Amazon Image Requirements for Fashion: Main Image, 85 Percent, and the On-Model Rule

What Amazon Requires From Fashion Images

For fashion products, Amazon requires a minimum of five and a maximum of seven images per listing: one main image plus up to six alternates. The main image must have a pure white background (RGB 255/255/255, #FFFFFF), the product must fill at least 85 percent of the frame, and adult apparel must be imaged on a model. Kids and baby items, accessories, multipacks and sets, by contrast, must be imaged off-model.

That makes Amazon the only one of the four large fashion marketplaces to answer the model question for the main image in one binding direction — and to forbid visible mannequins and ghost mannequins in the main image in the same breath. For brands built on invisible-mannequin photography, that is the most expensive sentence on this page.

Status: August 2026, with a caveat that belongs here: the fashion-specific rules come from Amazon's "Seller Imaging Guidelines — Clothing & Accessories", Spring 2021 edition. No newer public version of that fashion guide is findable. Amazon's general image requirements on its seller pages are current and agree on the core points. In every case the binding and more current reference is the image documentation inside your own Seller Central account, because it is maintained per category. Both public sources can be opened directly: the fashion guide as a PDF and the general image requirements on Amazon's seller pages. The Seller Central help pages themselves sit behind the login and cannot be opened without a seller account (links last checked 13 August 2026).

The Requirements at a Glance

Requirement	Specification
Images per product	Minimum 5, maximum 7 (1 main plus up to 6 alternates)
Main image background	Pure white, RGB 255/255/255 (#FFFFFF); grey backgrounds are not permitted
Main image frame fill	Product fills at least 85 % of the image area
Minimum height (fashion)	1,600 px
Maximum dimension	10,000 px on the longest side
Resolution	At least 72 dpi
File format	JPEG preferred; the fashion guide names JPEG and TIFF for the main image, the general file specification JPG or PNG
Colour profile	RGB or CMYK; RGB recommended because CMYK can show tonal variation on the website
Adult apparel	To be imaged on-model
Kids, baby, accessories, multipacks and sets	To be imaged off-model
Main image crop	Amazon displays main images "half-face" (from the nose down) — a display convention, not a mandatory crop; alternates may show the full face
File naming	Product identifier plus variant code: .MAIN, .PT01, .PT02 …, .FL01 for the off-model shot

What Is Forbidden in the Main Image

• Visible mannequins — and explicitly ghost mannequins, meaning invisible-mannequin shots. Neither is permitted in the main image.
• Grey backgrounds. Pure white means pure white; "nearly white" is treated as an error.
• Child and baby models. All kids and baby items must be imaged off-model. Underwear, swimwear and leotards on child or baby models are prohibited outright and result in removal.
• Models kneeling, leaning or lying down. In the main image, models stand.
• Props and extras not included with the purchase — food, drink, handbags, accessories.
• Multiple product views in a single image. A composite of front and back is not a valid main image.
• Promotional text such as "sale" or "free shipping", plus logos, graphics and badging that are not part of the product.
• Packaging, brand displays or swing tags.
• Visible hair in front of the product. Hair belongs behind the shoulder and must not cover any part of the garment.

Amazon states that missing or non-compliant main images may result in the removal of the listing from search. That is not a quiet quality downgrade — it is the loss of discoverability.

The Ghost Mannequin Problem

For many fashion sellers this is the single most consequential rule. The invisible-mannequin shot — garment with body shape but no visible person — is a standard format in European catalogue photography and is even an accepted catalogue view at Zalando. At Amazon it is excluded as a main image for adult apparel, because a model is required there.

So a catalogue built on ghost mannequin photography has no usable Amazon main image, even when the pictures are technically flawless. The invisible-mannequin shot remains usable as an alternate; the main image has to be created anew. How to solve that step without reshooting the catalogue is covered in From Ghost Mannequin to On-Model.

The Crop per Product Group

For the main image Amazon does not recommend one crop for everything but four, depending on the garment. This system is almost never found in secondary sources, yet it decides whether an image looks professional:

Crop	For what	Frame boundaries
Full length	Dresses, suits and tuxedos, sleep sets, one-piece garments, robes and nightgowns, sweaters, jackets and outerwear below the knee	Products falling at or below the knee
Top body	Tops and tees, one-piece swimsuits and rash guards, sweaters, jackets and outerwear above the knee	Below the fingertips down to above the knee
Waist down	Trousers and jeans, shorts and skirts, leggings and pyjama bottoms	From slightly above the navel or below the ribcage down to below the feet
Square	Underwear, swimwear and bottoms above the knee; bras and sports bras, swim tops, briefs and bikini bottoms	Bras above the navel; swim tops below the navel to differentiate them from bras

A fifth rule applies to athletic clothing: where the back detail is the key selling feature, Amazon recommends using the back view as the main image instead of the front shot.

