When Amazon hides a listing because of its images, Seller Central reports one of a fixed set of reasons. This page lists every reason on Amazon's official image suppression page, states whether it applies to the main image only or to any image, quotes the official wording each reason rests on where Amazon publishes a sentence for it, and points to the check on this site that covers it where one exists. Several reasons can only be judged by looking at the photograph; where that is the case we say so rather than pretend a tool can decide them.
Everything here was read on the Amazon Seller Central US help hub on 2026-09-19. We have not verified the European or Japanese marketplaces and do not claim these reasons apply there. Each section links to the pages it relies on. Where Amazon states the same rule on two pages in different words, both are quoted side by side.
What Amazon says it does when an image fails its check
Amazon states that it checks every uploaded image against its product image requirements. When an image does not comply, the official page lists two possible responses: suppressing, that is hiding, the listing from search until a compliant image is provided, or removing or modifying the non-compliant image itself.
In Seller Central, the reason applied to a listing is shown in the Fix tab under Manage Products, and in the Content compliance issues report under Submission status. That route is navigation help, not a quoted rule: we have no verbatim official sentence for it.
To clear a suppression, upload a compliant image under the same variant code as the one that was flagged (for example MAIN) so that it replaces the earlier file. Uploading under the same variant code rather than deleting is the route we recommend; like the navigation above it is practical guidance, not a quoted rule. Amazon's own pages say an uploaded image can take up to 24 hours to appear, so allow a day before checking again. We have no sentence we can quote word for word for that figure, so we give it as read off the official page rather than as quoted wording.
Sources for this section
- Amazon Seller Central — Non-white background and image suppression reasons (GT8RSE9S9NK4LP6Z) — sellercentral.amazon.com
If your images don't comply with our policies, we may: Suppress (hide) your product listing from search until you provide a compliant image / Remove or modify non-compliant images [...]
- Amazon Seller Central — Product image requirements (G1881): the variant-code naming scheme — sellercentral.amazon.com
Image files must be named: Product identifier + variant code + file extension. Example: B000123456.MAIN.jpg
The official list: the reasons and where each applies
The pages cited here were read on the Amazon Seller Central US help hub. We have not verified the European or Japanese marketplaces and do not claim these reasons apply there.
| Reason (official name) | Applies to | Check on this site |
|---|---|---|
| Text/logo/graphics/watermarks | Main image | No automated check for text or logos. The white background checker flags a frame or line along the edges, which is one item in this rule. |
| Non-white background | Main image | White background checker samples the four corners and an 8-pixel-deep band along each edge, reports the RGB values it finds there — edge sampling is our method, not Amazon’s wording, and a non-white area further inside the frame is not judged — and scans each edge for a continuous line; a border covering only part of an edge is for you to review. Flatten background to white makes a near-white background exactly 255, 255, 255. |
| Image missing | Main image | Image file namer (a space or dash in the file name prevents upload); Resize for Amazon flags an original below the 500 px minimum in its result row and never enlarges it. |
| Additional items | Main image | Visual review only. |
| Cropped product | Main image | Fill-ratio checker reports the product's bounding box; a box that meets the edge of the frame is a sign the product may be cut off. Final judgement is visual. |
| Product not outside of packaging or has package tags | Main image. The clothing guidelines name socks and hosiery as an exception where packaging and brand tags may appear; that exception is stated for clothing, and no official sentence we verified extends it to other categories. | Visual review only. |
| Propping | Main image (inferred: the official list names only Blurriness or pixelation, Product too small and Prurience as applying to any image, and states no scope of its own for Propping) | Visual review only. |
| Blurriness or pixelation | Any image | No tool can add detail that is not in the photograph. Resize for Amazon never enlarges a small image: the file keeps its pixel size, which is shown in the result row, and an original below the 500 px minimum is flagged there. |
| Product too small | Any image | Fill-ratio checker reports the bounding box around the non-background pixels as a share of the image area — a stand-in that reads higher than the product’s own share when the product is not rectangular, so leave headroom above 85%. |
| Prurience | Any image | Visual review only. |
| Multiple product images | Apparel main image, unless the item is sold as a multipack and the title says so | Visual review only. |
| Human model | Main images in Softlines categories other than adult apparel (Kids, Baby, Shoes, Luggage, Watch and Jewelry) | Visual review only. |
| Mannequin or hanger | Apparel or Accessories main image; socks and hosiery are the only stated exception, where a visible mannequin is allowed | Visual review only. |
| Model in non-standing position | Apparel main image | Visual review only. |
Three reasons, Blurriness or pixelation, Product too small and Prurience, are listed against any image, so additional images are not exempt from them. The rest are listed against main images, and four of those apply only to Apparel, Accessories or other Softlines categories.
