AI product photo rules by marketplace

What Etsy, Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Google Shopping, TikTok Shop and Shopify say about AI images, checked 23 October 2026

Quick Answer

Most marketplaces allow AI and AI-edited product photos, with the same two conditions. First, every image must accurately show the product the buyer will receive. Second, the main image should be a real photo of the product, usually on plain white. Use AI images for lifestyle, scene and model shots, turn on the AI tag where the marketplace reads it, and add a disclosure where it asks for one.

The rules, marketplace by marketplace

Etsy

Are AI images allowed?: Yes, if each image accurately shows the item: colour, texture, condition, scale and materials.
Main image: Most listings need at least one unedited photo of the actual item against a real background. No AI, no background swap, no retouching on that one.
Disclosure: Required in the description only when the item itself is made with AI. For AI-edited photos of a real item, Etsy recommends saying which images were edited.
File metadata: No metadata rule.

Etsy AI photo rules in full

Amazon

Are AI images allowed?: Yes, as long as every image accurately represents the product and matches its title.
Main image: A realistic, professional-quality image of the product on pure white (RGB 255, 255, 255), filling about 85% of the frame, at real scale, quantity and colour. No placeholders, no props that are not included.
Disclosure: Amazon shows a disclosure itself when an image is tagged as containing AI-generated people.
File metadata: Images with photorealistic AI-generated people must carry the keyword contains-synthetic-performer in the XMP dc:subject field. Real people edited with AI tools, and images with no people, are excluded.

Amazon product photo guide

eBay

Are AI images allowed?: eBay's picture policy does not mention AI. Every photo must accurately represent the item.
Main image: At least one photo 500 pixels or more on the longest side. No added borders, text, artwork or watermarks. No stock photos for used, damaged or defective items.
Disclosure: No AI disclosure rule in the picture policy.
File metadata: No metadata rule.

Walmart Marketplace

Are AI images allowed?: Yes. Walmart says AI-generated content must be accurate, truthful, rights-compliant and in line with its marketplace policies.
Main image: Seamless white background (RGB 255, 255, 255), square 1:1, 2200 x 2200 px recommended, 1500 x 1500 px minimum for zoom, 5 MB or less.
Disclosure: No separate AI disclosure step in the image guide.
File metadata: No metadata rule.

Google Shopping (Merchant Center)

Are AI images allowed?: Yes, for the main, additional and lifestyle images.
Main image: An unobstructed, clean view of the item: at least 500 x 500 px (about 1500 x 1500 recommended), product filling 75 to 90% of the image, no watermarks, text or placeholders, under 16 MB.
Disclosure: Handled through the file itself, see metadata.
File metadata: Every AI-generated image must contain the IPTC DigitalSourceType trainedAlgorithmicMedia tag, and Google asks you not to remove it. This also covers stores that sync products to Google, for example through the Shopify Google channel.

What Lume writes into your files

TikTok Shop

Are AI images allowed?: TikTok Shop's listing rules are only visible to logged-in sellers, so check Seller Center before you list. Seller guides report that product images must show the real product and that digital renderings are not accepted.
Main image: Check Seller Center for the current main image rules.
Disclosure: For TikTok posts, TikTok requires a label on realistic AI-generated content and encourages one on content significantly edited by AI. It can label content automatically when the file carries C2PA Content Credentials.
File metadata: TikTok reads C2PA Content Credentials for its automatic label.

Shopify

Are AI images allowed?: Your Shopify store is your own shop, so no marketplace rule decides which images you use. Consumer law still expects product photos to show what the buyer gets.
Main image: No required background. Shopify accepts images up to 5000 x 5000 px and 20 MB, and recommends 2048 x 2048 px for square product images.
Disclosure: No Shopify rule. If you sync to Google Shopping, the Google rule above applies.
File metadata: No Shopify rule.

Shopify product photo guide

The EU AI Act

Article 50 of the EU AI Act applies from 2 August 2026. It asks providers of AI systems that generate images to make sure the output is marked in a machine-readable way and can be detected as AI-generated. Lume is that provider for the images you make with it and writes the IPTC tag whenever you turn it on in Settings; turn it on if you sell to EU buyers.

Article 50 also asks anyone who publishes a deepfake to disclose it. A styled product photo is not usually a deepfake, but an image that shows a real person doing something they never did can be. This is a plain summary, not legal advice.

How Lume handles this

Your real photo stays the main image

Every marketplace above wants the main image to show the real product. Lume works from your own product photo, so keep that photo (or a plain cutout on white, where the marketplace allows edits) in slot 1 and use Lume images for the other slots.