This matters for the generated route as well, because it explains why a blanket full-body framing for every article is wrong: jeans in a full-length frame waste area, a maxi dress in a top-body crop misses the requirement.

A Shot List That Meets the Requirements

1. Main image (.MAIN): front view on model, pure white, 85 % frame fill, standing, no props (Amazon displays main images "half-face", from the nose down — display convention, not a mandatory crop).
2. Back view on model (.PT01): classified by Amazon as extremely important.
3. Detail on model (.PT02): fabric, seam, fastening or print.
4. Styled shot (.PT03): may use a different background, include props and show the full face — alternates are considerably freer than the main image.
5. Laydown off-model (.FL01): Amazon explicitly recommends adding an off-figure shot for every article photographed on-figure.
6. Optional: a second detail shot photographed flat.
7. Optional: a short video in place of an alternate image — that counts as a variant too.

For the laydown, Amazon specifies craft: shoot flat using pins, liner or stuffing, use seams as a symmetry guide, steam the garment and remove loose threads. Multipacks and sets are cascaded diagonally from top left to bottom right, darkest piece at the top left.

Producing the Views Without a Shoot

Positions 1 through 4 are on-model views of the same garment — exactly the images that can be generated from an existing product photo. GridShot returns 16 to 25 pose variations per run in 5 to 15 minutes; billing is one US dollar per published image plus the compute actually consumed, a few cents. New accounts start with USD 10 in credit.

For Amazon the case is unusually clear, because the on-model rule and the ghost mannequin ban coincide: a catalogue of cut-outs or invisible-mannequin shots needs an on-model main image for every article that does not exist yet. That is the situation the generated route is built for.

What honestly belongs alongside it:

• A usable source photo has to exist. A cut-out or invisible-mannequin shot works as source material — but some photograph of the real article must be there.
• The crop per product group is a decision, not an automatism. Full length for long garments, top body for tops, waist down for trousers: decide before the run and verify at the crop.
• Pure white and 85 percent happen at export. Frame fill and the exact background value are cropping and cut-out work in your own image pipeline, downstream of generation.
• The disclosure question belongs on the table. Publishing AI-generated images in the EU falls under the transparency obligations of Article 50 of the EU AI Act, which have applied since 2 August 2026. That is not an Amazon rule, but it concerns the same images — and belongs with your legal advisors rather than in a blog footnote.

Products come in by URL import, larger catalogues by CSV import. The other marketplaces are covered in the fashion marketplace image requirements overview; what conventional production costs is in Product Photography Pricing; how many images per article make sense in general is covered in Product Photos Per SKU.

Amazon Checklist

1. Five to seven images planned per product, with front and back as the mandatory core.
2. Main image pure white (#FFFFFF), product filling at least 85 % of the frame.
3. Adult apparel on-model; kids, baby, accessories, multipacks and sets off-model.
4. No ghost mannequin and no visible mannequin in the main image.
5. Model standing, not kneeling, leaning or lying down; hair behind the shoulder.
6. Accounted for Amazon displaying main images "half-face" (not a mandatory crop).
7. Crop chosen per product group: full length, top body, waist down or square.
8. At least 1,600 px in height, maximum 10,000 px on the longest side, RGB.
9. No promotional text, logos, badges, packaging or swing tags in the frame.
10. Files named correctly: .MAIN, .PT01 upward, .FL01 for the off-model shot.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many images does Amazon require per fashion listing?

Based on its own customer studies, Amazon states a minimum of five and a maximum of seven images per product: one main image plus up to six further views. These should include a clear front and back image as well as detail shots covering all angles. One of the alternates may also be a short video. Status: August 2026.

Does clothing have to be shown on a model on Amazon?

For adult apparel, yes: Amazon specifies that adult apparel should be imaged on-model. Kids and baby items, accessories, multipacks and sets must be imaged off-model. Visible mannequins and ghost mannequins are not permitted in the main image.

What background and size does Amazon require for the main image?

The main image must have a pure white background, RGB 255/255/255 or #FFFFFF; grey backgrounds are not permitted. The product must fill at least 85 percent of the image area. For fashion, Amazon states a minimum height of 1,600 px, a maximum of 10,000 px on the longest side, and at least 72 dpi.

Are ghost mannequin shots allowed on Amazon?

Not in the main image. Amazon lists ghost mannequins and visible mannequins explicitly among the things a main image must not contain, and requires adult apparel to be shown on a model instead. The invisible-mannequin shot remains usable as an additional view, but the main image has to be produced differently.

What happens if the main image does not meet the requirements?

Amazon states that missing or non-compliant main images may result in the removal of the listing from search. For the outright prohibitions — such as underwear or swimwear on child or baby models — Amazon frames removal not as a possibility but as the consequence.