The Applies to column above, and the category names listed for Human model, are read off the structure of Amazon's own list — the scope each reason is filed under on that page, and for Propping by elimination from the three any-image reasons — rather than from a sentence we can quote word for word. That is the same hedge we use above for the Seller Central navigation route.
The Official spec table further down this page repeats only the reasons for which Amazon publishes a full sentence we can quote word for word. Amazon lists the other reasons as short labels; we do not put a label in a field meant for quoted wording, so those reasons appear in the table above and in the sections below rather than in the spec table.
Sources for this section
- Amazon Seller Central — Non-white background and image suppression reasons (GT8RSE9S9NK4LP6Z): the list of reasons and their scope — sellercentral.amazon.com
If your images don't comply with our policies, we may: Suppress (hide) your product listing from search until you provide a compliant image / Remove or modify non-compliant images [...]
- Amazon Seller Central — Image guidelines for clothing (G200498950): the rules behind the four Apparel-scoped reasons — sellercentral.amazon.com
Minimum aspect ratio is close to 3:4 (width/height) and 85% of the total image area occupied
Non-white background: two triggers, joined by OR
The Non-white background reason is the one most often misread. Amazon's page describes it with two conditions joined by OR, so either one alone is enough:
- There is a background and it is not pure white, RGB 255, 255, 255, with only minimal shadows around the product.
- There is a visual frame, line or border on any portion of the edges of the image.
The second trigger catches images whose background is already exactly white: a thin outline left by a cut-out, or a faint line added around a white product so that it stands out. The same page adds that shadows which run to the edge of the frame, or that the product or a model casts against a backdrop, are not allowed.
The colour itself is written two ways on two official pages. The Product image requirements page gives RGB 255, 255, 255; the clothing guidelines give hex #FFFFFF or RGB 255-255-255. These are the same value, so the clothing wording and the general wording give the same check. We have not verified category-specific pages beyond clothing, and do not claim what they may add.
Check: the Amazon white background checker reads the corners and edges and tests for an edge line. To make a near-white background exactly white, use flatten background to white.
Sources for this section
- Amazon Seller Central — Non-white background and image suppression reasons (GT8RSE9S9NK4LP6Z): the two triggers — sellercentral.amazon.com
There is a background and it is not pure white (RGB 255, 255, 255) with minimal shadows around the product, OR There is a visual frame, line, or border on any portion of the edges of the image
- Amazon Seller Central — Non-white background and image suppression reasons (GT8RSE9S9NK4LP6Z): shadows — sellercentral.amazon.com
Shadows that run to the edge of the image frame or that the product or human models cast against a backdrop are not allowed.
- Amazon Seller Central — Product image requirements (G1881) — sellercentral.amazon.com
Have a pure white background (RGB color values: 255, 255, 255) to create a consistent shopping experience for customers across search and product detail pages.
- Amazon Seller Central — Image guidelines for clothing (G200498950) — sellercentral.amazon.com
Pure white background (hex #FFFFFF or RGB 255-255-255)
Product too small: Amazon writes the 85% rule two different ways
Two official pages state the size rule, and they do not say quite the same thing. The Product image requirements page says to show the product as 85% of the image. The dedicated Product too small page is more precise: the product must occupy at least 85% of the image area, making use of as much of the image space as possible, without cropping the product and without letting shadows run to the edge. The clothing guidelines repeat the area reading: 85% of the total image area occupied.
We follow the more complete wording: the measure is area, not the longest side, and the threshold is a minimum. Note that Product too small is listed against any image, not only the main image.
Check: the product image fill-ratio checker reports the bounding box of the non-background pixels and its share of the image area, and can pad the canvas to reach a target share without cropping the product. Three things that page states about the padded copy matter here: it is square (1:1), so it is not suitable for a clothing main image, which must be close to 3:4; padding reaches at or just above the target share; and it does not compare the result with Amazon’s 10,000 px maximum on the longest side, so check that yourself.
Sources for this section
- Amazon Seller Central — Product image requirements (G1881) — sellercentral.amazon.com
Show the product as 85% of the image.
- Amazon Seller Central — Product too small (GKPLUEFR7TJ9EDAN) — sellercentral.amazon.com
The product must occupy at least 85% of the image area, making use of as much of the image space as possible without cropping the product or letting shadows run to the edge of the image.
