Product photography built to the rules the marketplaces actually enforce. We shoot food and drink for Amazon.ae, noon, supermarket e-commerce and delivery marketplaces, so your listings go live the first time instead of coming back rejected.
Listing photography is one part of our food photography services in Dubai.
Why marketplace photography is its own job
A menu shot and a listing shot are not the same picture. Menu photography is styled, cropped and lit to make someone hungry. A marketplace main image has a specification: a single unit, on a pure white background, filling a set proportion of the frame, with no text, props or second product anywhere in it.
Get that wrong and the consequence is not that the image looks weaker. Amazon states that where no main image meets its requirements, the listing may be removed from search until a compliant one is supplied. The photograph stops being a design decision and becomes the thing standing between your product and the search results.
We shoot to that specification as a matter of course, and we shoot the appetite frames in the same session.
What we shoot
- Compliant main images on a true white background, one unit per frame, correctly proportioned, retouched to the exact value the platforms require.
- Secondary listing images: scale references, the product out of its packaging, back of pack, in use, and a range frame where you sell variants.
- Packaging and label photography for products where the pack is the hero, including reflective foil, glossy pouches and clear bottles.
- Lifestyle and social frames from the same shoot, so your listing, your website and your Instagram come from one session rather than three.
- Short-form video for listings and ads that support video, shot alongside the stills.
Who this is for
F&B brands selling through retail and marketplaces rather than, or alongside, a dining room:
- Packaged food and drink brands listing on Amazon.ae, noon or supermarket e-commerce
- Bakeries, chocolatiers and specialty producers selling boxed or shelf-stable products
- Cloud kitchens and restaurant brands launching a retail line
- Distributors and importers preparing listings for brands they carry in the UAE
- Brands whose existing images were rejected, or whose listings have been suppressed
We have shot product and campaign work for brands including Alpro, Godiva, Talabat, Keeta, Caribou, Manna and Bombay Borough.
The specification we shoot to
These are Amazon's published requirements for product images. Other UAE marketplaces run comparable rules, so a set shot to this standard generally travels across platforms.
| Requirement | Specification |
|---|---|
| Image size | 500 to 10,000 pixels on the longest side. 1,000 pixels or more enables zoom |
| Resolution | At least 72 dpi |
| Main image background | Pure white, RGB 255, 255, 255 |
| Product size in frame | The product fills 85% of the image |
| Framing | The whole product in frame, nothing cropped |
| Quantity shown | One unit, shown once |
| Text and graphics | None on the main image |
| File format | JPEG, TIFF, PNG or non-animated GIF |
How a shoot runs
- Brief. We agree which marketplaces the images are for, every SKU and variant, and whether the packaging is final artwork or pre-production. The strictest platform sets the standard for the main image.
- Samples. You send physical samples of each variant, with spares. Chilled and frozen products need duplicates, because condensation starts within a minute or two under lights.
- Compliance frames first. White background, while the product and the set are clean. Styling leaves marks on packaging that then have to be retouched out of a frame where nothing is allowed to be wrong.
- Appetite frames. The same product moves to the styled set for lifestyle, social and video.
- Retouch and delivery. Backgrounds taken to true white, files sized and named to match whatever your listing team or distributor uses.
What you get back
Files organised by SKU, in the sizes your platforms need, named so whoever uploads them does not have to rename anything. Where you sell across several marketplaces we deliver a set per platform rather than one set you have to re-crop.
Common problems we fix
The background that keeps failing. A white lightbox gives you a very light grey, not the pure white the platforms specify. It has to be taken to true white properly, without eating the edges of the product.
Reflective and transparent packaging. Foil lids and glossy pouches mirror the lighting. Clear bottles show the background through the liquid, so a careless cutout makes the product look hollow. Both are lighting problems before they are retouching problems.
Images that are accurate but do not sell. A compliant main image is a cylinder with a label on it. The persuasion happens in the images after it, and most listings we see leave those slots half empty.
If you want the detail behind all of this, we wrote up the published specification and the problems food runs into on a white background in the listing specs that matter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tap a question to expand the answer.
What are Amazon's main image requirements for food products?
The main image must show one unit of the product, shown once, on a pure white background of RGB 255, 255, 255, with the whole product in frame and filling 85% of the image. Text, graphics, props and second products are not allowed. Files should be 500 to 10,000 pixels on the longest side, with 1,000 pixels or more enabling zoom, at least 72 dpi, and saved as JPEG, TIFF, PNG or non-animated GIF.
Why does my product image keep getting rejected on Amazon or noon?
The most common reason is a background that is not truly white. A white lightbox produces a very light grey, which fails the pure white requirement, and correcting it carelessly eats into the edges of the product. Other causes are a cropped product, more than one unit in frame, or text and props on the main image. Amazon states that a listing with no compliant main image may be removed from search until one is supplied.
Do noon and other UAE marketplaces use the same image rules as Amazon?
Not identical, but comparable, so a set shot to Amazon's published standard generally travels across platforms. At the brief stage we agree which marketplaces the images are for, and the strictest one sets the standard for the main image. Where you sell on several platforms, we deliver a separate set for each, sized and named for that platform, rather than one set your team has to re-crop.
What do I need to send for a marketplace product shoot?
Send physical samples of every variant, with spares, plus a list of the marketplaces, SKUs and variants you are shooting for. Tell us whether the packaging is final artwork or pre-production, because the main image has to represent the product that arrives. Chilled and frozen products need duplicates, since condensation starts within a minute or two under the lights and a fresh unit has to replace one that has fogged up.
Can you shoot white-background and lifestyle images in one session?
Yes. We shoot the compliance frames on white first, while the product and the set are still clean, because styling leaves marks on packaging that would then have to be retouched out of a frame where nothing is allowed to be wrong. The same product then moves to a styled set for lifestyle, social and short-form video, so your listing, website and Instagram all come from one session rather than three.
How do you photograph shiny or transparent packaging?
We treat it as a lighting problem before a retouching problem. Foil lids and glossy pouches mirror the lights, so reflections have to be controlled on set, and clear bottles show the background through the liquid, which means a careless cutout makes the product look hollow. Getting the light right at capture keeps the edges and the label clean, so the final white-background image still looks like the product on the shelf.
Have you shot e-commerce images for food brands before?
Yes. We have shot product and campaign work for brands including Alpro and Godiva, and our Godiva UAE e-commerce shoot produced consistent, web-optimised product images of their chocolate collections for the Godiva website. If your images were rejected or your listing is not appearing, send us the link through our contact page and we will tell you what is wrong with the photography before you commit to anything.
Talk to us about your listings
Tell us what you sell, where you are listing it and how many variants there are, and we will come back with a shot list and a quote. If your images were rejected or your listing is not appearing, send the link and we will tell you what is wrong with the photography before you commit to anything.