Amazon Listing Images Guide & Best Practices For 2024

Are bad-quality Amazon listing images losing you thousands in potential revenue?

Are browsers left uninspired, underwhelmed and unimpressed after scrolling through your Amazon listing image gallery?

Online consumers depend on product images. And don’t just take our word for it: according to Shopify, 75% of online shoppers rely on product photos when deciding on a potential purchase. A few low-resolution photos can be the difference between gaining a regular repeat customer and losing a customer to your competitors. Your product photos are going to be scrutinised by potential buyers. So, let’s get them right.

Our Amazon listing images guide will cover the latest guidelines and the best tips for creating product images for your listing. After reading this guide, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge to produce images that excite, emotionally engage, and build trust among potential customers.

How to Comply with Amazon’s Technical Instructions

First, before creating any jaw-droppingly aesthetic product images, let’s ensure Amazon allows us to upload them. While the list below may look daunting at first glance, many of Amazon’s technical guidelines are straightforward “Do not” rules and precise image format specifications.

Amazon image requirements for all your product listing images:

Your Images must be 500 px to 10,000 px on their longest side
You must upload your images in JPEG (.jpg or .jpeg), TIFF (.tif), PNG (.png), or non-animated GIF (.gif) file formats. (Quick Tip: Amazon prefers images submitted in the JPEG file format!)
Images must be clear, unpixellated, and have no jagged edges.
All your images must accurately represent the product you are selling.
Your images must match your product’s title.
Avoid any use of nudity or sexually suggestive images. This includes models and drawings used to represent your product.
If you’re selling children’s clothing, it must be displayed flat without using a model.
Do not include your customer reviews, five-star imagery, claims (for example, one-day free delivery), or seller-specific information.
Do not include any Amazon logos or trademarks, variations, modifications, or anything that could be interpreted mistakenly for Amazon’s logos and trademarks. This requirement applies to, but is not limited to, any words or logos with the terms “Amazon,” “Prime,” “Alexa,” or the Amazon Smile design.
Do not include any badges used on Amazon, or variations, modifications, or anything similar to such badges. This requirement includes, but is not limited to, “Amazon’s Choice,” “Premium Choice,” “Amazon Alexa,” “Works with Amazon Alexa,” “Best Seller,” or “Top Seller.”

Main product image requirements

Your main image is the first image customers see of your product on an Amazon search result page. This is your first chance to make a positive impression with potential buyers. It’s vital to follow each one of these requirements. With the right main image, customers will begin inching closer to the “Add to Cart” button on your product page!

Here are the requirements for your MAIN product image:

Your main image must represent your product as a realistic, professional quality image and not be a placeholder.
Ensure you use a pure white background (RGB colour values: 255, 255, 255). Make sure to include your product in 85% of the image space.
Do not include text, logos, borders, colour blocks, watermarks, or other graphics covering the product or in the background. Products with multiple pieces must be relative in size, with no one piece enlarged.
Show your entire product within the frame of the image; do not cut off any part of your product.
Do not show accessories customers won’t receive with your product purchase or any props that might confuse the customer.
Only show your product once in the image, for example, the front view only and not both the front and the back of your product in the same image.
Show only one unit of your product and any accessories included in the purchase.
Do not include your product packaging unless it’s an important product feature, for example, a carrying case or gift basket may be included.
Do not show any part of a mannequin, regardless of the mannequin’s appearance. This includes being clear, solid-colour, flesh-toned, framework or on a hanger.
All Shoe main images must feature a single shoe facing left at a 45-degree angle.
Show clothing accessories or multipacks flat with no model.
The main image of adult clothing sizes must be shown on a model. The model must be standing, not sitting, kneeling, leaning or lying down.

Amazon image requirements: A short test

Armed with your technical prowess in Amazon image requirements, let’s put your skills to the test.

The scenario: My daughter wants a new swing. So what do I do? I go onto Amazon and search for “Children’s Swing.” I’m in the market for a large swing set (another baby on the way!), and I came across these two listings with the following main images.

Here’s my question: Which one of these MAIN images goes against Amazon’s image guidelines?

Woah! Well, let’s begin with the first swing image. It seems this swing purchase comes with an entire family. Seven children in total! SEVEN! Never mind, okay, maybe that’s just for marketing. But am I getting a basketball? The hop? What about a slide? My daughter would love a slide!

Now, let’s move on to the second image. That’s better! A clear, front-facing image. I’m not left scratching my head about basketball accessories and a slide. Everything included in my purchase appears visible here. But maybe the eagle-eyed among you noticed something? Look again. What’s that under the swing? Shadowing. Scroll up to the rules, and what do we see: “Ensure you use a pure white background (RGB colour values: 255, 255, 255). While shadowing on main images is in a grey area (ba dum tss), too much can result in listing suspension.

