Amazon Image Requirements & AI Product Photos (2026 Guide)

The safest way to use AI for product photos is to photograph the real item yourself and let AI do the rest: remove the background, place the product in a lifestyle scene, make extra angles and upscale for zoom. What AI should not do is invent the product. Every marketplace expects listing images to show the item the buyer will receive, at the right size, color and quantity.

Each marketplace adds its own rules on top. Amazon has strict main-image requirements and, since 2026, a disclosure rule for photorealistic AI-generated people. Etsy asks for photos of the actual item and disclosure of AI-designed products. Shopify leaves most decisions to you, but you're still responsible for accurate listings.

This guide covers those rules as of October 2026, then the workflow in Spicy Studio and what it costs. It's part of the free Spicy Academy "Make money with AI" track, for your own shop or for client work.

Amazon's product image requirements are the strictest of the three, and a non-compliant main image can get a listing suppressed.

Main image. A realistic, professional image of the product that is accurate in scale, color and quantity, on a pure white background (RGB 255, 255, 255). The product fills about 85% of the frame, is fully in frame and appears once. No text, logos, graphics or watermarks, no props that aren't included, and no mannequins. Some categories have extra rules, such as footwear and adult apparel, and only a few categories (such as sofas, mattresses and rugs) may use a lifestyle image as the main image.

Size and format. JPEG is preferred, and TIFF, PNG and non-animated GIF are accepted. Images can be 500 to 10,000 pixels on the longest side; 1,000 pixels or more enables zoom.

Other images. Lifestyle shots, angles, details and infographics can go in the additional image slots, but every image must be accurate and match the listing. Review graphics, star ratings, Amazon logos and badges aren't allowed.

AI-generated people (new in 2026). If a buyer-facing image or video shows a photorealistic person who is fully AI-generated, Amazon requires the file to carry the keyword "contains-synthetic-performer" in its XMP metadata before upload, and then shows a disclosure. Amazon's help page explains how. It doesn't apply to real people (even if edited with AI), non-photoreal people or images with no people. If you'd rather not handle metadata, keep AI models out of Amazon images and use product-only scenes.

Etsy's listing image requirements ask sellers to use their own photos of the actual item, not renderings or stock images. There are exceptions for print-on-demand designs made with a production partner, which may use mockups, and for personalized items, where the first image should show a finished piece.

What that means for AI. Lead with real photos of the real item. If you add an AI scene, build it from your own photo, keep the item exactly as it is and treat it as an extra image, never as a substitute for showing the product.

AI-designed products. Under Etsy's Creativity Standards, items designed with AI from the seller's own prompts belong in the "Designed by" category, and sellers must disclose AI use in the listing description. Selling AI prompt bundles isn't allowed. If you sell AI art on Etsy, read How to Sell AI Art.

Shopify doesn't have an AI-specific image policy for merchants. Its own Shopify Magic tools can change backgrounds and scenes, and its terms make the merchant responsible for what they publish. Two practical points:

Accuracy still applies. Consumer law in the US, Canada and Australia prohibits misleading product representations, whichever platform the store runs on.

Google Shopping. If your products feed into Google Shopping, Google's image requirements ask that AI-generated images keep the metadata that marks them as AI-made, so don't strip it on export.

Square images (1:1) work well in most Shopify themes, and generating at 2K or upscaling to 4K leaves room for zoom.

1. Photograph the real product. Use a plain background, soft window light and the phone at product height. Shoot the front straight on, plus the angles buyers need.

2. Cut it out. The Background Remover costs 4 credits per image. Place the cut-out on pure white for an Amazon-style main image, centered and filling about 85% of a square frame.

3. Make lifestyle scenes. Pick a product template (18 credits per image) or describe a scene in the Image Lab with Nano Banana 2.1 and the cut-out attached as a reference (12 credits at 2K, 18 at 4K). Always ask for the product to stay unchanged.

4. Make angles and variations. Multi-Shot turns one product photo into several set-ups for 16 credits per shot.

5. Upscale for zoom. Image Upscale takes an image to 2K, 4K or 8K for 8, 10 or 12 credits.

6. Check every image against the real item. Compare color, proportions, label text, cap or closure, and what's in the box. Fix or drop anything that doesn't match.

End every prompt with the same instruction: "Keep the product, its shape, colors, size and label exactly as in the reference image."

Kitchen. "Place the product on a light oak kitchen counter next to a bowl of lemons, soft morning window light from the left, shallow depth of field."

Bathroom shelf. "Place the bottle on a white marble bathroom shelf with a folded towel and a small plant, bright diffused daylight."

Desk. "Place the item on a tidy walnut desk beside a laptop and a notebook, warm late-afternoon light."

Outdoors. "Place the bottle on a flat rock by a mountain lake, early morning light, mist in the background."

Gift season. "Place the box on a table with wrapping paper, ribbon and fairy lights in the background, warm evening light."

Flat lay. "Top-down flat lay of the product on linen fabric with dried flowers arranged around it, soft even light."

Jewellery. "Place the necklace on a dark velvet bust, soft spotlight from above, a few sparkles on the stones, black background." Check that chains, clasps and stones match the real piece; AI tends to add or merge them.

Scale matters. If buyers can't judge size, include a familiar object at true scale, such as a hand or a mug, and check it's proportionally right. Getting scale wrong disappoints buyers and invites returns.

Per product (7 images). One cut-out (4), one white-background main image from it, four lifestyle scenes in Nano Banana 2.1 at 2K (48), two Multi-Shot angles (32) and four 4K upscales (40): about 124 credits, plus retries.

A 20-product catalog at that rate is roughly 2,500 credits before retries, which fits the €50 Ultimate plan (3,800 credits a month).

New accounts get 25 free credits, enough to try a cut-out and a scene. The €10 Basic plan includes 600 credits and one-time top-ups start at €2 for 90 credits; see pricing.

Changing the product. AI can recolor, resize or redraw a product without being asked. Compare every output with the real item.

Adding things that aren't included. Props are fine in lifestyle shots on most platforms, but nothing should suggest accessories or quantities the buyer won't get. On Amazon's main image, props aren't allowed at all.

Text on the main image. Badges, "bestseller" stickers, borders and watermarks get Amazon main images suppressed.

Faked results. No before-and-afters or results the product can't deliver.

Using someone else's photos. Start only from photos you took or have permission to use.

Online sellers with phone-quality photos are natural clients. A fixed package, such as one main image and four lifestyle shots per product with two revision rounds, is easy to buy and to deliver. AI Services to Sell covers pricing, contracts and where to find clients, and How to Make Product Videos With AI shows how to turn the same photos into short videos.

This guide teaches a skill. It is not a promise of income or a business opportunity, and it isn't legal or financial advice. Marketplace rules change, so check each platform's current requirements before you list. What you earn, if anything, depends on your products, skills, effort, market and costs. Product claims and ads are regulated: the FTC in the US, the Competition Bureau in Canada and the ACCC in Australia all prohibit misleading representations. None of these regulators has reviewed or endorsed this guide.