- Amazon Seller Central — Image guidelines for clothing (G200498950) — sellercentral.amazon.com
Minimum aspect ratio is close to 3:4 (width/height) and 85% of the total image area occupied
Text, logos, graphics and watermarks: borders count here too
The dedicated page for this reason lists what may not appear on a main image: text, logos, borders, color blocks, watermarks or other graphics, whether covering the product or in the background. It adds that products with multiple pieces must be shown in proportion, with no one piece enlarged.
Borders appear on two official pages: here, and as the second trigger of Non-white background. A frame around an image can therefore be reported under either reason.
This site has no tool that detects or alters text, logos or watermarks in a photograph, and it will not offer one. If an image carries any of them, the way to comply is to upload a photograph that does not.
Sources for this section
- Amazon Seller Central — Text, logos and graphics on product images (G75PWC4THA8J269P) — sellercentral.amazon.com
No text, logos, borders, color blocks, watermarks, or other graphics covering the product or in the background. Products with multiple pieces must be relative in size, with no one piece enlarged.
- Amazon Seller Central — Non-white background and image suppression reasons (GT8RSE9S9NK4LP6Z): the border trigger — sellercentral.amazon.com
There is a visual frame, line, or border on any portion of the edges of the image
Image missing: upload-side causes you can check before you upload
Image missing means the listing has no compliant main image at all. Apart from a main image that was suppressed for another reason, the official pages name several conditions under which a file will not upload or is not accepted, each of which can be checked before you press upload:
- File name. Product identifier + variant code + extension, for example
B000123456.MAIN.jpg. Spaces, dashes or additional characters prevent the image from uploading. Amazon image file namer builds names in this pattern. - Longest side. Minimum 500 px; images below 500 px on the longest side cannot be uploaded. Maximum 10,000 px. Amazon recommends 1,000 px or more (a recommendation, not a requirement) and says not to artificially enlarge small images. Resize image for Amazon shows the output pixel size in the result row and flags an original below the 500 px minimum, and never enlarges it.
- File format. JPEG, TIFF, PNG or non-animated GIF; JPEG is recommended. HEIC and WebP are not on the list. The resize tool writes JPEG, or an indexed (palette) PNG of at most 256 colours.
- Resolution. At least 72 dpi. This is a header value in the file, not a pixel count; set image dpi writes it without touching the pixels.
- Colour. Amazon says not to rely on ICC colour profiles. The same page also describes RGB as preferred and says CMYK files should be converted to RGB; that second point is on the same official page and was verified there, but we captured no sentence we can quote word for word, so it is shown without a quote. The bit depth and colour mode checker reports the colour mode and any embedded profile.
The official pages give no file size limit in bytes; we do not state one.
Sources for this section
- Amazon Seller Central — Product image requirements (G1881): file naming — sellercentral.amazon.com
Image files must be named: Product identifier + variant code + file extension. Example: B000123456.MAIN.jpg ... spaces, dashes, or additional characters will prevent your image from uploading
- Amazon Seller Central — Product image technical requirements (G9FUUH87RBNXGKB7): image size — sellercentral.amazon.com
Images below 500 pixels on the longest side cannot be uploaded. Do not artificially enlarge small images. We recommend 1,000+ pixels for the best customer experience.
- Amazon Seller Central — Product image technical requirements (G9FUUH87RBNXGKB7): file formats — sellercentral.amazon.com
Supported file formats JPEG (.jpg or .jpeg), TIFF (.tif or .tiff), PNG (.png), non-animated GIF (.gif) JPEG recommended
- Amazon Seller Central — Product image technical requirements (G9FUUH87RBNXGKB7): resolution — sellercentral.amazon.com
Resolution At least 72 dpi
- Amazon Seller Central — Product image requirements (G1881): colour profiles — sellercentral.amazon.com
Do not rely on ICC color profiles for accurate color display on Amazon.
Blurriness or pixelation is judged on the image, not on a pixel count
Blurriness or pixelation is listed against any image. No official Amazon page ties it to a fixed number of pixels; the pixel rules are separate: a minimum of 500 px and a maximum of 10,000 px on the longest side. Amazon recommends 1,000+ px for the best customer experience, and says separately that images with 1,000+ px on the longest side enable the zoom function — a recommendation, not a requirement. The technical requirements page also says: do not artificially enlarge small images. Enlarging a small photograph does not add detail; it produces the pixelation the reason describes.
The clothing guidelines add two category-specific points: photos should be 1,000 pixels or larger in either height or width to activate zoom, and children's wear images below 1,000 pixels are listed among the prohibited items.
What this site does: resize image for Amazon offers a preset that reduces the longest side to 1,000 px and a default preset that keeps the pixel size and only re-encodes. Neither enlarges a small image; an original below the 500 px minimum is flagged in its result row. It does not modify pixels to change how crisp a photograph looks; a blurred original needs to be photographed again.
