Amazon Product Image Requirements: Size, Format and Main Image Rules

Amazon product image requirements: why the rules are so strict

Your product images are the first thing a shopper sees of your offer. Search results show only the main image, next to the title, price and star rating. Whether someone clicks is often decided by the image before they have read a single word of your listing. On a smartphone this matters even more, because the image takes up almost the whole visible area.

Amazon wants search results to look consistent and comparable. That is why the main image has clear requirements, and why Amazon reacts firmly to violations: a listing whose main image breaks the guidelines can be removed from search. In Seller Central it then shows up under your listing issues.

There is another point many sellers underestimate: an uploaded image is not automatically a displayed image. Amazon selects the images for the detail page itself, and when several sellers share a listing, the brand owner largely determines the content. Knowing the rules saves you many rounds of rejected or invisible images.

Size, format and resolution: the technical requirements

The technical requirements are short. In its guidance for sellers, Amazon lists the following requirements for all product images:

1. 1
   Size

   500 to 10,000 pixels on the longest side. Smaller images are not accepted.

2. 2
   Zoom

   Preferably more than 1,000 pixels on the longest side so shoppers can zoom in. Without zoom a listing quickly looks cheap.

3. 3
   Format

   JPEG (.jpg or .jpeg), TIFF (.tif), PNG (.png) or GIF (.gif), but no animated GIFs. Amazon prefers JPEG.

4. 4
   Quality

   Sharp, with no pixelation and no jagged edges. An upscaled small photo usually fails this.

5. 5
   Aspect ratio

   Not a fixed rule. In practice a square image (1:1) is the safe standard because it makes the best use of the space in search and in the gallery.

Main image rules: what is allowed and what is not

The main image is the first image on the detail page and the image in search results. This is where Amazon's guidelines are strictest. The key rules for the main image:

1. 1
   Background

   Pure white, meaning RGB 255/255/255. A light grey or a slightly creamy tone stands out in review, even if it looks white on your screen.

2. 2
   Frame fill

   The product fills at least 85 percent of the image. A small product surrounded by white space looks weak in search.

3. 3
   Only the product

   Show only what the buyer receives. Accessories or props that are not included do not belong in the main image.

4. 4
   No additions

   No text, logos, borders, colour blocks, watermarks or other graphics, neither on the product nor in the background. A logo printed on the product itself is part of the product. A logo added afterwards or a badge such as “New” is not.

5. 5
   Real photo

   A professional photograph of the product, not a sketch or illustration. As a rule the product should be shown outside its packaging.

Additional images: what a strong listing needs

Amazon recommends at least six images and one video per product. The rules for additional images are looser: backgrounds, text and graphics are allowed. This is where you explain everything the main image is not allowed to show.

An image set works best when every image has a job and answers a specific buyer question. How images, title and bullet points work together is covered in our listing optimisation overview. These image types have proven themselves:

1. 1
   Size and dimensions

   The product next to something familiar or with dimensions drawn in. This prevents returns, because otherwise the product can look bigger or smaller than expected.

2. 2
   In use

   A lifestyle image in a realistic setting so the buyer can picture using the product.

3. 3
   Benefits as an infographic

   The three or four most important benefits with short text. Make sure the font stays readable on a phone.

4. 4
   Details

   Material, workmanship or the one feature that sets you apart from the competition.

5. 5
   What is in the box

   Everything in the package, clearly laid out in one image. That avoids disappointment after unboxing.

6. 6
   Comparison

   If you have several variants or models, an overview of how they differ.

What is still off-limits on additional images

Even though text is allowed, Amazon's general rules apply to all product images. The image must show the actual product and must not promise anything the product does not deliver. Exaggerated images lead to disappointment, returns and poor reviews.

Also avoid time-bound promotional claims such as discounts, references to other brands and claims you cannot back up. What is true as a promotion today is still in the image tomorrow. Health or efficacy claims are particularly sensitive in many categories.

Keep in mind that images are not only read by people. Text on infographics can also be picked up by Amazon's AI shopping assistant, as our Rufus guide for sellers explains. Clear, factual statements on your images therefore pay off twice.

File names and upload: how Amazon assigns your images

When you upload images while editing an offer, you assign each one to an image slot with a click. For bulk uploads of many images, the file name is what counts. In practice this pattern has become standard: product identifier, image code and file extension, each separated by a full stop, for example B0XXXXXXXX.MAIN.jpg.

The product identifier can be the ASIN or an EAN, UPC, ISBN or JAN. The image code tells Amazon where the image belongs: MAIN stands for the main image, PT01, PT02 and so on for the additional images in order, and SWCH for a colour swatch on variations. If the image code is missing, the image is usually treated as the main image, which can unintentionally replace an existing one.

After the upload Amazon reviews and processes the images. It can take a while before new images appear on the detail page. If an image still does not show up after some time, check your listing issues and whether another seller or the brand owner has provided different images for the listing.

AI images on Amazon: what you need to label

Many sellers now create lifestyle images with AI. That is possible in principle, but it comes with a new obligation: since 22 July 2026, product images that show fully AI-generated, photorealistic people must be labelled. This is done with a keyword in the file metadata. Real people, pure product photos and cartoon characters are not affected.

The obligation applies not only to the main image but also to additional images and A+ Content. For brand owners, the Amazon Brand Registry is also the entry point to A+ Content and to A/B testing of your main image.

Regardless of labelling, an AI image must still show the real product accurately. If shape, colour or size in the image do not match the product that arrives, you pay for it later with returns and reviews.

Common reasons Amazon rejects or does not display product images

Most image problems come down to a handful of recurring causes. If an image is rejected or does not appear, check these points in order:

1. 1
   Background not pure white

   A shadow, a gradient or a grey tone in the background of the main image.

2. 2
   Text or graphics in the main image

   Badges, seals, arrows or a logo added afterwards.

3. 3
   Too small or blurry

   Fewer than 500 pixels on the longest side, or an upscaled, pixelated image.

4. 4
   Wrong format

   An animated GIF or a file format Amazon does not accept.

5. 5
   Wrong file name

   The product identifier or image code is wrong, so Amazon assigns the image incorrectly or not at all.

6. 6
   Other content takes priority

   On shared listings the brand owner largely decides which images are shown.

7. 7
   Still processing

   New images sometimes need a little time before they are visible on the detail page.

Test your images instead of guessing

The main image mainly affects click-through rate in search, the additional images mainly affect conversion on the detail page. Both also influence your ranking indirectly, as our Amazon SEO guide explains. So whether a new image is better should not be decided by taste.

If your brand is enrolled in Brand Registry, you can use Amazon's Manage Your Experiments tool to run two main images against each other as a real A/B test. Amazon then shows real shoppers either version A or B and evaluates which one sells better.

Without Brand Registry you are left with a before-and-after comparison: change only one element at a time, note the date and watch sessions and conversion rate over several weeks. For brand owners the next step is A+ Content, which adds designed modules to the image gallery.

Plan and check your product images with Sellercore

The Sellercore Product Optimizer helps you build your image set systematically instead of improvising image by image. It analyses your listing, reviews, customer questions and competitor listings and works out which buyer types you address and what convinces them.

In the Image Optimizer each of the seven image slots has its own job, from the main image that wins the click in search, through what is in the box, details, lifestyle and comparison, to social proof and trust. Each slot comes with a briefing covering the key message and composition, plus four variants to choose from. The studio report also includes an image quality check and a competitor analysis.

AI-generated images can be given an AI label in Sellercore, and you see listing issues from Amazon directly in the overview. You can try the Product Optimizer free for 14 days, no credit card needed.

Frequently asked questions