Marketplaces reward listings that follow their image rules and quietly bury the ones that don't. The problem: every platform wants something slightly different, and doing it by hand across a big catalogue doesn't scale. Here's what each platform expects, and how to hit every spec automatically.
The universal rules
Almost every marketplace agrees on a few things: a clean, pure-white main image with the product filling most of the frame, accurate colour, and no logos, text, or watermarks on the primary shot. Secondary images are where lifestyle scenes, scale shots, and detail close-ups belong.
Aspect ratio and resolution by platform
Amazon prefers a square (1:1) main image at least 1000px on the longest side so zoom works. Shopify is flexible but a 4:5 portrait converts well on mobile. Shopee and Tokopedia lean square (1:1) for the grid, with 9:16 for Stories and short video. Instagram and ads want 1:1, 4:5, and 9:16 depending on placement.
The takeaway: you rarely need one image — you need the same product, cleanly rendered, in several ratios.
Consistency is the real ranking factor
Shoppers scroll fast. A catalogue where every product sits on the same background, at the same scale, under the same light, looks trustworthy and converts. A mix of homemade angles and lighting looks risky — even if each individual photo is fine.
How to hit every spec without manual editing
This is exactly where AI product photography earns its keep for sellers. Upload a product once and generate a clean white-background version and a lifestyle version, each exported to the exact ratio a platform needs — 1:1, 4:5, or 9:16 — with the same lighting and quality across every SKU. No per-product editing, no inconsistency.
Set your spec once, apply it to the whole catalogue, and spend your time selling instead of resizing.