Delivery App Menu Photography in Dubai
Every dish shot as a landscape master that survives the square crop, lit the same way across the whole menu, and delivered as upload-ready files named after the item they belong to.
Delivery-app shoots are one part of our food photography work in Dubai.
Real Photography, Never AI Renders
Dubai, Abu Dhabi & UAE Wide
Delivery Menu Photos Shot in Your Own Kitchen
We shoot delivery menus for restaurants and cafes every week, and the best of those shoots happen where the food is cooked. Your team plates each dish at the portion a customer actually receives, we photograph it straight off the pass, and the next plate is already on its way.
That matters more on a delivery app than anywhere else. The photo is a promise about what arrives in the bag, so it has to be your real dish from your real kitchen. Deliveroo's help centre is explicit that AI-generated images are not permitted, and customers notice the moment a picture oversells the plate.
Who Delivery App Menu Photography Is For
Four kinds of kitchen that need a platform-ready menu.
New Listings
Going live on Talabat, Deliveroo, Careem Food or noon Food with a photo on every item from day one, instead of a menu that fills in over months.
Relaunches
Listings built from phone snaps, borrowed Instagram shots or photos that no longer match the plate, reshot to one standard so old and new items sit together.
Cloud Kitchens
Delivery-only brands where the thumbnail carries the whole brand. Pair the shoot with our cloud kitchen branding work for the identity side.
Multi-Brand Kitchens
Several brands cooked in one kitchen, each with its own surface, crockery and light, so customers never see two listings that look like the same operation.
What Platform-Ready Actually Means
Agencies use "platform-ready" loosely. In practice it means meeting the rules Deliveroo publishes for restaurant partners and the image guidelines of Deliverect, a menu integration service that pushes one menu to several apps. Talabat, Careem Food and noon Food publish no pixel sizes for UAE partners, so a set built to these rules is the safest one to upload anywhere. Our platform-by-platform photo requirements guide quotes every rule with its source.
One Dish, Centred
Each item image shows a single dish in the middle of the frame, with the whole plate visible. That is exactly what Deliveroo asks for.
Room for the Square Crop
Deliveroo crops item images to 1:1, so every dish is framed with space around it and nothing important near the edges.
A Landscape Master
Every item is shot landscape, the orientation Deliveroo and Deliverect both specify, and exported at 1920 x 1080 pixels.
One Light Across the Menu
Forty items shot over a day should read as one menu, so light, angle and surface are locked per brand before the first plate.
Nothing But the Food
No hands, faces, text, logos or watermarks, and no raw ingredients scattered around the plate. Deliveroo's guidance asks partners to avoid all of them.
Real Photography Only
No AI renders and no stock. Deliveroo does not permit AI-generated images, and rejects stock unless you hold the rights.
How the 1:1 Crop Changes the Way a Dish Is Shot
Deliveroo asks for landscape item images of at least 1200 x 675 pixels, then crops them to a square on the menu. A 1920 x 1080 frame cropped to 1:1 keeps the central 1080 x 1080 and drops 420 pixels from each side. A plate that fills a landscape frame edge to edge loses its rim, its garnish or half of itself.
So every composition has to work twice. Deliverect's guidelines put the item at about three quarters of the image, centred, with space at each side, because platforms usually show square images when they list the whole menu. We frame for the square first and let the landscape breathe around it.
Stackable dishes follow a rule of their own. Deliveroo's tip is that burgers, sandwiches, cakes and drinks look best side-on, at a 45 degree angle, so we shoot those from the side rather than from directly above.
What You Receive From a Delivery Menu Shoot
Every file is ready to upload the day it arrives.
Landscape Masters
A 1920 x 1080 (16:9) image of every item, well above Deliveroo's 1200 x 675 minimum and matching the resolution Deliverect recommends.
Square Crops
A 1:1 version of every item, cropped by hand so nothing important is cut, for apps and ordering systems that display squares.
A Hero Image per Brand
At least five different dishes, which is Deliveroo's minimum for a hero, centred with nothing cut by the frame edge and shot on a coloured or natural surface.
Files Named per Item
File names that match the item name on the app. Deliveroo recommends it, and Talabat's partner guidance in Egypt asks for it.
Upload-Ready JPEGs
sRGB JPEGs kept under the 4 MB ceiling Deliverect sets, which is tighter than Deliveroo's 8 MB, so nothing bounces on file size.
Sets per Brand and App
Separate folders for each brand and each platform when one kitchen runs several listings, so the right file lands on the right menu.
Need short-form video as well? Our food video production team can capture stills and short video in the same session, for social and paid ads.
How a Delivery Menu Shoot Runs
Menu Audit
We go through your live listings item by item, flag missing, outdated and rejected photos, and agree the shot list and priority order.
