Uploading a cut out product as a transparent PNG, which Etsy renders with a black background rather than a white one.
Marketplaces · Etsy
Etsy listing photo size and image requirements
Every one of the 10 image rules below comes off a page Etsy publishes, with the source linked.
10 image rules10 read at EtsyChecked 10 August 2026
The short answer
Etsy recommends listing photos of at least 2000 pixels in both width and height, and the first photo must be at least 635 pixels wide or the listing drops in search. Files over 1 MB may not finish uploading. Etsy does not support transparency: transparent parts of a PNG appear black on Etsy.
Updated
Check your file against this
What Etsy asks for
Every row states where it comes from. A rule read off a page Etsy publishes is marked as a primary source; a figure that circulates among sellers without appearing in the platform’s own documentation is marked and hedged, and it is never printed as though the two carry the same weight.
| Requirement | What Etsy asks for | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Recommended photo size | At least 2000 px wide and 2000 px tallEtsy resizes down for display, so bigger source files give you a sharper result on high density screens and in the zoom view. | Primary source |
| First photo minimum width | At least 635 pxEtsy states that a first photo below this width can be placed lower in search results. | Primary source |
| File size | Files over 1 MB may not finish uploadingThis is the single most common cause of an Etsy upload that hangs or silently fails. | Primary source |
| Supported file types | .jpg, .gif, .png, .svg, .heicNo WebP, no TIFF, no PSD. Convert before uploading. | Primary source |
| Transparency and animation | Animated .gif files and transparent .png files are not supported. If a file contains transparency, the transparent parts of the image will appear black on Etsy.Quoted from Etsy's own help article. This catches out anyone who cuts a product out and uploads the cutout directly. | Primary source |
| Colour profile | sRGB. CMYK is for print only.A CMYK file uploaded to Etsy shifts in colour, usually towards flat and dull. | Primary source |
| First photo orientation | Horizontal or squareEtsy crops the thumbnail from the centre, so a tall portrait first photo loses its top and bottom in the search grid. | Primary source |
| Shop icon | 500 x 500 px | Primary source |
| Profile photo | 400 x 400 px | Primary source |
| Big shop banner | Minimum 1200 x 300 px, 1600 x 400 px recommendedThe carousel banner uses 1200 x 300 px. | Primary source |
Slide the table sideways to see every column.
- Primary source means the value is read off a page Etsy publishes, linked under Sources below. 10 of 10 rows here are primary.
- Platforms change these rules without announcing them. Every source below carries the date it was read, and the figures here were checked on 10 August 2026.
Why this matters on Etsy
Etsy does not suppress listings the way Amazon does. It punishes you more quietly, in two ways.
The first is search placement. Etsy states plainly that a first photo narrower than 635 pixels may be placed lower in search results. That is not a warning about quality, it is a stated ranking factor, and it applies to the one image that decides whether anyone clicks.
The second is the upload that never lands. Files over 1 MB may not finish uploading, and the failure is often silent: the progress bar stalls, you assume the connection dropped, and you end up publishing with five photos instead of ten. Sellers who shoot on a modern phone hit this constantly, because a single HEIC or high quality JPEG off a recent handset is comfortably over 1 MB before any editing.
Then there is the trap that catches sellers who edit properly. Etsy does not support transparency. If you cut your product out for a clean look and upload the PNG, the transparent area does not render white. It renders black. A carefully cut earring on what you thought was a white background arrives on Etsy as a product floating in a black box, and nothing in the upload flow warns you.
The walkthrough
How do you get a photo through Etsy?
5 things in order, each one answering a question a seller actually types.
How do you stop a transparent PNG turning black?
Flatten it before it leaves your machine. A transparent PNG has an alpha channel, and Etsy renders that channel as black rather than as white or as the page background.
- Place the cutout on a solid canvas, white or whatever colour suits the shop, so the alpha channel is filled.
- Export as JPEG. JPEG has no alpha channel at all, so it cannot carry hidden transparency by accident.
- If you must keep PNG, check the exported file by opening it against a black background. If the product looks like it is sitting on black, that is exactly what Etsy will show.
Photomop is a photo studio that runs on your own device, and its change background tool is the direct fix here: it replaces the transparent area with a solid colour rather than leaving an alpha channel for Etsy to misread.
How do you get a 2000 pixel photo under 1 MB?
Resize first, then compress. Doing it in that order almost always gets you there without visible loss.
- Resize the long edge to 2000 pixels. A phone photo is often 4000 pixels or more, and the extra pixels do nothing on Etsy except inflate the file.
- Export as JPEG at around 80 to 85 percent quality. For most product photos that lands between 300 KB and 800 KB.
- Strip the metadata. Camera profiles, GPS tags and embedded previews can add tens of kilobytes for no benefit.
If a photo is still over 1 MB after that, it is usually a very busy image, such as a detailed fabric or a flat lay with many objects. Those genuinely need more data. Drop the long edge to 1600 pixels rather than compressing harder, because heavy compression shows up as blocky artefacts in exactly the fine detail buyers are trying to inspect.
What should the first photo look like?
Horizontal or square, at least 635 pixels wide, and legible at thumbnail size.
Etsy's search grid shows a cropped thumbnail, so the composition that matters is the middle of the frame. A tall portrait photo with the product centred vertically loses its top and bottom in that crop, which is how a good photo becomes a confusing thumbnail.
