There are a TON of steps that go into Amazon Ungating (in fact we have a Step by Step Amazon Ungating Guide for Beginners) but in this article we are going to discuss the basic Amazon Photo Requirements.  We will explain each requirement so you know exactly how to meet them!  Let's start with Photo TYPES and SIZE plus How to Name Photos for Amazon Listings....

ALL AMAZON IMAGE REQUIREMENTS:

The images you submit to amazon must be in one of these 4 formats / "extensions" : TIFF (.tif/.tiff), JPEG (.jpeg/.jpg), GIF (.gif) and PNG (.png) format.  

Here's the file types I used last week:

As you can see, in the eCommerce world we mostly use JPG's but we also use PNG photo files.  So, now you're wondering "WTF is an image format / file extension exactly?", well let me tell you...

An image format is the TYPE of image. Each image type does something different:  

JPG / JPEG JPEG stands for "Joint Photographic Experts Group". YOU WANT TO ALWAYS USE JPG FORMAT FOR PHOTOS because a JPG file supports over 15 million colors, is easy to work with, doesn't take up a ton of space; all around, this is your #1 choice UNLESS you plan to print your image or you need to do a lot of photo editing. Also see GIF, PNG and TIFF in this article.

GIF means "Graphics Interchange Format." GIF is an image file format commonly used for images on the web. GIF files are great for computer generated images / graphics. GIF files support under 300 different colors, so they're great for small, simple things, like a chart or website button but you do not want to use them for actual product photography.

PNG means "Portable Network Graphics".  You want to use a PNG when you need to print stuff because they are high quality, large files. However, if your goal is to list a bunch of stuff every day online you should likely be using JPG files.  PNG will slow down your website, take up a ton of space and really don't have any major differences when looking at a typical product image.

TIFF “Tagged Image File Format”, abbreviated TIFF or TIF, is a computer file format for storing digitized photographs, scanned artwork or detailed graphics. ".Tiff" is a file type allowed on Amazon however it is not a widely popular format for standard photography unless you plan to do a lot of editing to the photo.  You have no reason to use this file type for standard product images. 

HOW TO CHECK YOUR IMAGE FILE TYPE:

Let's use our image from our wholesale 101 blog as an example so we can check all of it's detail. The easiest way is to go to the image on your computer... 

then RIGHT CLICK on it.  Now click Properties (at the bottom of the list):

Now you can see all the info about the image:

2.  IMAGE SIZE: Image (pixel) dimensions of at least 1000px or larger in either height or width.  So let's take a look at the same image I used in the example above.  I am going to go back to PROPERTIES then click on the DETAILS tab:

Now I can see that this image is over 1000 pixels on one side:

So, this particular image appears to meet file type / extension requirements and it also is 1000px (or more) on one side so the size should be ok.  BUT...

FILE NAME IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

File names must have the product identification UPC, ASIN, ISBN, EAN or JAN followed by a period and the file extension that we just discussed (JPG, GIF, TIFF, PNG). So a correct file name (AKA "Title") would be "0257424673455.jpg".  So let's check and see what my file name is.  Once again, we are going to RIGHT CLICK and open Properties:

As you can see, my image title for the screaming insane lady is "Buyer Wanted Address Change After It Shipped.JPG", therefore this image does not meet title requirements.  I would need to change my title to match the product being sold.  Obviously, in my "screaming woman" photo there is nothing being sold, but lets pretend I am selling the wig she is wearing.  I would then change my title to match the wig.  Let's pretend the UPC of the wig is "199998887778".  I am now going to RIGHT CLICK on the photo and then click "RENAME":

I am then going to put the new name:

REMEMBER: Spaces, dashes or additional characters in the filename will prevent your image from going online.

NEXT: Read PHOTOGRAPHY BASICS FOR AMAZON LISTING APPROVAL Continue onward and keep learning the basics! 

OR, check out our other Amazon and eCommerce Guides:

• Top 5 Reasons You Aren't Getting Ungated on Amazon
• What is a BOL and How to Find Yours
• What is a PRO Number and How to Find Yours
• How to Get a Resellers Permit / Resale Certificate
• What is an EIN and How to Get One
• What is an LLC and How to Get One
• How to Create an Awesome Company Logo FAST and FREE
• Help! My Inventory is Priced Super Low and Still Isn't Selling!