What size should Etsy listing photos be to avoid thumbnail cropping?

Hi! To get Etsy thumbnails that look consistently “filled” (without weird crops), make your first listing photo a landscape 4:3 image and compose it with a little breathing room so Etsy can safely crop it into different thumbnail shapes.

Here’s what to use (and why it works):

• Aspect ratio: 4:3 (landscape) is Etsy’s best-practice for thumbnails. A super reliable working size is 2000 × 1500 px (or larger in the same ratio, like 3000 × 2250).
• Resolution: Aim for 2000 px or more on the shortest side so your images stay crisp and don’t get deprioritized/soft in search.
• Composition tip (this matters more than exact pixels): Keep your product centered and leave extra space around the edges. Etsy may crop your first photo differently across search, shop pages, and devices (sometimes square-ish, sometimes more rectangular), so anything tight to the edges can get chopped.

A couple quick “don’ts” that usually cause the awkward thumbnail look:

• Don’t upload a very tall/vertical first photo (it forces heavier cropping).
• Don’t place text, badges, or important details near the edges of the first photo—keep them toward the center “safe area.”
• Don’t assume one crop fits everywhere—after uploading, use Etsy’s crop/thumbnail positioning tool on the first photo to fine-tune what shows in the thumbnail.

If you tell me whether your products are usually tall (like candles) or wide (like prints), I can suggest an easy framing template so your first image stays safe even when Etsy switches between square and rectangle crops.