Shoot the first photo as the plain, honest product shot. Save the styled scenes, the packaging and the scale comparisons for photos two onwards, where a shopper who has already clicked is looking for reasons to buy rather than reasons to click.
Which file types can you actually upload?
Only .jpg, .gif, .png, .svg and .heic. Anything else is refused.
The two that catch people out are WebP and TIFF. WebP is now the default export in several browsers and phone apps, so a photo saved from a web page arrives as WebP and Etsy will not take it. TIFF comes off scanners and from print workflows, which is common for print sellers and artists digitising work.
Convert to JPEG in both cases. HEIC is technically supported, but converting it to JPEG yourself gives you control over the compression and the file size, rather than leaving it to whatever Etsy does on the way in.
How do you keep colours from shifting?
Work in sRGB and export in sRGB. CMYK belongs to print, and a CMYK file uploaded to Etsy comes out muted, with saturated colours in particular losing their punch.
This bites hardest on sellers who came from print: anyone who designs posters, cards or fabric usually has a CMYK working file, and exporting straight from it looks fine locally and dull on Etsy. Convert to sRGB as an explicit step in your export, not as an afterthought.
The settings, in one place
The Photomop preset for Etsy
Resize the longest edge to 2,000 pixels, keep the colour profile in sRGB, and export a flattened JPEG under 1 MB so the upload completes and no transparency survives.
Resize image runs on your own device, at full resolution, with no watermark on the export.
What goes wrong on Etsy
Every one of these is a real rejection or a real drop in placement, not a matter of taste.
Shooting straight off a phone and uploading files over 1 MB, so the upload stalls and the listing publishes with fewer photos than intended.
Using a tall portrait first photo, which loses its top and bottom in the centre cropped search thumbnail.
Exporting from a print file in CMYK, which arrives on Etsy visibly duller than the version on your screen.
Saving an image from a browser as WebP and finding Etsy refuses the file type entirely.
Letting the first photo fall below 635 pixels wide, which Etsy states can push the listing lower in search.
Questions sellers ask
Etsy image requirements, answered
The questions people search for once a photo has already been refused.
What size should Etsy listing photos be?
At least 2000 pixels in both width and height is Etsy's recommendation, and the first photo must be at least 635 pixels wide to avoid a lower placement in search. Keep the file under 1 MB, because larger files may not finish uploading.
Why does my Etsy photo have a black background?
Because the file has transparency. Etsy does not support transparent PNGs and renders transparent areas as black. Flatten the image onto a solid background, or export as JPEG which has no transparency channel at all, then re-upload.
Why will my Etsy photo not upload?
The two usual causes are file size and file type. Files over 1 MB may not finish uploading, and Etsy only accepts .jpg, .gif, .png, .svg and .heic. A WebP saved from a browser or a TIFF from a scanner is refused outright.
Does Etsy accept animated GIFs?
No. Etsy states that animated .gif files are not supported. A static GIF is an accepted file type, but if you want movement in a listing use Etsy's video slot instead.
Should Etsy photos be square or landscape?
Make the first photo horizontal or square. Etsy crops the search thumbnail from the centre of the frame, so a square or landscape composition survives that crop while a tall portrait shot loses its top and bottom.
Do I need a white background on Etsy?
No. Etsy does not require a white background the way Amazon and Walmart do for main images, and styled or lifestyle photography performs well there. What Etsy does require is that the background is actually there, since a transparent one turns black.
Where these Etsy rules come from
Each link is the page the figures were read at, with the date it was opened and whether it could be read at all.
- Etsy Help Centre, photo and image requirementsOpened and read in full on .
Same cluster
More platform guides
Neighbouring guides, so every platform in the set is one hop from every other.
Facebook Marketplace
Facebook publishes no pixel spec for Marketplace listing photos. Here is what Meta does specify for commerce catalogues, plus the square sizes that actually work.
Faire
Faire needs square product photos at 500x500 pixels minimum, hero images at 600x600 or higher on a clean light background. Full brand specs, and how to fix them.
Flipkart
Flipkart keeps its image guidelines inside the seller Learning Center. Here is what the QC check actually enforces, what sellers report, and how to pass first time.
From the studio
The tools this guide uses
Each one runs in the browser tab you are reading this in, on your own device.
Resize image
Exact pixels, or a marketplace preset that already knows the rules.
Compress image
Hit an upload size limit without watching the photo fall apart.
Change background
Drop the subject onto a colour, a gradient or a studio scene.
Convert image
HEIC, WebP, PNG, JPG, AVIF. Straight across, no queue.
Keep reading
Elsewhere on Photomop
Image glossary
A hundred photo editing terms, defined in plain words and filed by the job they do.
Read itResize image
Exact pixels, marketplace presets and an aspect lock, run on your own device.
Read itCompress image
Name a file size limit and the tool re-encodes until the photo fits it.
Read itAll the tools
The whole toolbox in three families, with what each one needs before it can run.
Read it
Get the file right before you upload it
Photomop is a photo studio that runs on your own device. Resize to the exact pixels Etsy asks for, compress to the weight limit, convert the format and batch the lot, all at full resolution with no watermark. The image glossary explains any word in the table above.