PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY FOR ETSY

 

Etsy is the largest online market for handmade items, vintage goods, and craft supplies, with millions of shoppers around the world.

In Etsy’s own customer research, shoppers have told them that product photos are critical to their purchase decision. Actually, it’s the most important factor when they’re deciding to buy – more important than the postage cost, customer reviews, or even the price of the item itself.

Having great product images will help you stand out and make your online shop look more professional, resulting in more sales. If you’ve spent lots of time and effort creating an amazing product, why undersell it with bad product photos?

 

ETSY IMAGE REQUIREMENTS

Images uploaded to Etsy must meet their size and file type specifications. Etsy’s guidelines state that listing photos have a width and height of 2000 pixels along the shortest side. They advise that photos with a width and height less than 635 pixels will show up lower in searches.

Etsy recommend images shouldn’t be larger than 1MB or they may not finish uploading, especially on slower internet connections.

Another thing to consider when using Etsy, is that you can upload up to ten images per listing, giving you the opportunity to cover all the questions your customer may have. Here are a few ideas of the type of images you could include in your listing:

  • A brightly lit, simple and clear image of your product on a plain background.

  • Create a scene and show your product in a lifestyle setting.

  • Show the scale by photographing your product being used or worn.

  • Get in close for a shot of the important details that make your product special.

  • Is the product part of a range? Take a group photo and let your customer know there are other items available.

  • Showing how things will arrive packaged gives customers a great idea of what to expect.

  • An image demonstrating how the product is made will emphasise the time and skill that went into creating it.

  • A short video demonstrating how your product may be used or showing off a particular detail, such as gold foiling on a greetings card.

 

ETSY IMAGE OPTIMISATION

When creating product photos for Etsy, it’s really important to consider the aspect ratio. The ratio refers to how tall and wide the image is.

Gallery images are displayed at a ratio of 5:4, so your images should also be in this ratio. If they’re not, your product may not be shown clearly on the gallery page. However, the image should also work when cropped to square for the individual listing page.

 
 
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Above is an example of an image that has been shot so that it works whether cropped to 5:4 aspect ratio or to 1:1 (square).

You also need to consider image SEO (search engine optimisation). As well as crawling the text on your page, search engines also crawl your image file names.

By using relevant descriptive keywords you’ll help your product photos to rank more highly on Google and other image search engines. Etsy publish their own detailed image guide, but why not leave the worry of Etsy image optimisation to us?

 

BOOK A PRODUCT PHOTOSHOOT FOR ETSY

When booking a photoshoot with us, simply let us know that you require your product images to be suitable for Etsy and we can discuss the options available - we can also make sure your photos are optimised ready to upload.

Need images for a different platform from Etsy? We can do that too - just get in touch to tell us your needs.