# The photography style guide for fashion e-commerce, section by section

What to put in a fashion e-commerce photography style guide: shot lists, crops, background, poses, styling, colour accuracy, file specs, plus a template.

- URL: https://humblebob.com/journal/ecommerce-photography-style-guide
- Publisher: HUMBLEBOB (https://humblebob.com)
- Published: 2026-09-29
- Updated: 2026-09-29

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A photography style guide for fashion e-commerce is the document that decides what every product image on your site looks like: which shots each category gets, how they are cropped, what the background and light are, how the model stands, how the garment is styled, what retouching may change, and how files are named and delivered. A good one lets anyone produce or judge an image without asking: a new photographer, a retoucher, an agency, or the person approving images on a Friday afternoon.

Many style guides are closer to moodboards. They show twenty beautiful images and ask for "clean, bright, natural". That works for a creative briefing. It does not work on image 400 of a season, when someone has to decide whether a crop that starts at the collarbone instead of the chin is a reject. The best public examples are the marketplaces' own. Amazon's 2021 clothing imaging guide goes down to aperture (f8 to f11), grey-card targets and file names, and Zalando's apparel guide specifies sleeves at full length and drawstrings of equal length. That is the level of detail to aim for.

## Who the style guide is for

Write it for the person who reviews images. Photographers and stylists get a briefing anyway; the reviewer needs to reject an image and point to the line it breaks. If your guide cannot support a rejection, it will not hold once production runs at volume, with several people and sometimes several suppliers working at the same time.

[Video: The short version: write the style guide for the person who reviews images, and rewrite any line that cannot back a rejection.](https://humblebob-media.humblebob.workers.dev/humblebob-website/content/video/sj-style-guide-a687ebfe34.mp4) (Motion: HUMBLEBOB)

> Write the style guide for the reviewer. Crops as body landmarks: top of frame at the chin. Background as a value, with a tolerance. The poses that hide the product, named. Can't reject an image? Rewrite the line. From the HUMBLEBOB Journal.
Producers and channel teams will read it too, but when a line cannot settle a review, rewrite the line.

## What a photography style guide should include

### 1. Shot list per category

![Three side-by-side photos of one man in three products with the same crop and light: facing front in the outer two, turned slightly with one](https://humblebob-media.humblebob.workers.dev/humblebob-website/content/styleguide-poses-1536-be6e4af532.webp)

*A small set of approved poses rotated across products, with the same crop and light, keeps a category page from looking mechanical or random. (AI-generated image)*
Start with the list of images every product gets, in the order they appear in the gallery: usually a front crop, a full-length front, a back, a side or three-quarter view and a detail. Our [shot list per category](https://humblebob.com/journal/how-many-product-photos-fashion-pdp) has the full counts. What belongs in the style guide are the exceptions, written as rules a reviewer can check:

- **Denim**: add a waist-to-knee shot with both front pockets and the full thigh in frame.
- **Outerwear**: closed in the main shots, plus one image open to show the lining.
- **Shirts**: one detail shot is always the collar.
- **Headwear**: on the head, cropped at the shoulders, never held in a hand.
- **Dresses and skirts**: the full-length shot goes first in the gallery, with the whole hem in frame.

### 2. Framing and crop

Adjectives do not survive in this section. Write positions as body landmarks or as a share of the canvas:

- Where the top of the frame falls on cropped shots: above the head, at the forehead, at the nose or at the chin. Pick one and apply it to every cropped shot in the category.
- Where the feet land on full-length shots, and the margin below them.
- The minimum space between the garment and the edge of the frame.
- Whether the model is always centred, and how far the canvas may shift for a long coat or a wide trouser.

A consistent crop is what makes a category page look calm. If the eyes land at a different height in every tile, the grid looks messy even when every single image is good.

### 3. Background and light

Give the background as a value, for example pure white `#FFFFFF`, and state the tolerance you accept. Delta E, a standard measure of the difference between two colours, makes that checkable. Also state whether soft shadows under the feet are allowed, whether a floor line may be visible, and the direction and hardness of the light.

### 4. Model direction

Cover casting per segment first: menswear, womenswear, kids, plus size, or however your range is split. Then the poses. List the ones that are allowed and the ones that are not, such as hands in pockets hiding a waistband, arms crossed over a chest print, or a turned hip that hides the fit.