The answer: It’s complicated.

While there is no doubt you will come across competitors in your marketplace using illicit main images, don’t be tempted. Dealing with a suspended listing can be a lengthy, stressful experience. But the good news? You still have another six listing images – or five if your listing features a product video – to add eye-catching details to your images.

Here’s a rule of thumb: Your main image has to be the best no-frills, high-quality image you can take of your product.

Here is a main image of a children’s swing that meets all the requirements above:

Side note: This product also appears in the top 3 organic search results for “Children’s Swing”. Not too bad when playing by the Amazon rules, eh?

Additional Amazon Listing Images

Have you got your Main image down? Perfect. Let’s move on to your additional images. Depending on whether you’re using a video or not in your listing, you have at least another five images to help boost customer engagement and increase conversions.

While Amazon provides space for you to upload nine images, only the first 7 images (or 6 if your listing features a product video) will be visible on your live listing. Here’s an example below:

Your additional images can ramp up sales by focusing on your product’s benefits, addressing customer pain points, writing to your target audience, building trust, and helping people imagine themselves using your product.

All this is achievable through engaging Infographics, benefit-focused text, informative comparison charts, and accurate size charts.

Here’s an example of a simple, powerful listing image for a carpet deodoriser we recently created at Seller Frontier. This image focuses on a customer pain point (deodorisers being unsafe for pets) with a short benefit-focused headline (“Safe for your pets”) while helping customers imagine themselves using the product (a picture of another dog owner hugging their adorable furry friend on the carpet.)

10 best practices for creating Amazon product images that engage customers and Boost Sales

We’ve covered the rules. We’ve seen examples of what to do and what not to do. Now, let’s move on to the next piece of the product image puzzle: ensuring your additional product images stand out from your competitor listings.

A few years ago, you might have been able to get away with a solid main image and a few additional images of your product from different angles on a white bed sheet from your mate Craig’s DSLR camera you borrowed one Sunday afternoon. Today? You need to make every image count. The competition is too high to overlook a factor that influences sales. Take your listing images seriously, and your listing will reap the rewards.

These ten tips will help you achieve unstoppable listing images that make life for your customers a whole lot easier to click “Buy Now.”

Maximise your Main Image Potential
Make your Images Zoomable
Add benefit-focused text to your Images
Create engaging Lifestyle Images
Use infographic images
Educate customers with comparison chart images
Build excitement with Before & After images
Fill every image spot
Consider your A+ content design
Hire an Expert

1. Maximise your Main Image Potential

You can have the most engaging, sales-provoking additional listing photos, but if your main image sucks, customers won’t even click on your listing. Do not overlook your main image. First, ensure you follow Amazon’s requirements outlined above. Next, here are some additional tips to ace your main image:

Competitor Research: Simple! Find out what’s working for the top-selling competitors in your product niche. Look out for weak points and spot common trends.
Product Image Size: Ensure your product takes up at least 85% of your main image.
3D Rendering: A three-dimensional (or “stereoscopic”) image of your product can make it pop out of the search page and draw eyeballs to your page.
Professional Assistance: Hire a photographer to take your main image and add a few additional photos of your product at different angles for later use.

Note: Here’s an example of a 3D-rendered protein power image with standout packaging and taking up more than 85% of the image space.

2. Make Your Images Zoomable

Did you know? According to Amazon, zoomable images increase sales! This powerful, often-overlooked step is vital to enhance your customers’ experience of your images. Amazon recommends that your images are larger than 1,000 px on each side to allow the zoom feature to work its sales-inducing magic.

Check out this picture of a brownie mix box:

With a simple mouse scroll over the image, I’m transported to a laptop screen of stacked chewy fudge brownie goodness. I’ll take 5!

3. Add benefit-focused text to your Images

Does your product address pain points your competitors don’t? It’s time to let your customers know! Adding text gives customers insight into the benefits they’ll experience when they purchase your product.

Here are a few things to consider when adding text:

Keep headlines short to increase engagement. Long, complicated headlines lose interest.
Focus on your most important product benefits.
Address any FAQs, including size, dimensions, weight, ingredients, etc.
Use consistent fonts and colours that align with your brand.

Check out this example below:

4. Create engaging lifestyle images

Lifestyle images are the perfect tool to help customers envision themselves using your product. We want something to connect with. We want to feel part of a tribe. Whether you’re selling the next best baking product or an indestructible dog toy, lifestyle images are your opportunity to include your ideal target audience in your image. Ask yourself this: who will be most interested in your product? Ensure that type of person is in your image.

Let’s look at a few examples of best-selling products across Amazon.

The yoga mat. A fitness classic. Let’s explore the stats: 72% of practitioners are women, and women aged between 30 and 49 years old are the demographic who practice yoga the most. Does the woman in the image above fit that demographic? Absolutely! This simple, uncomplicated image stands a much better chance of resonating with potential buyers than a car mechanic named John in his late 50s dressed in his overalls practising the crane pose.