Sources for this section
- Amazon Seller Central — Product image technical requirements (G9FUUH87RBNXGKB7) — sellercentral.amazon.com
Images below 500 pixels on the longest side cannot be uploaded. Do not artificially enlarge small images. We recommend 1,000+ pixels for the best customer experience.
- Amazon Seller Central — Image guidelines for clothing (G200498950) — sellercentral.amazon.com
High-resolution professional photos with 1,000 pixels or larger in either height or width to activate the zoom feature.
- Amazon Seller Central — Image guidelines for clothing (G200498950): listed among the prohibited items — sellercentral.amazon.com
Children's wear images at a resolution less than 1,000 pixels
Four reasons apply only to Apparel, Accessories or Softlines main images
- Multiple product images — Apparel main image: more than one view, or several colours or sizes, in one main image, unless the item is sold as a multipack and the title says so.
- Human model — main images in Softlines categories other than adult apparel, such as Kids, Baby, Shoes, Luggage, and Watch and Jewelry. Adult clothing is the exception: there, the clothing guidelines require the main image to be worn by a model.
- Mannequin or hanger — Apparel or Accessories main image: a visible mannequin, hanger or stand. Socks and hosiery are the only stated exception, where a visible mannequin is allowed.
- Model in non-standing position — Apparel main image: sitting, kneeling, leaning or lying down.
The clothing guidelines add two measurable rules for clothing main images: a minimum aspect ratio close to 3:4 (width/height), and 85% of the total image area occupied. We quote the wording as written; how Amazon applies "close to 3:4" to a square image is not stated on the page.
None of the four reasons above can be decided by a pixel measurement, and this site does not judge people, mannequins or poses in a photograph. Review the image against the wording.
Sources for this section
- Amazon Seller Central — Non-white background and image suppression reasons (GT8RSE9S9NK4LP6Z): the page that scopes these four reasons — sellercentral.amazon.com
If your images don't comply with our policies, we may: Suppress (hide) your product listing from search until you provide a compliant image / Remove or modify non-compliant images [...]
- Amazon Seller Central — Image guidelines for clothing (G200498950) — sellercentral.amazon.com
Minimum aspect ratio is close to 3:4 (width/height) and 85% of the total image area occupied
- Amazon Seller Central — image suppression reasons (GT8RSE9S9NK4LP6Z): the scope of the Human model reason — sellercentral.amazon.com
Any main image in Softlines, such as Kids, Baby, Shoes, Luggage, Watch and Jewelry, except Adult Apparel
- Amazon Seller Central — image suppression reasons (GT8RSE9S9NK4LP6Z): the scope of the Multiple product images reason — sellercentral.amazon.com
Any main image in Apparel
Not a suppression reason, but a current requirement: the disclosure keyword for photorealistic synthetic people
The Product image requirements page requires a metadata keyword for images that include photorealistic people who are not real: contains-synthetic-performer in the XMP dc:subject field, written with an IPTC-compatible metadata editor. Amazon uses it to add a disclosure for shoppers where applicable. It is not among the suppression reasons above, but it is a requirement on the same page that governs main images.
Amazon AI people disclosure tag writes that keyword into the XMP of an existing file without re-encoding the image. Write it after any resize or re-encode: the resize tool strips metadata, including this keyword.
Sources for this section
- Amazon Seller Central — Product image requirements (G1881) — sellercentral.amazon.com
Use an IPTC-compatible metadata editor to add the keyword contains-synthetic-performer to the dc:subject (XMP) field of your image file.
What this site does not do
- It does not predict or promise what Amazon's review will decide. Every check compares your file with the published wording and shows that wording next to the result.
- It has no tool for watermarks, text or logos in a photograph, and none for making a small or blurred image look larger or crisper. Amazon's own wording is: do not artificially enlarge small images.
- It does not judge people, mannequins, poses, props, packaging or extra items. Those reasons need a person looking at the photograph.
- It does not upload your images. Every tool linked from this page runs in your browser.
Sources for this section
- Amazon Seller Central — Product image technical requirements (G9FUUH87RBNXGKB7) — sellercentral.amazon.com
Images below 500 pixels on the longest side cannot be uploaded. Do not artificially enlarge small images. We recommend 1,000+ pixels for the best customer experience.
- Amazon Seller Central — Non-white background and image suppression reasons (GT8RSE9S9NK4LP6Z) — sellercentral.amazon.com
If your images don't comply with our policies, we may: Suppress (hide) your product listing from search until you provide a compliant image / Remove or modify non-compliant images [...]