Write down how poses rotate between products. If every product uses the same stance, the category page looks mechanical. If every product uses a different one, it looks random. One answer is a small set of approved poses, rotated in a fixed order, with the pattern broken now and then on purpose.

Include expression, gaze and what the hands do. Hands are a common reason to reject an image, so they get their own line.

### 5. Styling

State how garments are worn and what they are worn with: tucked or untucked, sleeves rolled or not, buttons done up or open, collar up or down. Name the neutral base items that go with a product, such as plain trousers under a knit or a white tee under an open shirt, and the rule that keeps them from competing with the product. Write the shoe policy per shot type as well, and check it against your channels: Zalando's front crop requires shoes except for sportswear, swimwear, nightwear and underwear.

### 6. Product accuracy

This section protects you from returns and marketplace rejections. Write down:

- **What the colour reference is.** A physical sample under controlled light, or an approved packshot. Say which one wins when they disagree.
- **What may never change**: colour, print scale and placement, logo shape, length, fit, and the number of buttons, pockets or panels.
- **What may be cleaned up**: lint, loose threads, packing creases, a twisted hem.

Put the reference and the rule in writing, so the reviewer compares against a file and not against memory.

### 7. Retouching

Describe the level of skin retouching, how much garment cleanup is allowed, how shadows are handled, and how images in one set are matched to each other. Zalando's [post-production guide](https://partner.zalando.com/university/article/visual-content-and-post-production-guide) draws a line worth copying: retouch temporary skin conditions, never permanent features such as birthmarks, scars, stretch marks or tattoos. If a marketplace has ever rejected your images for colour, make colour matching a separate, named step with its own sign-off.

### 8. File specs and naming

Give the aspect ratio, pixel size, colour space (sRGB for web), format and compression for each channel, plus a naming rule that ties every image to a SKU and a view. A name like `SKU_view_sequence` saves hours when images are uploaded in bulk, and more when a partner rejects twenty of them. Some channels fix the pattern for you: Amazon expects names like `B000123456.MAIN.jpg`, and John Lewis wants the stock or EAN number, with `_1`, `_2` for alternates.

If you sell on marketplaces, their rules differ enough that one crop rarely fits every channel. A few examples from the current guidelines:

| Channel | Ratio and size | Background | Main image rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your own Shopify store | Your choice; Shopify says 2048 x 2048 px usually displays best for square images, up to 5000 x 5000 px and 20 MB | Your choice | Your choice, but keep one aspect ratio |
| [Zalando](https://partner.zalando.com/university/article/zalando-image-guidelines) | 1:1.44, best practice 1801 x 2600 px, sRGB JPG | `#FFFFFF` for packshots, `#F1F1F1` recommended for model images | A ghost or laid-down packshot, or a front crop on a model wearing shoes |
| [About You](https://docs.partner.aboutyou.com/user-guide/product-image-requirements) | 3:4, at least 1125 x 1500 px | White or transparent for packshots, `#F4F4F5` for model images | At least one packshot and one cropped model image per apparel item |
| [Amazon](https://sellercentral.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/external/G1881) | Clothing close to 3:4; 1,000 px or more on the longest side enables zoom | Pure white, RGB 255, 255, 255 | Adult clothing on a standing model, the product filling 85% of the image, no part of any mannequin |
| [Google Merchant Center](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324350) | 1500 x 1500 px or more recommended; at least 500 x 500 px from 31 January 2027 | Solid white or transparent | Clothing shown worn, the product filling 75 to 90% of the image |

The practical answer is one master capture with enough room around the model, and a crop per channel defined in the guide. Rules change, so date this part of the guide and check it every season.

### 9. Review and sign-off

Write down who approves what. The model and the first images of each category are usually approved by someone senior, daily production by the e-commerce team. Keep a short list of rejection reasons (crop off, colour off reference, detail missing, pose not allowed, background not clean) so feedback to producers uses the same words every time.