Built to keep your product as photographed

Our generation instructions tell the model to keep the shape, colour, text and details of your product exactly as they are in your photo. AI can still drift, so check every image before you list it.

Check every detail before you download

Open any photo in your gallery and zoom in to the real pixels. Press Compare to see it next to your own product photo , each zoomed on its own, so a wrong label, colour or shape is caught before it reaches a listing. Looking closely never counts as a download, so credit protection stays available.

The AI tag is one switch away

Google Shopping requires the IPTC DigitalSourceType tag on AI images, and the EU AI Act asks for AI images to be machine-marked. Turn on Marked as AI-generated in Settings and every file Lume hands you carries it. Nothing hidden goes into your files otherwise.

You choose the rest of the file info

In Settings, under Image file info, every row says which marketplace rules depend on it, so you can decide against the rules: the AI-generated tag, and the product name and SKU in zip exports. Lume adds no name, credit or watermark of its own.

The full list of what goes into each file, and how to check it yourself, is on What Lume writes into your image files.

Seller checklist before you list

Main image

Use a real photo of the product. On Amazon, Walmart and Google, that means the product alone on white. On Etsy, keep one completely unedited photo in the set.

Accuracy

Compare each AI image with the real product: colour, size, text and logos, texture, number of parts, and condition. In Lume, open the photo, zoom in and press Compare to see it beside your product photo. If anything changed, leave it out.

Props and extras

On Amazon, anything shown in the main image must come with the product. In lifestyle images, make sure props cannot be mistaken for what the buyer receives.

AI people

If an image shows a photorealistic AI-generated model and you sell on Amazon, add the contains-synthetic-performer keyword before uploading.

Disclosure

On Etsy, add a short line to your description saying which images were made or edited with AI. On TikTok, use the AI-generated label where it applies.

File info

If you sell on Google Shopping or to EU buyers, turn on the AI-generated tag in Settings before you download. Some editing and compression tools strip metadata, so upload the file Lume gave you where you can.

Related Resources

Etsy AI Photo Rules

What Etsy allows and bans for AI images

Etsy Product Photos

Create Etsy lifestyle shots step by step

Amazon Product Photos

Gallery and lifestyle images, plus the main image rules

Shopify Product Photos

Product photos for your Shopify store

AI Image Metadata

What Lume writes into your files, and how to check

Limitations

Where AI product photos can go wrong

Frequently Asked Questions

Which marketplaces allow AI product photos?

Etsy, Amazon, Walmart and Google Shopping all allow AI or AI-edited product images as long as they accurately show the product. eBay does not mention AI and asks that every photo accurately represents the item. TikTok Shop sellers should check Seller Center, where the rules are behind a login.

Can my main image be AI-generated?

Use a real photo for the main image. Amazon asks for a realistic image of the product on pure white at real scale and colour, Walmart and Google ask for a clean product view on white, and Etsy requires at least one unedited photo of the real item in the listing.

Do I have to tell buyers that a photo was made with AI?

It depends on the marketplace. Etsy requires disclosure when the item is made with AI and recommends it for AI-edited photos. Amazon shows its own disclosure for images tagged as containing AI-generated people. Google relies on the AI tag inside the file. eBay and Walmart have no separate AI disclosure step.

What metadata do marketplaces look for?

Google Shopping requires the IPTC DigitalSourceType trainedAlgorithmicMedia tag on AI-generated images. Amazon requires the contains-synthetic-performer keyword in XMP dc:subject when an image shows photorealistic AI-generated people. TikTok reads C2PA Content Credentials for its automatic AI label.

Do Lume images carry an AI tag?

Only if you turn it on, in Settings under Image file info. Google Shopping requires the tag on AI images and may disapprove products without it, and in the EU AI images are expected to stay marked, so turn it on if you sell there. Google's invisible SynthID watermark sits in the pixels of every Gemini image either way.

Does the EU AI Act apply to my product photos?

Article 50 of the EU AI Act applies from 2 August 2026. It asks providers of AI systems that generate images, such as Lume, to mark the output as AI-generated in a machine-readable way. It also asks people who publish deepfakes to disclose them. A product photo on a website is not usually a deepfake, but this is a summary, not legal advice.

Sources

This page summarises each marketplace's published rules as of 23 October 2026. Their own pages are the final word and can change, so check them before you list.

Keep the real photo, add the lifestyle shots

Start with 3 free credits, no credit card required

Get Started

Last updated: 2026-10-23