The right product image frame fill depends on the channel and the product type. For an Amazon main image, the product should fill 85% of the frame (as of September 2026). Google asks for 75 to 90% (checked October 2026). On your own site the number is yours, but set it per product type, write it down as percentages and apply it to every image the same way.
Below: why margins matter, how to write a margin spec per product type, the padding arithmetic, Photoshop guides and automated checks at volume.
Why inconsistent margins make products look like different sizes
Shoppers see your products side by side in a grid. If one garment has slightly bigger margins than its neighbor, it looks smaller. Put two identical pairs of pants next to each other with different margins and one of them seems a size down.
Of all the defects that reach a listing, inconsistent scale is the one shoppers notice first, even when they can't say what's wrong. That is why margins are the first thing to check on every finished file.
[Image to add: Two grids of the same four pairs of pants. Left: margins drift image to image, so identical pants read as different sizes. Right: one margin spec, every pair reads the same size. Alt text: "Product grid: inconsistent margins make identical pants look like different sizes"]
What Amazon and Google ask for
Only two major channels set a fill ratio. The ranges overlap.
| Channel | Fill rule | Rule or guidance | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon (main image) | Product fills 85% of the image | Requirement in the Seller Central product image guide | Sep 2026 |
| Google Merchant Center | Product takes up no less than 75% and no more than 90% of the image | Guidance in the product data specification | Oct 2026 |
| eBay, Etsy, Shopify | No fill ratio set | Your decision | Sep 2026 |
Frame the product at 85% and one file satisfies both. Framed by eye, images land anywhere from about 70 to 95% depending on who set up the shot. Platform rules change, so recheck them twice a year.
Set margins as percentages of the final frame, per product type
Decide the margins once, when you set up the studio's look, and write them down.
Percentages, not pixels. A margin written as a percentage of the final frame survives every resize. A pixel margin breaks the moment you export a different size for another channel.
One margin spec per product type. Pants, shorts, skirts, short-sleeve tops and long-sleeve tops all sit in the frame differently, so each gets its own spec.
One studio's example on a 4:5 canvas
Here is one studio's spec for two product types on a 4:5 light gray canvas. It's a worked example, not a rule.
- Pants: 12% top and bottom. The height sets the size. Side guides sit 25% in from each edge, and they are a limit the legs stay inside, not an edge they touch. Some styles run wider or narrower than others, which is why the top and bottom margins matter most.
- T-shirt: 18% top and bottom, with the sleeves reaching guides 12% in from each side.
The same guides go on the back view. These numbers were set for one site's look, not a marketplace main image: pants at 12% top and bottom fill 76% of the frame's height, below Amazon's 85%. Set your own canvas shape, background and margins to the rules of the platforms you sell on.
[Image to add: assets/diagrams/pants_front_margins.png. Pants flat lay on a 4:5 light gray canvas with margin guides: 12% top and bottom, side limit guides 25% in. Alt text: "Pants margin spec on a 4:5 frame: 12% top and bottom, legs inside guides 25% in"]
[Image to add: assets/diagrams/tee_front_margins.png. T-shirt flat lay on a 4:5 light gray canvas with margin guides: 18% top and bottom, sleeves to guides 12% in. Alt text: "T-shirt margin spec on a 4:5 frame: 18% top and bottom, sleeves to guides 12% in"]
The padding math
Once a product is cut out, crop it tight to its edges, then pad it onto a canvas sized so its longest side takes the target share. For an 85% fill:
Canvas side = product's longest side ÷ 0.85
That leaves 7.5% of the canvas as margin on each side of that dimension. A product 3,400 px tall goes onto a 4,000 × 4,000 px canvas. Every product gets the same share of the frame, with no judgment involved.
For any other target, divide by that share instead (0.76 for the pants example's height).
To skip the arithmetic, the free frame-fill and margin calculator takes a canvas size and a product's dimensions and gives you the fill percentage and the margins.
Use your per-product-type margins here, not one number for everything. And if your cutout tool returns transparent PNGs, flatten them onto white before they go to Amazon or Etsy.
How to set margin guides in Photoshop
- Create a blank canvas at your final shape, for example 4:5 or square.
- Set the rulers to percent: right-click a ruler and choose Percent, or set it under Preferences > Units & Rulers.