## Turn adjectives into rules

The fastest way to improve an existing guide is to go through it and replace every adjective with something a reviewer can check.

| Vague | Checkable |
|---|---|
| Clean, bright background | `#FFFFFF`, within your stated Delta E tolerance from white, no visible floor line |
| Natural poses | Three approved poses, rotated per product, hands never covering the waistband |
| True to colour | Compared side by side with the approved packshot; any visible shift is a reject |
| Consistent framing | Cropped shots start at the chin; full-length shots leave 4% of the height below the feet |
| Premium feel | Keep it, but move it to the taste section |

## Keep rules and taste apart

Some decisions are logic: shot lists, crops, file specs, naming. Others are taste: mood, expression, how relaxed a pose may be. When both sit in one list, reviewers end up arguing about taste as if it were a rule. Rules should be written so that two reviewers reach the same verdict. Taste calls should belong to one named person, usually the creative lead, who makes them once per season with examples, so they do not get reopened in every review round.

![Two columns: rules such as shot lists, crops, file specs and naming, and taste such as mood, expression and pose, owned by one person.](https://humblebob-media.humblebob.workers.dev/humblebob-website/content/styleguide-rules-taste-1440-885d4b6b99.webp)

*Rules settle a review the same way for every reviewer, while taste calls go to one named owner once a season. (Diagram: HUMBLEBOB)*
HUMBLEBOB uses the same split. In step 1, Your brand, we write your look down as rules (light, background, framing, poses and styling) and agree the shot list per category, and your team approves them before production starts. The taste calls are made up front with your creative lead. More on that in [How we work](https://humblebob.com/approach).

## Where style guides go wrong

- **Only good examples.** Show rejected images next to approved ones, with the reason. One annotated reject teaches more than five perfect images.
- **No category exceptions.** One rule set for everything forces denim, knitwear and accessories into the same shot list.
- **Written once.** A guide that is not updated after the first season gets bypassed. Date each version and keep a short changelog.
- **Silent on generated images.** If some of your images are generated or partly generated, the guide applies to them in full: same crops, same accuracy rules, same review. Add your disclosure policy and the metadata each channel expects. Google Merchant Center requires generated images to carry metadata that says so, Amazon asks for a tag on images with entirely generated people, and Zalando requires embedded identifying data by December 2026 and does not accept images that would need a visible AI label. Since August 2026 the EU AI Act has disclosure rules as well, covered in [our article on Article 50](https://humblebob.com/journal/eu-ai-act-article-50-fashion-ecommerce).
- **Silent on segments.** Kids, plus size and tall ranges need their own casting, poses and sometimes crops.

![Two prints of the same shirt shot side by side, one cropped at the chin and one cropped at the collarbone, circled in pencil.](https://humblebob-media.humblebob.workers.dev/humblebob-website/content/styleguide-reject-v2-1536-e8c9bbf74f.webp)

*An approved crop at the chin next to a reject that starts at the collarbone: one annotated reject teaches more than five perfect images. (AI-generated image)*
## Photography style guide template

1. **Purpose and owner**: who maintains the guide, the version and the date.
2. **Shot list per category**: gallery order and exceptions.
3. **Framing and crop**: positions as landmarks or percentages.
4. **Background and light**: values and tolerances.
5. **Model direction**: casting per segment, poses, rotation, hands, expression.
6. **Styling**: how garments are worn, base items, shoes.
7. **Product accuracy**: the colour reference, what may never change, what may be cleaned up.
8. **Retouching**: skin, garment, matching within a set.
9. **File specs and naming**: per channel.
10. **Review and sign-off**: who approves what, and the list of rejection reasons.
11. **Taste decisions for this season**: examples and an owner.
12. **Changelog.**

![Checklist of the twelve parts of a photography style guide, grouped into ownership, image rules, accuracy and files, and process.](https://humblebob-media.humblebob.workers.dev/humblebob-website/content/styleguide-template-1440-36838ffd29.webp)

*The twelve parts of the template on one card, grouped by what they cover. (Diagram: HUMBLEBOB)*
When HUMBLEBOB starts with a brand, we write this document first, before any image is made. Our [Product page photos](https://humblebob.com/services/photography) are made to it, and people review each batch against it before delivery.

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About the publisher: HUMBLEBOB is a production partner for fashion imagery. We read your brand, sort your briefing, make the assets, deliver them ready for your channels and put what we learn into the next drop.