What are Etsy’s photo requirements?

At least 2000 pixels on both sides, a first image of at least 635 px, and files under about 1 MB so the upload does not fail. Make the first image landscape or square.

Why does my transparent PNG look black on Etsy?

Etsy renders transparent areas of a PNG as black. Flatten the image onto a real background and export as JPEG.

Does Etsy need a white background?

No. Etsy publishes no required background colour. White still helps a clothing listing read cleanly in a crowded search grid, which is why this checker reports the background even where it is not a rule.

Should the first photo be a flat lay or an on-model shot?

Either works, but it has to be landscape or square and the garment must survive three different thumbnail crops. On-model shots often lose the hem in the square crop, so leave margin.

Can I list AI-generated clothing photos on Etsy?

Etsy does not publish a single rule covering every AI model photo, so we will not state one. Lead with a real photo of the item you are shipping, use AI on-model images as supporting shots, say so in the description, and check Etsy’s current policy pages yourself.

Tools

Etsy listing photo requirements checker

Etsy asks for at least 2000 pixels on both sides, a first image that is landscape or square, and files small enough to upload reliably. Pick a photo and this page measures all three, plus the background and how much of the frame your garment takes up, so you can see what a buyer will get in the cropped thumbnail. The check runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded.

Check against

Choose a listing image, or drop one here

The image is read in your browser with canvas. It is never uploaded, and no account is needed.

The first image is cropped three ways

Etsy shows the same first photo as a square in the search grid, as a portrait in some placements and as a landscape on the listing page. One upload, three crops, and the composition that works in one can lose a sleeve or a hem in another. That is why Etsy tells sellers to make the first image landscape or square rather than tall, and why leaving even margin around the garment matters more here than on a marketplace with one fixed frame.

The practical test is simple: imagine a square cut out of the middle of your photo. If the garment still reads as the thing being sold, you are fine. If the square shows a waistband and nothing else, re-crop before you upload.

The checker reports the ratio and how much of the frame the garment fills so you can do that test with numbers instead of by eye, but it cannot simulate Etsy’s exact crops, because Etsy does not publish them.

Size, file weight and colour

The 2000 pixel floor exists because Etsy scales the same upload into a lot of different places, and an image that was small to begin with goes soft in all of them. At the same time Etsy documents that files over about 1 MB may fail to upload, which puts sellers in an awkward spot: large dimensions, small file. A quality 80 JPEG at 2000 × 2000 usually lands under a megabyte; a PNG of the same shot rarely does.

Do not upload a PNG with transparency. Etsy renders transparent areas black, and a cut-out garment on a transparent background arrives as a garment on a black rectangle. Flatten it onto white first, then export.

Convert to sRGB before uploading. A file still tagged Adobe RGB or ProPhoto shifts when Etsy re-encodes it, and the buyer sees a colour you never approved. Colour is the single most common reason clothing comes back, and it is the one thing on this page a checker genuinely cannot measure for you.

What Etsy publishes, with sources

At least 2000 px on both sidesRecommended
Re-export at 2000 px or more on the shorter side. Etsy crops the thumbnail three ways, and a small file goes soft in all three.
Source: Etsy Help, Requirements and Best Practices for Images in Your Etsy Shop (read 2026-09-17)
First image at least 635 px wideRequired
Anything under 635 px on the first image hurts search placement. Re-export larger.
Source: Etsy Help, Requirements and Best Practices for Images in Your Etsy Shop (read 2026-09-17)
First image landscape or squareRecommended
Crop the first image to 1:1 or wider. Etsy renders the first image in a landscape frame and a tall portrait shot gets cut.
Source: Etsy Help, How to Edit Your Listing Photos (read 2026-09-17)
File under 1 MBRecommended
Compress to under 1 MB. Etsy documents that larger files may fail to upload.
Source: Etsy Help, Requirements and Best Practices for Images in Your Etsy Shop (read 2026-09-17)
JPEG rather than a transparent PNGRecommended
Flatten to JPEG. Transparent areas of a PNG render black on Etsy.
Source: Etsy Help, How to Edit Your Listing Photos (read 2026-09-17)

Rules a single image cannot show

Thumbnails are cropped three ways — square, portrait and landscape — so leave margin around the garment or a sleeve will be cut off in one of them.
Source: Etsy Help, How to Edit Your Listing Photos (read 2026-09-17)
Convert to sRGB before uploading. Another colour profile shifts on Etsy and the buyer sees a different colour from the one you approved.
Source: Etsy Help, How to Edit Your Listing Photos (read 2026-09-17)

What Etsy does not publish

Etsy does not publish a required background colour for listing photos, and the exact thumbnail crop ratios and the maximum number of photos per listing are not on the help pages we checked.
Etsy does not publish one rule that approves or bans AI-generated model photos. The safe pattern sellers use is a real photo of the actual item first, AI on-model images after it, and a line in the description saying which images are AI-generated. Read Etsy’s current policy pages before you list.

How it works

1
Choose the marketplace
Pick Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Shopify, TikTok Shop or Poshmark. The rule list under the picker changes to that marketplace’s published requirements, each with its source.
2
Choose an image
Select a photo from your computer or phone. It is decoded in the page with canvas and read there. Nothing is sent to a server, so there is no upload wait and nothing stored.
3
Read the result and copy it
Each rule comes back as passed, to check, or failed, with the number we measured, how to fix it, and the official page the rule came from. Use the copy button to paste the whole report to whoever edits your photos.

Questions

What are Etsy’s photo requirements?: At least 2000 pixels on both sides, a first image of at least 635 px, and files under about 1 MB so the upload does not fail. Make the first image landscape or square.
Why does my transparent PNG look black on Etsy?: Etsy renders transparent areas of a PNG as black. Flatten the image onto a real background and export as JPEG.
Does Etsy need a white background?: No. Etsy publishes no required background colour. White still helps a clothing listing read cleanly in a crowded search grid, which is why this checker reports the background even where it is not a rule.
Should the first photo be a flat lay or an on-model shot?: Either works, but it has to be landscape or square and the garment must survive three different thumbnail crops. On-model shots often lose the hem in the square crop, so leave margin.
Can I list AI-generated clothing photos on Etsy?: Etsy does not publish a single rule covering every AI model photo, so we will not state one. Lead with a real photo of the item you are shipping, use AI on-model images as supporting shots, say so in the description, and check Etsy’s current policy pages yourself.

Clothing listing image checker
The same check against Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Shopify, TikTok Shop and Poshmark, with all the rules side by side.
Photopurr for Etsy clothing sellers
Surviving three thumbnail crops, and what to say in the description.
AI fashion model generator
On-model shots at the ratio Etsy’s first image wants.
Clothing product image requirements by platform
The long version: every figure here, with its source and the date it was checked.

Make one and see

Photopurr is best for small clothing sellers who want pay-per-image on-model photos without a subscription.

Make your first image free See pricing