Glossary · Image standards
sRGB
sRGB is the standard RGB colour space for screens and the web, proposed by HP and Microsoft in 1996, and the safest colour space for product photos uploaded to any marketplace.
A colour space defines which colours the numbers in an image file stand for. sRGB became an IEC standard, IEC 61966-2-1, and is the default assumption for web browsers, phones and most monitors. When an image has no embedded profile, software usually treats it as sRGB.
Marketplace rules are written in terms of RGB and do not trust embedded profiles. Amazon's technical file requirements accept RGB, ask for CMYK files to be converted first, allow greyscale only for grey or silver products, and tell sellers not to rely on ICC profiles. Amazon's A+ Content guidelines accept RGB only and reject CMYK. Walmart asks for RGB 8-bit. TikTok Shop requires images to be in colour.
The two common mistakes both come from other workflows. Artwork exported from print design software is often CMYK and can be rejected or shift colour on conversion. Photos edited in a wide-gamut space such as Adobe RGB or Display P3 can look right on the editor's screen but dull or oversaturated once a platform ignores the profile. Strong reds, greens and blues shift the most.
Colour accuracy is a listing accuracy issue, not only a look. TikTok Shop's AIGC rules forbid changing a product's colour, and Etsy says the item must not look different from what the buyer receives.
Convert to sRGB before you upload a photo to PicBarn, so the colour the tool keeps is the colour buyers will see.
See also
- Pure white background (RGB 255, 255, 255)A pure white background is one where every background pixel has the RGB value 255, 255, 255, the colour Amazon and Walmart require behind the product in the main image.
- XMP metadataXMP (Extensible Metadata Platform) is an ISO standard, created by Adobe, for storing descriptive data such as keywords, creator and rights inside an image file, where editing tools and upload systems can read it.
- ColourwayA colourway is one of the colour combinations a product is made in, such as a trainer in black and white or in red and navy, and each one usually needs its own accurate photos and swatch.
Related
- Recolor image online — change the colour of anything in a photoRecolor an image with AI: name the part (a shirt, a lid, a bag, the background), pick the new colour, and get the same photo in that colour. Texture, folds, shadows and printed text stay. 2 credits per image.
- Shopify product image sizes and how to export every one from a single photoShopify’s official limits (5,000 × 5,000 px, 25 MP, 20 MB), the 2,048 × 2,048 size that displays best, how the CDN serves every other size from one master, and how to get the Amazon, TikTok Shop and Etsy sizes from the same photo.