Online Seller's Image & Labeling Toolkit

I helped a friend set up her Etsy shop last month. Beautiful handmade jewelry. Great photos from her phone.

Every single listing got flagged for incorrect image dimensions.

Turns out each platform has its own requirements. And if your images don't match, they either get cropped awkwardly or rejected entirely. Here's what I've learned about getting it right.

Platform Image Size Requirements

Every marketplace has opinions about your product photos:

| Platform | Main Image | Thumbnail | Recommended | |----------|-----------|-----------|-------------| | Amazon | 1600x1600 min | 500x500 | 2000x2000 | | Shopify | 2048x2048 max | 100x100 | 1024x1024 | | Etsy | 2000x2000 min | 570x456 | 2000x2000 | | eBay | 500x500 min | 400x300 | 1600x1600 | | WooCommerce | Varies | 300x300 | 800x800 |

That's five different specs for five platforms. If you sell on multiple marketplaces, you need multiple versions of every single product photo.

The White Background Problem

Amazon requires a pure white background (RGB 255, 255, 255) for main product images. Other platforms prefer it even if they don't mandate it.

After you've got your product shot, crop it to center the product with consistent padding. Most marketplace algorithms favor images where the product fills 85% of the frame.

File Size Matters More Than You Think

Here's something sellers overlook: upload speed and page load time directly affect your conversion rate. Studies consistently show that every extra second of load time costs you sales.

A product listing with ten 5MB photos takes forever to load on mobile. And guess where most shoppers are browsing? Their phones.

Compress your product images before uploading. You can typically reduce file size by 60-70% without any visible difference. Your customers won't see lower quality — but they will notice faster loading.

Barcodes for Inventory Management

Once you're past a few dozen products, you need barcodes. Whether it's UPC codes for retail distribution, EAN for international sales, or simple Code 128 for internal inventory tracking — having proper barcodes makes everything from warehouse management to POS integration smoother.

A barcode generator lets you create individual barcodes or batches. Print them on labels, stick them on products or packaging, and your inventory system suddenly works like a real operation.

QR Codes on Packaging

This is something smart sellers are doing now: adding QR codes to product packaging that link to setup guides, warranty registration, review pages, or reorder links.

A customer scans the code on their new kitchen gadget and lands on a setup video. Or they scan the code on their coffee bag and it takes them straight to a subscription page.

It costs essentially nothing to generate and print, but it creates a direct digital connection with your physical product.

Generate a QR code with your destination URL, download the image, and add it to your packaging design. Some sellers even put QR codes on their thank-you cards linking to review pages.

A Practical Workflow

Here's the process I recommend for every new product listing:

1. Shoot your product photos (good lighting, clean background)
2. Crop to center the product with proper framing
3. Resize to each platform's specific requirements
4. Compress to keep file sizes under 500KB per image
5. Generate barcodes for inventory management
6. Create QR codes for packaging if applicable

Do this once per product and you're set across all platforms. Save your resized versions in folders named by platform so you can quickly grab the right ones later.

The Professional Edge

The difference between a shop that looks amateur and one that looks professional often comes down to these details. Properly sized images that load fast, consistent product framing, and smart use of barcodes and QR codes.

None of this requires expensive software. It just requires knowing what each platform expects and having the right tools to deliver it.

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Selling online is competitive enough without fighting with image dimensions and file sizes. Get the technical stuff right once, then focus on what actually matters — making and marketing great products.