Prepare a Photo for Marketplaces
Resize and crop to a platform's technical requirements in one pass. Processing runs on our own server, your photos never go to the cloud.
Which preset for which platform
Vertical 3:4
A 3:4 (vertical) ratio, 900×1200 for the catalog, up to 1600×2400 for zoom. JPG format, up to 10 MB. Our preset uses 1200×1600, JPG 88, a white background if needed.
Tall product
Minimum 700×900, maximum 1500×3000. A 3:4 ratio is recommended. JPG or PNG, up to 10 MB. Preset: 1200×1600, JPG 88.
Square feed
1080×1080 (square) displays well in a feed. Many feeds downscale anything larger to 1280 on the long side. Preset: 1280×1280 square.
Large catalog
Minimum 600×800, 1500×2000 recommended, JPG. Preset: 1500×2000.
Custom
Set the size and ratio yourself if you work with a non-standard platform or social network.
What the tool does to your photo
- Reads the EXIF orientation and rotates the frame correctly
- Crops to the target aspect ratio (center or top)
- Resizes to the target size
- Compresses to JPG/PNG/WebP at a suitable quality
- Strips EXIF (GPS, camera, date), because marketplaces do not need it
How to use it
- Drag a photo into the upload area
- Choose a platform preset
- If the photo is vertical and you must not crop the top (for example, not cut off people's heads), pick the top crop mode
- Click Prepare
FAQ
Can I batch 50 photos at once?
For now, one at a time. For catalogs of 50-500 SKUs, message us in chat and we will do a batch run. For very large catalogs there is a separate API access.
Does it add a white background?
If the source is already on white, we keep it. If it is on a colored or complex background, no white is added; for that use remove background, then place a white layer in Photoshop. If you want it automated, message us in chat and we will set it up for you.
Center or top crop?
Center by default. Use top if the photo has a person or an object with an important top (a head, the top of packaging) so the key part is not cut.
Any limits?
Up to 25 MB per file, 30 files per minute, 200 per day per IP.
Related tools
- Remove background, for a transparent PNG
- Compress photo, if you only need a resize without cropping
- Upscale photo, if the source is below the platform's minimum requirements
What platforms require from the main image
The main image of a listing follows stricter rules than the rest of the gallery. Amazon, Walmart and most Shopify themes expect the product on a plain white or very light neutral background, with no props that a buyer could mistake for part of the package. The product should fill roughly 80 to 90 percent of the frame: too small and it disappears in the search grid, too large and it touches the edges and reads as cropped.
Promotional stickers, badges such as sale or best price, borders, multi-angle collages, watermarks and third party logos are all banned on the main image. Contact details, phone numbers and links to outside sites can suspend the whole listing, not just reject the file. Etsy and eBay are more forgiving about lifestyle backgrounds, but both still remove images carrying text overlays or seller contact information.
Amazon additionally requires the product to be shown complete, without any part running off the edge, and does not accept mannequins with visible support stands. The practical conclusion is simple: keep the main image completely neutral and move every marketing message to the second and third slides, where the rules are considerably looser.
Size, ratio, file weight and format
Aspect ratio matters more than absolute pixel count. A 3:4 vertical is the standard for fashion and tall products, 1:1 square suits general catalogue grids and social storefronts, and a larger 1500×2000 vertical works for premium listings with deep zoom. If you upload a frame in the wrong ratio, the platform crops it by its own logic, and the result is almost always worse than a deliberate crop.
Leave headroom for zoom. A 900×1200 file covers the catalogue thumbnail, but the magnifier on a product page only activates above a certain source size, so 1200×1600 is the working baseline. For textured goods where a buyer inspects stitching, threading or a stone setting, 1600×2400 is the sensible target. Upscaling a small file does not rescue zoom: interpolated pixels are visible immediately.
Use JPG at quality 85 to 90. PNG is only needed when you require transparency, and it weighs three to four times more without any visible gain on photographic content. Keep files between 2 and 4 MB against a typical 10 MB platform limit: heavy files load slowly on mobile search results, and mobile is where most of the sales happen.
Why listings get rejected and how to prevent it
Rejection reasons repeat from catalogue to catalogue. First, ratio mismatch, when a horizontal shot is pushed into a vertical slot. Second, resolution below the platform minimum, usually a photo that a messenger app compressed down to 800 pixels on the long side. Third, stray elements in the frame: a hand, a hanger, the edge of a table, a phone shadow, the photographer reflected in a glossy surface.
The fourth reason is the most costly: text and graphics on the main image. Moderation removes such listings in batches, and the product drops out of search until it is re-checked, losing ranking and accumulated statistics. Fifth is a mismatch between image and description, for example a set of three items shown while the listing sells one.
Checking before upload takes a minute and saves days of waiting on moderation. Run the file through this tool to guarantee the correct ratio, resolution and weight. Then confirm there is no text or stray object in the frame, that the background is uniform, and that the contents shown match exactly what the description and the price cover.
Keeping the whole catalogue visually consistent
An inconsistent gallery damages trust more than the modest quality of any single frame. A buyer scrolls the results and unconsciously reads mismatched sizes, shadows and background tones as the mark of a casual seller. Consistency comes from a template, not from talent.
Lock four parameters and never change them inside a category: frame ratio, the margin around the product, the direction of the light, and the type of shadow. Margins are easiest to define as a percentage, for example 8 percent of the height at the top and bottom, so products of different shapes sit identically in frame. Pick one shadow for the whole category: a soft drop shadow, a contact shadow under the object, or none at all. Mixing them is what breaks the grid.
Set up file naming separately. A scheme such as sku-01.jpg, sku-02.jpg with a fixed meaning per number (01 main, 02 back view, 03 detail, 04 in context) lets you upload hundreds of SKUs without manual sorting and without swapping slots on an update. Keep full resolution originals apart from the prepared files: when platform requirements change, you rebuild the catalogue in one pass instead of reshooting it.