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FS Reloading Blogs

FS Reloading Standard Image Sizes

Product Images

Our product descriptions require 4 types of images. Each type serves a different purpose and so requires a different size as described below. All product images should be saved in .jpg format except the rare cases which require a transparent background. Images needing transparent backgrounds must be saved in .png format but be aware .png format images take up more storage space on the server and will download more slowly than .jpg format images.

Detailed Product Image: 2000 pixels wide X whatever high

High-res images that should illustrate important details or features of the product. Crop extraneous background from around the image. Images which after cropping are larger than 2000 pixels in the longest dimension should be resized to 2000 pixels in that dimension. Images less than 750 pixels are too small and should not be used as Detailed Product Images. After resizing, always "sharpen medium".

Use the following order when uploading Detailed Product Images.

  1. Unpackaged product front view
  2. Unpackaged product back view
  3. Unpackaged product side view
  4. Unpackaged product side view
  5. Unpackaged product top view
  6. Unpackaged product contents
  7. Unique product features or details (not limited to just one image, include as many as are available)
  8. Packaged product front view
  9. Packaged product back view
  10. Product in use (not limited to just one image, include as many as are available)

Make sure you include alt image text that describes the image. This "alt text" gets embeded in the html code behind the page. It is displayed as a "tool tip" by most browsers when a person mouses over the image. More importantly it is indexed by search engines. Pages that include "alt text" on their images get higher search rankings than pages with images that don't include alt text. Therefore, the image "alt text" should be treated like a short caption for the image. Describe what the image is but avoid marketing phrasiology.

Thumbnail Product Image: 341 pixels wide X 341 pixels high

Start with the unpackaged product front view detailed image. Resize the largest dimension to 341 pixels and sharpen medium. Then adjust the image board size to add pure white background to make the image 341 pixels square. Product thumbnail images need to be square because they are used by X-Cart in various places that require images be square in order to maintain proper alignment of columns. The "responsive" feature of our web site template will resize images as needed to best fit the wide variety of devices used by customers to view our web site. The largest image required for this feature is 341 pixels. Larger images are technically ok but  waste storage space and take longer to download.

Product Image: 250 pixels wide X 250 pixels high

Start with the 341 pixel square Thumbnail Product Image. Resize it to 250 pixels square and sharpen medium.

Action Images: 400 pixels wide X whatever high

Start with the highest resolution image available. Crop the image to focus on important details. Resize to 400 pixels wide and sharpen medium. Add a caption to the image which explains the detail or action illustrated by the image. Action images should be included in the product long description.

Other Images

Category Images: 341 pixels wide X 341 pixels high

These images should be representative of the products in the category. They should be selected from the Thumbnail Product Images in the category if possible. If an appropriate Product Thumbnail Image is not available, create an appropriate Category Image using the same procedure as for Product Thumbnail images. 

Embedded Video Clips: 400 pixels wide X whatever high

Google Image Requirements: updated May 1, 2014

Image Size

  • Submit the largest, full-size image available for the product, up to 4MB file size.
  • Google prefers images at least 800 pixels in height and width.
  • Do not scale up images or submit thumbnails.
  • For apparel products Google requires images of at least 250 x 250 pixels.

Important

  • Items can not be submitted without an image.
  • For products that fall under “Apparel & Accessories” and all corresponding sub-categories in feeds targeting the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP: Google requires specific images corresponding to product variants that differ in ‘‘color’, or ‘pattern’, or ‘material’. Color variants may not be submitted without a corresponding color variant image. Google prefers specific images for ‘size’ variants too but will accept the same image for size variants. This is likely to change in the future.
  • The image must display the product. Do not submit a placeholder such as "No image", logo of the brand or logo of your store.
  • Images of products must not contain logos or other promotions within the image.
  • The main image of a multipack must display a single unit of the product. 
  • Up to 10 additional images can be submitted to show the item from different angles, in use or packaged.

Practical Applications for FS Reloading

We have changed the Google Product Feed program to automatically submit the first detailed image assigned to position 0 for each item. If no detailed images exist, the program will submit the product thumbnail image. To obtain the best results from our Google product feed, please follow these simple rules for product images.

  • Every product should have at least 1 detailed image that is as close as possible to 2,000 pixels wide. 
  • The first detailed image should be assigned position 0. Only the first detailed image should be assigned to position 0.
  • The first detailed image should show the product on a pure white background without packaging or other distractions.
  • Each product should have as many detailed images as possible. Additional detailed images should show the product from other angles, in use, in packaging, or in context with other products. Only the first 11 detailed images will be sent to Google so make sure the additional detailed images intended for Google are assigend positions 1-10
  • Product thumbnail images should be the same image as the first detailed image, resized and board adjusted to 341 pixels square with a pure white background. 
  • Each detailed image must include "Alternative text" that describes that image. HTML, other formatting and special characters are not allowed in "Alternative text".
  • While Google presently only requires separate images for color and size variants for apparel products, they have announced this will be extended to all products in the future. Therefore, we should work toward obtaining separate, high-res photos for all color and size variants for all our products as we are able to do so. 

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