How do I make my product photo background pure white for Amazon?

Select the background in an image editor and fill it with pure white (#FFFFFF, or RGB 255, 255, 255). Export the file once, then check it: every background pixel should read 255, apart from a small shadow directly under the product. A photo taken on white paper or against a white wall doesn't get there on its own, because the camera records it as light grey. Amazon's product image guide asks for "a pure white background (RGB color values: 255, 255, 255)" on the main image.

How to make the background pure white

These steps work in Photoshop and in Photopea (free, in the browser).

1. Select the product. Use the editor's subject or quick-selection tool, then refine the edge so hair, fringe or a soft edge isn't cut off.
2. Invert the selection, so the background is selected instead of the product.
3. Leave the contact shadow out of the selection, if you want one. Amazon allows "minimal shadows around the product," meaning a soft shadow directly under it. Subtract that area from the selection so the fill doesn't erase it, or skip the shadow now and add one after the fill, as the guide to removing and adding shadows shows. A shadow that spreads across the floor, falls on a backdrop or reaches the edge of the frame is not allowed.
4. Fill it with #FFFFFF. Choose Edit, then Fill, with white. A fill sets every selected pixel to 255. Brightening the whole photo with Levels or Curves until the background turns white also blows out the product's highlights and shifts its color.
5. Export once. Save the JPEG at the highest quality, or export a PNG. Amazon's technical file requirements warn that each JPEG save lowers quality, and compression can leave faint grey pixels along the product's edge.

How to check that the background is pure white

Open the exported file, not the editing project.

• Run a Threshold check. Choose Image, then Adjustments, then Threshold, and set the level to 255. Every pixel that isn't pure white turns black, so a grey corner, an off-white patch or a halo around the product shows at once. Only the small shadow directly under the product should turn black. Cancel the adjustment afterwards.
• Sample the four corners and the middle of each edge with the eyedropper or the Info panel. Each should read 255, 255, 255.
• Sample along the sides and top of the product. A background-removal halo or a shadow that spreads leaves values of 250 to 254 there, and those need filling.
• Look at the edges of the frame. There must be no line, border or outline. Amazon's non-white background page counts "a visual frame, line, or border on any portion of the edges of the image" as a non-white background, along with off-white or grey areas left behind by background removal.

What about white products?

A white product disappears on pure white, so keep the main image on 255 and use the small shadow the rules allow to show its edges. When a seller of white decals asked in 2025, Amazon's reply on its forums gave the same advice. Darker settings belong in the secondary images, which Amazon's non-white background page says may use "a neutral or environment-based background."

Is there a faster way?

For a new listing, Amazon's Add Products tool now checks the main image for a non-white background before you submit, and its Fix image option may offer a corrected image with a white background added, as its help page describes. The feature is rolling out by marketplace. Background-removal apps also place a cutout on white. Whichever you use, run the same check on the exported file before you upload it.

A white background fixes only one suppression reason. If Amazon also flagged packaging, props, a mannequin, the product's fill or added text, the guide to why Amazon suppressed your listing over its main image covers each one and the upload mistakes that keep a fixed image from showing.