Etsy listing photo sizes and rules (2026)

Etsy photo specs

Etsy compresses photos after upload and sizes them for phone screens, so fine texture can look softer on the site than in your file. Export at 2000 px or a little more, and never enlarge a small photo to reach it: Etsy warns that enlarging can pixelate the image. For how many of the 20 slots to fill, see how many photos a listing should have.

How Etsy crops your thumbnail

Your first photo becomes the listing thumbnail, and Etsy crops it into square, portrait and landscape versions for different places on the site. Etsy says the first photo should be landscape or square, and that its shape sets the shape of the photos after it. Its advice is to shoot wider than you think you need, keep the most important part of the item in the center, and prefer horizontal images, since vertical ones lose more to the crop.

One way to cover all three crops is to shoot landscape at 4:3, for example 2667 x 2000 px, and keep the whole item inside the center 2000 x 2000 square with some air around it. Then open the listing’s thumbnail tool, which previews how the photo will look across Etsy, and adjust before you publish.

Etsy also says a main photo that is too dark, blurry or part of a collage can push a listing lower in search. The Etsy Search visibility page in Shop Manager lists the listings with those problems.

Etsy’s rules on AI images

Etsy has two separate rules: one about the photos in a listing, and one about items made with AI.

For listing photos, Etsy’s Seller Policy, in effect since July 9, 2026, requires "your own photographs or video content" and rules out stock photos, artistic renderings and photos used by other sellers. Its Listing Image Requirements ask for original photos of the actual product buyers will receive, not renderings. Etsy does not name AI in these rules, but a picture of your item made by an AI model is a rendering rather than a photograph you took. Etsy allows three exceptions:

• Personalized items. The first image must show a finished, personalized example, never a blank product or a "Your Text Here" placeholder. Computer-generated mockups may appear in the additional images to show the options.
• Designs printed by a production partner. A stock mockup may show your design on a base item such as a t-shirt or mug. A unique item a partner manufactures for you, such as furniture or clothing, needs a real photo.
• Craft and party supplies you source. You may use photos of the items you sell, or the manufacturer’s or distributor’s images, subject to Etsy’s intellectual property policy.

For items made with AI, Etsy allows art created with AI tools from a seller’s own prompts, listed under "designed by a seller", and requires the listing description to say the item was created with AI. Selling AI prompt bundles is not allowed. On wording a disclosure, see telling customers you used AI.

Editing your own photos with AI tools, such as relighting or tidying a background, is not addressed by any Etsy rule found as of September 24, 2026. Etsy’s statement on AI notes that photo editing software increasingly includes AI features. The edited photo must still show the item’s real condition, quality and quantity.

Alt text on Etsy

For US sellers, Etsy may write alt text with AI for listing photos that have none, and it leaves alt text you added alone. Etsy recommends describing the item’s look, texture and scale in up to 250 characters, and says that adding your shop name, title or tags to alt text brings no extra search benefit. To add it, open Shop Manager, go to Listings, open the listing, select the photo and fill in the Alt text section. What to write is in how to write alt text for product images.

Etsy photo checklist

For which shots to put in the slots, see what product photos an online store needs. Before you publish:

• Photos are at least 2000 px on both sides, and the first is at least 635 px.
• The first photo is landscape or square, with the item centered and room to crop.
• Files are JPG, or PNG without transparency, in sRGB.
• Each photo shows the real item you will ship, photographed by you or for you.
• Personalized items lead with a finished example, not a blank or a placeholder.
• Any item made with AI says so in the listing description.
• The main photo is bright, sharp and not a collage.
• Each photo has alt text of 250 characters or fewer.
• One or two videos of 3 to 15 seconds show the item in use or from all sides.

Questions people also ask

Do Etsy photos need a white background?

No. Etsy’s image requirements set no background color, unlike Amazon, Walmart and TikTok Shop, which want pure white main images. Etsy’s concerns are that the main photo is bright, sharp and not a collage, and that it crops cleanly into square, portrait and landscape thumbnails.

Why does my PNG have a black background on Etsy?

Etsy does not support transparent PNG files and shows transparent areas as black. Flatten the image onto a white or colored background before upload, or export a JPG.

Do I have to tell buyers I used AI?

If the item itself was created with AI, such as AI-generated art, yes: Etsy’s Creativity Standards and Seller Policy require you to disclose it in the listing. Etsy’s pages describe no separate label for editing your own photos with AI tools.

Can I reuse my Amazon or Shopify photos on Etsy?

Yes, if they are your own photographs of the item and meet Etsy’s sizes. Check the first photo’s crop, since Etsy crops thumbnails three ways, and convert any WebP files, because Etsy accepts only JPG, PNG, GIF, SVG and HEIC.

Sources

Checked on September 24, 2026. Prices, specs and rules change; follow the links for the current versions.

1. 1.Etsy Help: Requirements and best practices for images in your Etsy shop
2. 2.Etsy Help: How to edit your listing photos
3. 3.Etsy Help: How to create a listing
4. 4.Etsy Help: How to add listing videos
5. 5.Etsy Help: How to add a text alternative to your listing images
6. 6.Etsy: Listing Image Requirements (updated July 9, 2024)
7. 7.Etsy: Creativity Standards (updated June 10, 2025)
8. 8.Etsy: Seller Policy (effective July 9, 2026)
9. 9.Etsy Seller Handbook: What’s Etsy’s stance on AI creations?
10. 10.Amazon Seller Central: Product image guide
11. 11.Walmart Marketplace Learn: Product detail page, image guidelines and requirements
12. 12.TikTok Shop Academy (US): Product Listing Policy