Listing photos
How many photos can an Etsy listing have?
Twenty. Etsy raised it from ten, so most guides you will find still say ten and are out of date. The useful question is the one the limit creates: if you sell 169 colors on a Bella+Canvas 3001, which twenty do you show, and what happens to the rest?
The rules
What Etsy accepts
Straight from Etsy's image requirements. Worth checking before you resize anything.
| Rule | Value | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Photos per listing | 20 | Raised from 10. A hard limit, not a recommendation |
| Recommended size | 2000px or more | On the shortest side |
| First photo minimum | 635px | Smaller and the listing ranks lower |
| Formats | JPG, PNG, GIF | Animated GIFs and transparent PNGs are not supported |
| File size | Under 1MB is safest | Larger files can fail to upload on a slow connection |
| Videos | 2 per listing | Separate from the twenty photos |
The real problem
Twenty slots, and more colors than that
Most print on demand advice pretends this conflict does not exist. It does, and the way you resolve it decides which of your colors sell.
You cannot give every color its own photo. What you can do is stop the colors without one from being invisible, and there are exactly three ways to do that: a grid image that shows the whole range in one slot, variation photos that swap which image shows when a buyer picks a color, and the listing video, which is the only place a buyer watches the full range go past.
The trap is doing none of those and letting the buyer’s imagination fill the gap, because it does not. A color they cannot see is a color they do not choose, and over a few months that quietly turns your photographed colors into your only sellers.
A layout that works
How I would spend the ten
| Slot | Use it for | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Your best-selling color, worn | This is the thumbnail. It competes in search results and does more work than the other nineteen combined. |
| 2 | A color grid of the full range | One image showing every color you sell. However many slots you have, you will always sell more colors than slots, and this is the answer for the rest. |
| 3–12 | Ten more colors, worn or flat | Pick the ones most different from each other rather than your favourites. A buyer is judging range, not shade. |
| 13 | The design up close | Print detail at a size nobody can see on a full garment shot. |
| 14 | Size chart | The most common pre-purchase question, answered without a message. |
| 15–16 | On a person, in context | Scale and fit. A flat lay shows neither. |
| 17 | Front and back together | If you print both sides, a buyer should not have to ask. |
| 18 | Fabric or print texture | Garment-dyed and heathered blanks look different up close, and that difference is often why someone chose it. |
| 19 | Care or shrinkage note | Garment-dyed shirts shrink. Saying so up front prevents a return. |
| 20 | Shipping or packaging | The last doubt before checkout is usually when it arrives and what it arrives in. |
Slot two is the one most shops leave on the table, and it is the one that does the work of the fifty photos you do not have room for.
Making them
Where the images come from
- Every color you sell, rendered from one placement, so picking your best ten is a choice rather than a limit on what you have
- A listing video that cycles the full range, which is where the colors without a slot go
- Files at full resolution, comfortably past Etsy's 2000px recommendation
- Named by color, so filling the twenty slots is a drag rather than a hunt
Next
The listing video is the part most shops skip, and it is the only slot on a listing where a buyer sees every color you sell without clicking anything.
FAQ
Etsy listing photo questions
- How many photos can you put on an Etsy listing?
- Twenty. Etsy raised the limit from ten, so older guides still say ten and are out of date. You also get two videos per listing, counted separately from the photos.
- What size should Etsy listing photos be?
- At least 2000 pixels on the shortest side. Your first photo must be at least 635 pixels or the listing is pushed down in search. Keep files under about 1MB — larger ones sometimes fail to upload on a slow connection.
- I sell 60 colors. How do I show them all in 20 photos?
- You cannot give each color a slot, so stop trying. Spend one slot on a grid image showing every color at once, spend ten on the colors most different from each other, and use the listing video to cycle through the rest. Between them, the buyer sees the whole range.
- Can I attach a photo to a specific color variation?
- Yes, but the photo has to be one of the twenty already on the listing. Variation photos change which of your existing images shows when a buyer picks a color — they do not give you extra slots.
- Does a color with no photo still sell?
- Less often. A buyer choosing between a color they can see and one they have to imagine picks the one they can see, which is why the colors in your twenty slots quietly become your best sellers. That is worth choosing deliberately rather than by accident.
- Should the first photo be a flat lay or worn?
- Test it rather than take anyone's word for it, including ours. Keep the design, the title and the tags identical, change only the first image, and watch the click rate. It is the cheapest experiment on a listing and almost nobody runs it.
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