Not all lifestyle images are created equally. The image above is clearly a combination of editing and image overlay, but that doesn’t diminish the effect. Over 75% of American golfers are male. The image of a man teeing off down a beautiful fairway is a fantastic touch paired with the product image to appeal to the primary target audience.

Feeling creative? If you have a phone with a good camera and decent photography skills, you can capture your own lifestyle images! The image above is a perfect example of these two elements. Find a friend with the best phone or camera, enlist a friend or family member in your target audience, and go and catch some authentic lifestyle images! Your audience will love them!

5. Use infographic images

Similar to the benefit-focused text tip above, but with a few subtle differences. An infographic image gives your customers a quick snapshot of your product benefits at an easy-to-understand glance. Infographic images can also help your customers make faster, more informed decisions when choosing what product to purchase.

We created the infographic image above for soft-closing drawer slides. We like this infographic because it blends a lifestyle image with a catchy headline and short text. A glance at this infographic tells me that the product is long-lasting, offers a luxurious smooth closure, and is simple to install – all the requirements customers are looking for!

6. Educate customers with comparison chart images

The benefits of using a comparison chart as an additional image are two-fold: it positions you as an authority in your marketplace and helps customers understand why they should choose your product over your competitors. While you don’t want to mention specific brands in your comparison chart, using “us vs them” style images is a perfect alternative.

The image above shows how simple an “us vs them” compression image can be for your listing. This image is a sales magnet for the growing customer trend towards organic, clean products.

Here’s another powerful comparison chart with a different structure. After scanning this chart, you’d be hard-pressed to find a customer willing to buy refined shea butter. And can you guess who is selling the unrefined shea butter? The brand this product image belongs to, of course!

7. Build excitement with Before & After images

Let’s face it: we’ve all seen before and after images. Picture it: A balding man looking at himself in the mirror with a handful of hair paired with the same man with the label “after” sporting a full head of thick, impeccably styled hair. There’s a reason these pictures are everywhere. They work! A before and after image is basically telling your target audience, “This can work for you, too!”

So, If your product solves a specific pain point for customers, consider using a “Before and After” image in your listing.

Here’s a “Before and After” image for teeth whitening strips. Look at the image, look at your teeth in the mirror, and if they look anything like the “Before” image, you immediately become aware of a problem and the solution to fix it. Powerful.

8. Fill every image spot

You’re at the point where image ideas are probably running through your mind. Take advantage of them! Use all seven listing image spaces Amazon allows for your product listing. Go with variety. Use informative images. Sprinkle it up with a few lifestyle shots. Show customers through comparison charts why they’re making a mistake if they choose “Brand X.”

Here’s a checklist for your Amazon listing images:

Show off your product from multiple angles and include dimensions
Use lifestyle images of your target audience with your product to help customers picture themselves using or wearing your product
Add text to your images, keeping it short and benefit-focused
Use a variety of backgrounds in your additional images to keep customers excited to scroll
Use a font and colour theme consistent with your brand for all your images

This photo above of a bamboo toothbrush set offers an exciting variety of images, from a crisp main image, a fun lifestyle shot, informative infographics, a convincing comparison chart and a product video.

9. Consider your A+ content design

Finally! You have your Amazon listing images sorted. Now, put your feet up; it’s time to rel…Hold on. Wait a second. Are you brand registered? If so, you’re going to want to use A+ content design. Amazon A+ content enables you to build on product benefits with more presentation variety and text input. We recommended keeping the theme you used in the listing images and further emphasising your product benefits to potential customers.

Look at how the bamboo toothbrushes from above kicked off their A+ section:

P.S. Check out our complete A+ content blog post to ensure you create the best A+ content for your brand.

10. Hire an expert

High-quality images drive sales. A few standard photos of your product just won’t cut it anymore. You need to stand out in your marketplace and give potential customers a compelling reason to buy from you. And by now, you’ve likely spent plenty of hours and money developing your product and investing in inventory. Don’t risk sacrificing your sales because of poor product pictures.

Consider hiring an expert who can create images that eliminate the guessing games. Investing in your product images now will deliver handsome rewards in the long run.

Conclusion

We’re visual creatures. We like to see things. And when we see things we like, we want to have those things. Your images are going to affect sales, either positively or negatively.

Take your time to create the best possible images to represent your product. Do not breeze over this step. From our experience working with Amazon brands globally, product images are probably the most vital factor for a potential customer to click “Buy Now” once they arrive at your listing. You can read more about our Amazon image listing service here.

Do you have any questions about Amazon listing images? Leave us a comment below! We would love to hear them.

Amazon Listing Images Guide & Best Practices for 2024