- Add guides with View > Guides > New Guide, entering each position as a percentage (12% and 88% for the pants example's top and bottom).
- Save one guide template per product type and name it after the type.
- Give the spec to whoever crops. If a retouching service does the cropping, set up a separate spec with them for each product type and upload each batch under the right one. Pants go up under the pants spec.
To check returned files, place that product type's guides on every file and go through them one by one. A small miss is a quick fix if you asked for layered files with the product on its own layer: nudge or scale it to the guides. A major miss goes back with a clear reason.
Check margins automatically at volume
On a white background, finding the product is simple: it's every pixel that isn't white. A margin check finds the product's outer edges, measures the gap to each side of the frame as a percentage and compares it with the margins for that product type. Anything outside the tolerance you set goes on a list for a person to look at.
Keep the margins in one settings file, a margins file, that every tool reads: the guide template, the crop-and-pad step and the check. You tell the check which product type the batch is, and a spec change reaches every step at once.
The Template Pack includes this as margin-check, with the margins and tolerance in a settings file you adjust to your studio.
Once scripted, it's cheap enough to run on every image, so people can spend their attention on the look.
Margin spec template, per product type
Copy this table into your house spec. Fill one row per product type, and put a date on any row tied to a platform rule.
| Product type | Canvas shape | Background | Top / bottom | Left / right | Edge that sets size | Channel | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pants (example) | 4:5 | Light gray | 12% each | Limit guides 25% in | Height | Own site | |
| T-shirt (example) | 4:5 | Light gray | 18% each | Sleeves to guides 12% in | Height and sleeves | Own site | |
| Any product, main image | Square | White (255, 255, 255) | 7.5% on longest side | 7.5% on longest side | Longest side | Amazon (85% fill) | Sep 2026 |
| Shorts | |||||||
| Long-sleeve top | |||||||
| Shoes |
[Image to add: The margin spec table as a printable one-page card with three filled rows and blank rows. Alt text: "Margin spec template: one row per product type, margins as percentages of the frame"]
Margin spec checklist
- List every product type you shoot
- Choose a canvas shape and background for each channel
- Write margins as percentages of the final frame, never pixels
- Set one margin spec per product type, including which edge sets the size
- Confirm main images meet Amazon's 85% and Google's 75–90% (as of September 2026)
- Save one Photoshop guide template per product type
- Keep all margins in one margins file every tool reads
- Check margins on every finished batch before delivery
- Date the spec and recheck platform rules twice a year
See the system in context. The free sample includes the Introduction and Chapter 1 with the full channel table: productphotomachine.com/free-sample.
FAQ
What does 85% frame fill mean? The product's longest side takes up 85% of the image's matching side. On a square canvas that leaves 7.5% margin on each side of that dimension. As of September 2026, it's Amazon's main image requirement.
Is 85% fill right for every channel? No. Google's guidance is 75 to 90%, so 85% works for both. eBay, Etsy and Shopify don't set a fill ratio, so your own site can use any margins, as long as they're consistent per product type.
Should every product use the same margins? No. Pants, T-shirts, shorts and shoes have different shapes, so each type needs its own margin spec. The goal is that products of the same type read the same size in a grid.
How do I calculate the canvas size? Divide the product's longest side by the fill share. At 85%, a 3,400 px product needs a 4,000 × 4,000 px canvas. The frame-fill and margin calculator does it for you.
How do I check margins on hundreds of images? Use a script that finds the product's edges on a white background, measures each margin as a percentage and flags any image outside tolerance for a person to review.
Start with the free sample at productphotomachine.com/free-sample.
The Book + Template Pack ($29.99) covers margins, QC and the crop-and-pad pipeline in full, with the margin-check script and example margins to adapt.
Sources
- Google Merchant Center: Product data specification, image link best practices (75–90% fill, possible cropping, no borders). Opened October 10, 2026.
- Amazon Seller Central: product image guide and technical file requirements (85% fill for main images). Read while signed in on September 29, 2026; not publicly linkable.
- The Product Photography Machine, Chapter 1 (channel requirements), Chapter 11 (QC and margin specs), Chapter 12 (crop and pad) and Chapter 13 (automated margin check).
