You do not need a professional studio to take good Depop photos. You need an honest view of the item, enough light to show its real colour and a sequence that answers the buyer’s obvious questions.
The frustrating part is that there is no neat official specification saying every Depop image must be a particular number of pixels. Some advice online presents a square pixel size as a hard rule when it is really a practical recommendation.
This guide separates Depop’s published rules from a reliable reseller workflow.
Written by Nathan, an Australian reseller and the founder of Listalong. My preference is to keep one high-resolution set of original product photos that can be cropped for both eBay and Depop, rather than photographing the item twice.
Quick answer
Use original, clear photos of the actual item. Shoot or crop the cover image square, keep a high-resolution master and fill the available image slots with genuinely different views.
If you want a simple working specification, export square images at 1600 × 1600 pixels as high-quality JPEGs that preserve labels and flaws. That is Listalong’s practical recommendation, not a dimension currently mandated in Depop’s main help pages.
Depop photo requirements: official versus practical
| Question | What Depop currently says | Practical approach |
|---|---|---|
| Must photos be original? | Yes. Depop says not to use stock photos or copied images. | Photograph the exact item you will send. |
| How many images? | Official pages conflict: one says four photos and a video; another refers to eight images. | Follow the limit in your current listing screen and prepare up to eight useful shots. |
| Required pixel size? | No clear minimum pixel dimension is published in the main listing help. | Keep a sharp master and export around 1600 × 1600 pixels. |
| Shape? | Depop’s photography guide recommends square photos for its grid. | Compose with room to make a clean 1:1 crop. |
| Can photos hide faults? | Listings must be honest and accurate. | Photograph and describe every meaningful flaw. |
This distinction matters. An app feature can change without warning, while the durable rule is that the buyer should be able to understand the item they are purchasing.
How many Depop photos can you use?
As checked on 20 July 2026, Depop’s own help centre gives two different answers:
- How to list an item says the app accepts up to four photos and one video.
- How can I improve the search ranking of my items? tells sellers to use its eight-image feature.
The eight-image reference appears in Depop’s search guidance and is likely the newer product state, but your own listing form is the final check. Depop can also release features gradually or update one help page before another.
Do not add filler just to reach a number. Six clear, different photos are more useful than eight near-identical angles.
The eight-shot clothing sequence
When eight slots are available, this is the order I would use for a second-hand shirt, jacket or dress:
- Cover photo: the complete item, centred and easy to recognise.
- Back: the whole rear of the item.
- Brand and size label: sharp enough to read.
- Fabric or care label: useful for material and care information.
- Key detail: embroidery, print, hardware, texture or construction.
- Measurement: tape placed clearly across a relevant dimension.
- Flaw: close enough to see the issue, but not so close that its location is confusing.
- Fit or second full view: a modelled view, hanger shot or alternative angle.
For four available slots, combine the job intelligently: cover, back, label/details and flaw or measurements.
What dimensions should you actually use?
There are three different ideas that are often mixed together:
- Pixel dimensions determine how much detail the file contains.
- Aspect ratio describes its shape.
- File size is how much storage or upload data it uses.
A 1600 × 1600 image is square and contains enough detail for most clothing labels and condition shots. A 600 × 600 image is also square, but may become soft when a buyer zooms in.
My low-fuss workflow is:
- Photograph at the phone camera’s normal high quality.
- Keep the uncropped originals.
- Crop a square version with breathing room around the garment.
- Export at roughly 1600 × 1600 pixels.
- Check the final listing on a phone before publishing.
Avoid repeatedly sending photos through messaging apps before uploading them. Some apps compress images and can make label text or fabric flaws harder to see.
Square photos without cutting off the item
Depop’s photography guidance recommends a square format because listings appear in a grid. The easiest way to achieve that is to frame loosely while shooting.
Leave space around sleeves, hems and shoes. If the original photo is already tight, a square crop may cut off the exact part a buyer wants to inspect.
For long items such as coats or dresses, step farther back or place the item diagonally only if it still looks natural. Do not distort the image to force it into a square.
Your cover photo has one job
The first photo should let a buyer identify the item in a second or two.
Use:
- Soft, even light
- A simple background
- The entire item in frame
- Accurate colour
- A straight horizon or tidy flat lay
- Enough contrast between the item and background
Avoid leading with a label, a tiny flaw or an extreme close-up. Those images are valuable later in the sequence, but they make a weak shop-grid thumbnail.
Depop now provides in-app photo editing tools in some listing flows. Background cleanup can help, but it should not change the item’s real colour, texture or condition.
Photographing colour accurately
Colour disputes are difficult because two phone screens can display the same photo differently. You can still reduce the risk:
- Photograph near a window in indirect daylight.
- Turn off coloured lamps.
- Avoid mixing daylight with warm ceiling light.
- Check whether white or grey areas look neutral.
- Compare the garment with the photo before packing it away.
- Describe difficult colours in words, such as “blue-green teal” or “warm cream”.
Do not increase saturation until a faded shirt looks new. An attractive but inaccurate image creates the wrong buyer expectation.
Show labels, measurements and flaws
The detail photos are evidence, not decoration.
For labels, tap the screen to focus and move the phone back if the camera cannot focus at very close range. For measurements, keep the tape flat and show where it starts and ends. For flaws, include one close-up and, where useful, a wider photo showing where the flaw sits on the item.
The written description should still disclose the flaw. A buyer may not study every photo, and a small mark is easier to understand when both shown and named.
Can you reuse eBay listing photos?
Yes—provided they are your photos of the same item.
That is one of the biggest time savings in an eBay-to-Depop cross-listing workflow. A strong eBay photo set already includes the item, labels, measurements and condition. The Depop task is often just to select a stronger cover, crop carefully and put the images in a buyer-friendly order.
Do not reuse an eBay image if it contains:
- An eBay logo or marketplace-specific graphic
- Old pricing or postage text
- A watermark that hides the garment
- A different item or colour variation
- A collage too small to inspect on mobile
A five-minute photo check before publishing
Open the draft on your phone and ask:
- Can I identify the item from the cover photo?
- Is the colour believable?
- Are the front and back visible?
- Can I read the size and brand labels?
- Are important details and faults shown?
- Is anything cropped off?
- Do all photos belong to this exact stock item?
If the answer is yes to all seven, the photo set is doing its job.
Sources checked
These official Depop sources were checked on 20 July 2026:
- How to list an item
- How to improve the search ranking of an item
- What are stock images?
- Depop Community Guidelines
- Listing on the web
- Depop photography and curation guide
Platform limits and editing tools can change. Check the current listing screen when you publish.