Etsy Image Upscaler

Etsy image size requirements

Etsy gives a recommended or minimum size for every image in your shop. Listing photos matter most, because they are what buyers see in search and on your listing page.

Etsy accepts .jpg, .gif, .png, .svg and .heic files. Animated GIFs and transparent PNGs aren't supported: any transparent part of an image shows up black on Etsy.

What size should Etsy listing photos be?

Etsy recommends listing photos of at least 2,000 px in width and height. A 2,000 × 2,000 px square or a 3,000 × 2,000 px landscape photo both meet it. Your first photo also needs at least 635 px in width and height, or it can show up lower in search.

• Make the first photo landscape or square. Etsy says this keeps the center of the photo in its cropped thumbnails. In its thumbnail tips Etsy leans toward horizontal photos, so landscape is the safest choice.
• Keep every photo the same shape. Your first photo sets the shape of the photos that follow, and matching shapes look more cohesive.
• Leave room around the item. Etsy crops thumbnails to square, portrait and landscape in different places. A border around the item means none of those crops cut it off.
• Watch the file size. Etsy notes that images over 1 MB may not finish uploading, especially on a slow connection. A large photo saved as a JPG is usually the easiest to upload.
• Use sRGB color. Etsy converts images to sRGB. If your colors look wrong on Etsy, convert the photo to sRGB before you upload it. CMYK is for print only.

Etsy also compresses photos after upload, so they can look a little less sharp than the file on your computer. Starting from a big, sharp photo leaves more detail after that compression.

What upscaling does, and what it can't do

A plain resize stretches the pixels you already have. Etsy itself warns that making an image bigger this way can lose resolution and cause pixelation: edges go soft and blocky.

An AI upscaler adds pixels instead. It predicts the detail between the pixels you have, so edges stay crisp and textures stay clean at twice the width and height. The tool above doubles both, which gives you four times as many pixels.

Upscaling can't fix a photo that has other problems:

• Blur. An out-of-focus or shaky photo becomes a larger blurry photo.
• Dark or grainy light. Fix the lighting, or retake the photo in daylight.
• Wrong colors or framing. Those need editing or a retake, not more pixels.

AI upscaling can also invent fine detail that isn't really there, like letters, stitching, wood grain or fabric weave. Zoom in on the result and compare it with your item. If anything changed, use the original instead.

When upscaling helps an Etsy listing

• Older listings. Photos taken years ago on an older phone can be well under 2,000 px.
• Tight crops. Cropping in on an item throws away pixels. Upscaling the crop gets some of that size back.
• Supplier and print-on-demand mockups. Mockups are sometimes smaller than Etsy's recommended size.
• AI-generated artwork. Many image generators make 1,024 px images. Doubled, that is 2,048 px.
• Full-screen views. A larger photo holds up when a buyer opens it full screen or zooms in on a phone.

It won't help a photo that is already 2,000 px or more on its short side. The tool tells you when a photo already meets or is close to Etsy's recommendation, and doesn't use your free upscale on it.

Etsy's rules on edited photos

Etsy allows edited photos, including photos edited with AI, as long as buyers know what they'll get. Etsy's requirements:

• Every image must accurately show the item, including its color, condition, scale and materials.
• Every listing needs at least one unedited photo of the actual item against a real background. You can crop or resize that photo, add a watermark, or change its file format. Etsy notes some exceptions depending on what you sell.
• In your other photos you can use editing tools, AI included, to adjust lighting or color, crop or resize, or change the background.
• You can't use editing to hide flaws or damage, or to make the item look different from what the buyer will receive.
• If you sell patterns, recipes or instructions, show a real result made with them, not an AI-generated one.

AI upscaling is an AI edit. Keep your original photo in the listing as the unedited one, check that the upscaled photo still shows the item truthfully, and follow Etsy's advice to mention AI-edited photos in your listing description.

Etsy photo best practices

These come from Etsy's own guidance for listing photos. They help more than any upscale, so start here when you take new photos.

• Shoot further back than you think you need. Leave space around the item so you can crop in without losing any of it.
• Keep the most important part in the center. Then use the thumbnail adjustment tool when you edit a listing to check the square, portrait and landscape views.
• Shoot horizontally. Landscape photos use more of the thumbnail. Portrait photos lose more to the crop.
• Use your camera's highest resolution. Your final photo is usually a crop of the original, so start big.
• Check the rotation. Etsy rotates photos using information from your camera. If a photo still uploads sideways, rotate it in an editor, or retake it with the camera turned the same way as the item.
• Make the first photo your clearest. It is the first thing buyers see, so it should be the most realistic view of the item.

Etsy's full list is in its help article, Requirements and Best Practices for Images in Your Etsy Shop. For the words that go with your photos, try the free tag and title generator or check a live listing with the Etsy Listing Grader.