Amazon product listings to showcase some dos and don’ts when it comes to Amazon product listing images:
This filter product listing is an example of using great images on the product listing for the following reasons:
Main image is sharp with a white background clearly showing only the product. This product is a 12-pack and the image clearly shows what the customer is receiving. There would be no confusion that this is any other quantity amount.
There is an infographic that clearly outlines a key product feature (dimensions). It shows both the nominal size (12 x 36 x 1) and the actual size (11.88 x 35.88 x .75). This clarification helps customers know if it will fit in their furnace.
The lifestyle photo shows a customer installing this into an A/C unit. This is a visual to put the customer in the shoes of actually installing this product.
There is an instructional image that clearly shows how to install the product (the direction of the air flow).
here is an example of an Amazon product listing that has room for improvement when it comes to images.
The lifestyle images are really small in one of the secondary images making it difficult to see what is happening or use cases for the product
There is not an image showing the dimensions of the product. With tools, this is a key product factor in what you need for the project you are working on
The infographic for use cases is a bit random and only has logos for what the use is for. This could be improved with a better visual or lifestyle image
Frequently Asked Questions around Best Practices for Images on Amazon Product Listings:
What are the best practices for Amazon product images?
The best practices for Amazon product images are making sure that all of the images are high quality, compliant with Amazon requirements, and accurately convey exactly what your product is and what the customer can expect when they buy it.
What are the rules for the main image on Amazon?
The rules of the main image on Amazon include: Pure white background (RGB 255,255,255), Product only, no text, logos, props, or watermarks, Image must fill 85% or more of the frame, Minimum size: 1000 pixels on the longest side for zoom functionality, File format: JPEG (.jpg/.jpeg), PNG, TIFF, or GIF
What is the best image format for Amazon listing?
The best image format for an Amazon listing is JPEG. While other formats are accepted (PNG, TIFF, or GIF) Amazon does say they prefer JPEG
Why are my Amazon images blurry?
Your Amazon images may be blurry due to a low resolution photo, or as a result of too much compression. Make sure that your images are larger than 1,000 pixels on the longest side to allow for zoom, which has been shown to enhance sales.
How many images should an Amazon listing have?
Amazon listings should have 6 images and a video at the minimum
How do I optimize images for Amazon?
Optimize your images for Amazon by making sure they are high resolution, in the correct format, and convey all of the features of your product clearly. You can perform objective tests by setting up Amazon A/B split tests using the Manage Your Experiments tool.
What resolution should Amazon images be?
Amazon images need to be at least 1000 x 1000 pixels and can go up to 10,000 x 10,000, but ideally they are around 2000 x 2000 to allow for zooming in.
Does Amazon prefer JPEG or PNG?
Amazon prefers JPEG for image uploads, although PNG, TIFF, or GIF are accepted formats as well.
Conclusion
I hope that you have learned more about product listing images on Amazon. Your product listing images is the foundation as these best practices can also be translated to A+ enhanced brand content, storefront, and Amazon Ad images. Just remember, on a platform like Amazon, where shoppers can’t physically touch the product, visuals do the heavy lifting. By adhering to Amazon’s guidelines and thoughtfully curating a set of diverse, high-quality images, you can meaningfully increase your chances of winning the click on the search results page and convert more customers. If you want a review of your product listing images, please contact us below.
About the Author - Mac Richards
This post was written by Mac Richards, an Account Manager at Goat Consulting. Mac helps his clients sell on Amazon by increasing sales, mitigating risk, reducing costs, and solving problems. Mac has experience and expertise in creating and editing images that align with the overall Amazon selling strategy and goals for his Goat Consulting clients. If you want help writing your product images, or assist with other aspects of selling on Amazon, Mac is happy to lead your account.