PicBarn

Amazon · checked 2026-11-04

Amazon apparel image requirements

Clothing is where Amazon's main image rules get specific. These are the apparel rules from Seller Central and Amazon's Clothing & Accessories style guide.

The rules

Required, recommended and banned, in the platform's own words.

  • Adult apparel on a standing model

    Adult clothing on the main image is shown on a standing model. The style guide lists a model "sitting, kneeling, leaning, or lying down" as a failure: "models must be standing".

  • No mannequins or hangers

    Main images cannot show mannequins of any kind, including hangers.

  • Shoes: a single shoe at 45 degrees

    Shoes are shown as a single shoe, facing left at a 45-degree angle.

  • Accessories and kids' clothing laid flat

    Main images of accessories are shown flat. The style guide's off-figure lay-down crop covers "All Kids & Baby" and accessories "including scarves, belts, hats, ties & cold weather accessories".

  • Pure white background

    "MAIN images must have a pure white background (RGB Value 255, HEX Value #FFFFFF)."

  • A MAIN image for every colour

    "You must supply a child MAIN image that matches the color for every item that you sell."

  • Models wear shoes

    "Models MUST WEAR SHOES on the MAIN (except for swimwear and sleepwear)."

  • No children in underwear or swimwear

    "Shooting underwear/swimwear products on kids is strictly prohibited and subject to removal." Undergarments and swimwear for children are submitted off-figure for both MAIN and alternate images.

  • No props that are not included

    No accessories or props that are not included with purchase, "including phones, drink-ware, and handbags".

  • Full-length crop for long garments

    For maxi dresses, jumpsuits, suits and similar, "the top of the image must be cropped between nose and upper lip" and the "bottom of image must be cropped below the feet".

  • Keep crops consistent

    "If the MAIN is rectangular, keep it rectangular for all the other images (PT01, PT02, PT03...)", and if the crop is square, crop the others square.

  • Five to seven images

    Amazon recommends "a minimum of 5 and maximum 7 images per product listing", including "a clear front and back image of the item".

  • Light naturally, retouch lightly

    Avoid black and white photography and "heavily retouched images", and do not add "borders, collages and watermarks".

  • Tag photorealistic AI models

    Images with photorealistic AI-generated people need the IPTC/XMP dc:subject keyword contains-synthetic-performer before upload.

What this means in practice

For a clothing listing, decide the main image by product type before you shoot. Adult garments go on a standing model, shoes are a single shoe turned 45 degrees to the left, and accessories and children's clothing are laid flat on white. A shirt on a hanger, a dress on a dress form and a seated model all fail on the main image, however good the photo.

Ghost-mannequin shots, where the form is edited out afterwards, are not described on either Amazon page. If any part of a form or hanger is visible, the image falls under the mannequin ban; for adult clothing the safer place for a ghost-mannequin image is the gallery, behind an on-model main.

The gallery is where apparel listings earn their sale: a back shot, a styled shot, fabric and detail close-ups, all cropped to the same shape as the main. Note that the Clothing & Accessories style guide is dated March 2022 and quotes 1,000 to 3,900 pixels for apparel, while the current general page allows up to 10,000 pixels on the longest side; images between 1,000 and 3,900 pixels satisfy both.

PicBarn's virtual try-on puts your garment on a standing model on a plain background, and every try-on export is tagged contains-synthetic-performer, so the file already meets Amazon's AI-people rule; treat those images as gallery images and keep your own photo in slot 1 of the gallery pack.

Sources

Platform pages read on 2026-11-04. Rules change; the links are the current word.

Questions

Can I show clothing on a mannequin or a hanger on Amazon?

Not on the main image: Amazon bans mannequins of any kind, including hangers. Adult clothing goes on a standing model for the main image, and accessories and children's clothing are laid flat.

Can children model clothing in Amazon images?

Never for underwear or swimwear: Amazon's style guide says shooting those on kids is strictly prohibited, and both MAIN and alternate images must be off-figure. For other kids and baby clothing the main image crop in the style guide is a flat lay-down.

What angle should shoes be photographed at?

One shoe, not a pair, facing left at a 45-degree angle, on pure white.

Can I use an AI-generated model for apparel?

Amazon allows photorealistic AI-generated people if the file carries the keyword contains-synthetic-performer in its IPTC/XMP dc:subject field before upload. The garment still has to look as it does in real life, and main image rules such as the standing pose still apply.

Check an image against these rules

Free, no account: upload a product image and see which rows pass as a main image and as a gallery image.

Open the checker

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