Product content
E-commerce product photography: the shot list every product needs
Every product needs a set of images, not one photo: a clean hero shot, alternative angles, detail close-ups, at least one in-scale image, an in-use or lifestyle image, an on-model image for wearables, and accurate images of every variant. For Google Shopping, images must be at least 500 × 500 pixels for all products from 31 January 2027, around 1500 × 1500 is recommended, the product should fill 75–90% of the frame, and promotional text, borders and watermarks are not allowed.
By the MoraLab team · Updated · 5 min read
The shot list
Build each product's gallery from these shots, in roughly this order. Not every product needs all nine, but every product needs the ones that answer its buyers' questions.
Hero shot
The product alone, front or three-quarter view, on a clean background. This is the image used in category pages, ads and marketplace feeds, so it must be instantly recognisable at thumbnail size.
Alternative angles
Side, back, top and underneath where it matters, such as the sole of a shoe, the ports on a laptop, the back of a cabinet.
Detail and texture
Close-ups of material, stitching, finish and mechanisms. These answer “is it good quality?”, the question a shopper would answer by touching it in a shop.
In scale
The product next to something of known size: on a person, on a table, in a hand, in a room. Baymard found 42% of users try to gauge size from images, and that without a reference they draw wrong conclusions and discard relevant products.
In use or in context
The product doing its job in a believable setting: the mixer on a kitchen counter, the sofa in a living room. It shows purpose and helps shoppers picture ownership.
On a model
For clothing, shoes, jewellery and accessories. Baymard found 23% of sites still lack human-model images. State the model's height and the size they wear.
Every variant
Each colour and finish photographed, not recoloured from another. The gallery should switch when the shopper selects a variant.
What's in the box
Everything the customer receives, laid out. It prevents “missing part” returns and questions.
Dimensions graphic
A clean drawing with measurements for furniture, bags and anything where fit matters. Keep text off the hero image; put it here.
Sources: Baymard Institute: All products need at least one “in scale” image (2017); Baymard Institute: Product page UX pitfalls and best practices (updated Mar 2026)
Consistency rules for a whole catalog
Shoppers compare products side by side in category pages. If one chair is shot from above in warm light and another from the side in cold light, the comparison is unfair to both. Write a short style guide and apply it to every shoot:
- Same background colour for all hero shots (white or a light neutral works on most marketplaces and in ads)
- Same camera angle and height for the hero shot within a category
- Same light temperature, and colour-checked against the real product
- Product fills 75–90% of the frame, as Google recommends
- Same aspect ratio across the gallery (square or 4:5 are the most flexible)
- Consistent file naming: product-name-colour-view.jpg
Source: Google Merchant Center: Image link [image_link] requirements
Technical requirements
Google Merchant Center sets the strictest common rules, and meeting them makes images usable almost everywhere. On your own site, upload high-resolution originals and let the platform serve smaller, modern formats (WebP or AVIF) at the size each screen needs, so zoom stays sharp without slowing the page.
| Rule | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Minimum size | 500 × 500 px, required for all products from 31 January 2027 |
| Recommended size | Around 1500 × 1500 px or larger |
| Maximum | 64 megapixels and 16 MB per file |
| Framing | Product fills 75–90% of the image |
| Not allowed | Promotional text, prices, calls to action, watermarks, borders, placeholder images |
Source: Google Merchant Center: Image link [image_link] requirements
Alt text and file names
Write alt text that describes what the image shows, as you would to someone on the phone: “Oak dining chair, side view, with linen seat cushion”. It serves people using screen readers, which the European Accessibility Act now requires most e-commerce services selling to EU consumers to support, and it helps search engines understand the image. Do not stuff keywords or repeat the product title on every image.
Source: EUR-Lex: Directive (EU) 2019/882 (European Accessibility Act)
Accurate images reduce returns
The NRF and Happy Returns estimate that 19.3% of online sales were returned in 2025. Many return reasons, such as wrong colour, smaller than expected or different material, are photography problems. Colour-calibrate your workflow, photograph every variant, include scale, and never retouch a product into something it is not.
Source: NRF and Happy Returns: 2025 Retail Returns Landscape (Oct 2025)
Covering a large catalog without a studio day per product
Full studio shoots for thousands of products are rarely affordable. Shoot clean hero and detail images of every product, which a small in-house setup can do, and invest in in-context and lifestyle photography for best sellers and new launches.
For the rest, generated scenes can fill the gaps. Baymard's own guidance suggests large catalogs can use computer-generated in-scale images as a supplement to real photography. The rule for any generated image is accuracy: shape, colour, proportions, logos and materials must match the real product exactly, and every image must be checked by a person before it is published.
Source: Baymard Institute: All products need at least one “in scale” image (2017)
Frequently asked questions
How many images should a product have?
There is no correct number. Count the questions instead: identity, angles, detail, scale, use and variants. Most products need between five and ten images to answer them; a simple consumable may need three.
White background or lifestyle images?
Both, for different jobs. White or neutral backgrounds work for hero images, comparisons and marketplace feeds. Lifestyle images show scale, purpose and mood. Use the clean image first and lifestyle further into the gallery.
Can I use AI-generated product images?
Generated scenes and backgrounds are useful for context and scale, provided the product itself is shown accurately. Never let a generated image change the product's shape, colour, size or features, check every image by eye, and follow each marketplace's rules on accurate representation.
Can I use the manufacturer's images?
You can if you have permission, but every other retailer selling the same product uses them too. Add at least a few of your own images, especially in-scale and in-use ones, to give shoppers a reason to buy from you.
Sources
- Baymard Institute: All products need at least one “in scale” image (2017)
- Baymard Institute: Product page UX pitfalls and best practices (updated Mar 2026)
- Google Merchant Center: Image link [image_link] requirements
- EUR-Lex: Directive (EU) 2019/882 (European Accessibility Act)
- NRF and Happy Returns: 2025 Retail Returns Landscape (Oct 2025)
Sources checked 20 October 2026. Figures are reported as the publishers state them; where sources disagree, the article says so.