White Background Product Photos: Amazon, eBay, Etsy & Walmart Rules

Most marketplaces want the main product image on a plain white background, and the strictest ones define white as RGB 255, 255, 255, with no shadows of gray. Amazon and Walmart both state that number. Google, eBay, Etsy and Shopify care more about size, text and watermarks than about the exact background color.

This guide collects each marketplace's main-image rules from its own help pages, checked in October 2026, and shows how to produce a compliant white-background photo from an ordinary product shot.

The rules at a glance

The table below summarizes the main-image rules each marketplace publishes. "Not stated" means the official page does not give a number, not that anything goes.

A square image of about 2200 by 2200 pixels on pure white, with the product filling roughly 85% of the frame, meets or comes close to every published rule above in one file. Check Shopify and Etsy file sizes separately, since a large PNG can exceed them.

Amazon

Amazon's main image must have a pure white background, defined as RGB 255, 255, 255, and should show the product as 85% of the image. Those words come from Amazon's product image requirements in Seller Central. The same page sets these rules:

• Size: at least 500 pixels and at most 10,000 pixels on the longest side. Images under 500 px cannot be uploaded. 1,000 px or more is recommended, and that is what enables zoom on the product page.
• Formats: JPEG, TIFF, PNG and non-animated GIF, with JPEG preferred. RGB color mode is preferred, at 72 dpi or more.
• Content: the whole product in frame, shown once, one unit. No props or accessories that are not included, no mannequins, and no packaging unless it is a relevant feature.
• Text and badges: no Amazon logos or badges, no star ratings or review imagery, no claims like "free shipping", and no text or pricing.

Amazon allows a limited set of product types to use a lifestyle main image, so check your category's style guide if your product is one of them. For everything else, white is the rule.

What "85%" means in practice

Amazon's page does not define how the 85% is measured. Most sellers read it as the product spanning about 85% of the frame's height or width, whichever is larger, leaving thin, even margins. That is what the checker further down measures. A product that is tiny in the middle of a big white square will pass the white rule and still look weak in search results.

Walmart

Walmart Marketplace requires a seamless white background, written as 255/255/255 RGB, for the main image, according to its image guidelines. Walmart's rules are stricter about shape than Amazon's:

• Square: a 1:1 aspect ratio.
• Size: 2200 by 2200 pixels recommended, and at least 1500 by 1500 pixels for zoom.
• File: JPEG, JPG, PNG or BMP; GIF is not permitted. 5 MB or less, RGB.
• Framing: crop the item as close as possible to the frame, and do not upscale small images.
• Main image content: no watermarks, no seller name or logo, no accessories that are not included, no promotional language and no retailer logos.

Larger items may be shown in an expected environment, but most products should be on white. Walmart also recommends at least four images per listing.

Google Merchant Center

Google Merchant Center sets size and content rules for the image_link attribute but does not state a background color. Its image requirements say:

• Size: at least 500 by 500 pixels, with about 1500 by 1500 pixels or larger recommended.
• Limits: no more than 64 megapixels and 16 MB.
• Formats: JPEG and WebP recommended; PNG, GIF, BMP and TIFF also accepted.
• Product fill: the product should take up no less than 75% and not more than 90% of the image.
• Not allowed: watermarks, promotional text or overlays, prices, barcodes or QR codes, borders, placeholder images, and single-color images.

Older guides quote smaller minimums of 100 by 100 or 250 by 250 for apparel. Google's current page gives 500 by 500 for all products, so plan for that.

eBay

eBay does not require a white background, but it does ban borders, text and watermarks. Its picture policy and photo tips set these rules:

• Size: at least 500 pixels on the longest side, and about 1600 by 1600 pixels recommended.
• File: up to 12 MB, in JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, WebP, HEIC or AVIF.
• Shape: eBay says 1:1 or 16:9 look best.
• Not allowed: added borders, added text or artwork, and watermarks of any kind.
• Background: eBay says white backgrounds are generally best, and suggests a darker background can suit reflective items.

You can add 1 to 24 photos per listing.

Etsy

Etsy has no white-background rule; the platform is built around styled and lifestyle photos. It does have size guidance and one rule that catches out sellers who use cut-outs. From Etsy's listing photo tips:

• Size: at least 2000 pixels in width and height recommended. The first photo should be at least 635 pixels each way, or it may show lower in search.
• Formats: JPG, GIF, PNG, SVG and HEIC.
• Transparency: transparent PNGs are not supported, and transparent areas show up as black.
• File size: images larger than 1 MB may not finish uploading. Convert to sRGB color.

If you cut out a product for Etsy, place it on a background before export. Our explainer on transparent backgrounds covers why transparent areas can turn black.

Shopify

Shopify does not require a white background. Its product media guide recommends 2048 by 2048 pixels for square product images and allows up to 5000 by 5000 pixels, 25 megapixels and 20 MB. PNG is described as the best file type for most product images, followed by JPEG, and WebP and HEIC are accepted too.

Shopify's main advice is consistency: use the same aspect ratio for every featured image, so collection pages line up. If you also sell on Amazon or Walmart, using the same white-background square everywhere keeps your catalog consistent and saves a second edit.

Flipkart and Meesho

Flipkart and Meesho do not publish their full product image rules on a public help page. Both show the requirements inside the seller or supplier panel after you sign in. Third-party guides quote numbers such as 1000 by 1000 pixels and an 85% fill, but they disagree with each other and do not cite an official source, so treat them as guesses.

Before you shoot for either marketplace, read the image section of your seller panel. A square image of 2000 pixels or more on a pure white background with no text, logos or watermarks matches the norms of every marketplace on this page and is a safe starting point.

How to make a pure white background

The fastest route to a compliant main image is to photograph the product as cleanly as you can, remove the background, and place the cut-out on pure white. Here is the process:

1. Shoot on a light, plain surface with even light from the front and sides. A sheet of white card behind and under the product helps the cut-out and keeps color casts down.
2. Remove the background with a tool that keeps full resolution. A small preview will fail the size minimums above.
3. Check edges at 100% zoom. Look for leftover background in gaps, missing parts of the product, and gray fringes. Fix them with a restore and erase brush.
4. Set the background to white, not transparent, for Amazon, Walmart and Etsy.
5. Crop to a square with the product filling about 85% of the frame.
6. Export JPG for small files, or PNG if you want lossless output and the size stays under each marketplace's file limit.
7. Verify with a color picker that the background reads 255, 255, 255 in several places.

WipeMark does steps 2 to 4 for free without a sign-up or watermark. You can set the background to white and download a full-size JPG, PNG or WebP. Our complete background removal guide covers the touch-up step for hair, glass and shadows in more detail.

Why "almost white" fails

A photo taken against white paper is rarely exactly 255, 255, 255. Uneven light, the camera's exposure and color balance leave it slightly gray or tinted, and corners usually come out darker than the middle. To a shopper that still looks white, but to a rule that says 255, 255, 255 it is light gray. Replacing the background after a cut-out gives you exact white every time, which is why it is the most reliable method.

Shadows are the other trap. Amazon's page asks for a pure white background, and a gray shadow under the product is not pure white. A removed shadow makes the product look like it floats slightly, which is normal on Amazon.

Check your image

Enter your image size, the size of the product inside it, and the background color you sampled with an eyedropper. The checker compares them against the published rules above. "Advice" marks recommendations rather than hard requirements.

The checker only tests numbers. It cannot see text, logos, watermarks, props or packaging, which every marketplace above restricts on the main image, so check those by eye before you upload.