Photoshop for Amazon Sellers: The Complete Free Guide

Photoshop is overkill for one photo and exactly right for a hundred. If you sell on Amazon, you live in batches: a launch of twenty SKUs, a refresh of all hero images, a seasonal A+ rebuild. This guide walks through the specs you must hit, the gear that gets you a clean source file, the editing moves per category, and the AI shortcuts that are safe to use on a marketplace where TOS matters.

Each marketplace has its own rules. Get the source file right once, and you can export to all of them.

Amazon

• Main image: pure white background (RGB 255, 255, 255), product must fill at least 85% of the frame, no text, logos, watermarks, or props.
• Minimum size: 1000 px on the longest side for zoom to work. Recommended 2000 px square.
• Format: JPEG (.jpg), TIFF, PNG, or GIF. JPEG sRGB is the safe default.
• File name: must include the product ASIN.
• The 25% rule: Amazon used to enforce 85% fill but the practical truth is that the product should dominate, with a small margin of breathing room.

Etsy

• Up to 10 photos per listing, 2000 px wide recommended, JPEG or PNG.
• Max file size 20 MB.
• Square thumbnail crops, so frame loose enough that a square crop still works.
• Lifestyle and styled flat-lay images are encouraged, not penalized.

eBay

• Up to 24 photos per listing, 500 px minimum on the longest side, 1600 px recommended.
• No borders, text, or watermarks on the main image.
• JPEG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, GIF.

Shopify

• Max 5000 x 5000 px, 20 MB per file, JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF.
• Recommended 2048 x 2048 px square for product pages, 1280 px wide for collection thumbnails.
• WebP auto-conversion is supported by the storefront.

You do not need a $4000 camera. You need controlled light, a steady camera, and a clean surface. Total budget for a workable setup: $300-800.

Camera

Any modern phone (iPhone 13 or later, Pixel 6 or later, Galaxy S22 or later) shoots 12-48 MP RAW or ProRAW files that survive heavy retouching. A used mirrorless (Sony A6000, Fujifilm X-T20, Canon M50) runs $300-500 with a kit lens and gives you better depth of field control. For glass, jewelry, and small detail work, a 50mm or 90mm macro lens is the upgrade that matters most.

Lighting

Two LED panels with softboxes (45 x 45 cm or larger) at 5500K. Brands like Godox, Neewer, and Aputure sell starter kits at $80-200 each. Continuous light beats strobes for beginners because you see the result live.

For pure white backgrounds, add one light behind a translucent backdrop or use a tabletop light tent. Three-light setups (key, fill, background) cut your retouching time in half.

Surface and backdrop

A seamless paper roll (Savage or Superior, 53 inch / 1.35 m) at $30-50 lasts months. White, light gray, and a beige (Savage 51 Bone) cover most needs. For flat-lay, a marble or wood-grain vinyl sheet ($20-40) is reusable and wipeable.

Tripod and tether

A basic aluminum tripod ($30-80) keeps your framing identical across a 100-SKU shoot. Tethering (camera plugged into a laptop via USB-C, software like Capture One or Adobe Lightroom Tethered) shows the shot full-screen and helps you spot focus and color issues live.

Every product category has its own pitfalls. Treat them differently.

Apparel

The two biggest wins: clean the fabric and make the color accurate. Use frequency separation to smooth wrinkles without losing the weave. Selective Color (Reds, Yellows, Blues) to nail the dye color, then verify against the actual garment under daylight.

Mannequin shots: photograph on a ghost mannequin, then composite the inside collar from a second shot. Or use Generative Fill to remove the mannequin from inside the neckline.

Jewelry

Dust and fingerprints are the enemy. Clean every piece with a microfiber cloth and handle with cotton gloves. In post, Spot Healing at 100% zoom across the entire metal surface. Dodge and Burn to enhance gold and silver highlights. Pen Tool cutouts only, never AI selection on gemstones, the edges are too critical.

Cosmetics and skincare

Label legibility is everything. Shoot label-on at a slight angle so all text is readable. Retouching: clean glass reflections with the Patch Tool, color-match the cap and bottle if they were shot in slightly different light, sharpen the label with Smart Sharpen (Amount 100-150, Radius 0.7).

Food and supplements

Color accuracy and freshness cues are critical. Always shoot with a gray card in the first frame, balance the rest to it. Avoid heavy saturation, it screams fake. For ingredients shots, frequency-separate to even out tone without losing texture (the wood grain on a cutting board, the bumps on a fruit skin).

Electronics

Screens, glossy plastic, and brushed metal. Shoot screens off and composite the display in Photoshop, this looks far cleaner than a real screen capture. Pen Tool cutouts. For brushed metal, do not over-smooth, the linear grain is part of the look. A subtle Dodge and Burn pass adds the depth that flat lighting kills.

Home goods and furniture

Lifestyle context matters more than spec photos. Shoot on a real surface, in real light, then composite onto a clean white version for the Amazon main image. Use Generative Fill to extend the floor or wall when your set is too small.