Shoot Day
In your kitchen or our studio. Dishes are plated to real portions and shot in batches timed around your service hours.
Edit
One look across the menu. Retouching stays light, because Deliveroo lists obvious signs of editing as a reason for rejection.
Export
Landscape and square files, named per item and sorted per brand and platform, ready to upload.
What to Prepare Before the Shoot
Send the menu with item names exactly as they appear on each app and mark your best sellers. Make sure the kitchen can plate every item at least once, with spares of anything that melts or wilts, and keep one person free to approve shots as they are taken. A focused menu shoot usually takes between half a day and a full day on location, depending on how many dishes the kitchen can plate consistently.
Keeping Your Delivery Listing Current
A delivery menu is never finished. Dishes get replated, suppliers change, seasonal items come and go, and Ramadan and Iftar set menus need their own images every year. Our guide on how often restaurants should update menu photos gives delivery-only kitchens a simple rule: update whenever a dish or platform listing changes.
That is why we keep your light settings, surfaces and crockery on file. A dish added months later matches the rest of the menu, and a short top-up session saves reshooting everything.
Take delisted items down the day they leave the kitchen, and replace any photo that no longer matches the plate. A picture that oversells the portion is the quickest route to refunds and one-star reviews.
Why UAE Delivery Brands Work With Us
We are an F&B specialist creative agency based in Dubai, and we have produced menu and campaign work for Godiva, Alpro, Irish Vickers, Talabat, OMA Bakery and Plantoholic. Irish Vickers, a Guinness-serving pub in Dubai, approached us after a successful Talabat shoot, and we delivered 15 styled food and drink visuals in a single day (Irish Vickers case study). For Godiva UAE we photographed 35 to 40 SKUs from three angles and delivered over 120 high-resolution images in one day, the same discipline a long delivery menu needs (Godiva case study). In 2026 our co-founder Logeswari was named Best Creative Agency at the BeingShe x Gulf News Excellence in Media Award, presented at the Museum of the Future in Dubai.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tap a question to expand the answer.
What size should Talabat menu photos be?
Talabat publishes no pixel sizes for UAE partners, so we export to the strictest published specification, which is Deliveroo's. That means a landscape 1920 x 1080 master for every dish, well above Deliveroo's 1200 x 675 minimum, saved as a JPEG with the dish centred and space around it for a square crop. Talabat's Egypt partner page asks for landscape menu images and a wide cover photo with many dishes, and the same set meets both.
Does Deliveroo accept AI-generated food photos?
No. Deliveroo's help centre states that "AI-generated images are not permitted on Deliveroo" and asks partners to upload only authentic images of the food they sell. It also refuses stock images unless you hold the rights, and lists obvious signs of editing among the common reasons for rejection. A delivery menu has to be photographed from the dishes your kitchen actually sends out.
Can the same photos be used on Talabat, Deliveroo, Careem and noon Food?
Yes, if the set is built to the strictest published rules. Deliveroo and Deliverect publish detailed requirements, while Talabat (for UAE partners), Careem Food and noon Food publish none. A 1920 x 1080 landscape master per dish, a 1:1 crop, sRGB JPEGs under 4 MB and one dish per file covers every published technical rule for item images, so one shoot can supply every app you list on.
How many dishes should a delivery menu have photographed?
Every item a customer can order should have its own photo, because an unphotographed item looks like an afterthought next to one with a picture. If you need to phase it, start with best sellers, high-margin dishes and anything in a combo or promotion. A full menu shoot typically covers between fifteen and forty dishes depending on menu size, and our guide to how many dishes to photograph helps you prioritise.
Do you shoot in our kitchen or in a studio?
Usually in your kitchen, because delivery photos must show what your team actually plates, at your real portion sizes. We bring lights, surfaces and a styling kit, set up in a corner away from the line and shoot in batches around service. A studio shoot suits brands that cook from a central kitchen or want to batch several brands in one day: the dishes travel to us and are plated on arrival.
Should delivery photos show the packaging?
Not in the menu item image. Deliverect's summary of the delivery platforms' guidelines says each image must feature only the item it represents, with no packaging, decorations, people or hands. Plate each dish on a plain plate or bowl, the way the customer will eat it. Save packaging shots for your social channels and your own website, where a sealed, branded box shows how the food travels.
How much does delivery menu photography cost in Dubai?
It depends on how many items you list, how many brands share the kitchen, whether each brand needs its own hero image, and whether we shoot on location or in our studio. Because those factors vary so much between kitchens, we quote each project individually rather than publishing a rate card. Our food photography packages page explains how shoots are structured, and the enquiry form below asks for a budget band.
Related Services
Restaurant Menu Photography UAE · Cloud Kitchen Branding UAE · Food Photography Packages · Marketplace Listing Photography · Cloud Kitchen Photography · DIY Delivery Photo Guide
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