High Res Photos

[#1]

I uploaded dozens of new listings to my shop and all of them were tagged for being "low res" with Etsy AI asking me to retake them. I sell vintage and antique buttons so the pictures can't get too large. I also can see the most minute details in the photos, so I don't know how I can get them more "high res" than this. What can I do? How can I alter them so the AI Gods like them without retaking them? And how would I retake them and make them more high res when they're already pretty detailed? 

Thanks. I've been locked out of most Etsy forums for some strange reason (IT will fix it, then it won't work), so I hope I'm posting in the right area and that some can see my photo quality. 

[givemeacrown]

@VintageButtonJoy Would it possible for you to crop on the iPad before upload?

On an iPad you could try the following:

1. take a photo

2. open the Photos app 

3. tap on the photo to view the photo

4. put your finger in the middle of the photo and swipe up - the info panel will appear which shows numbers such as "3024 x 4032" - that is the number of pixels wide/high your photo is.

5. to close the info panel, put your finger in the middle of the photo and swipe down (or tap the "x" on the info panel)

I'm not sure if those instructions will work for older iPads but hopefully it helps. e.g. on my old iPhone the info panel appears below the photo but it still shows the dimensions.

[VintageButtonJoy]

Thank you. I just read about that this morning, and it's super helpful, but then when I crop my photos after uploading to Etsy, they're mostly rejected. If there was a way to see pixels prior to posting, that would be helpful. 

[SewlyButtons]

@VintageButtonJoy 
While you're listing your item, before you publish, you can do an "inspect" the image to see what the intrinsic size is. You could do that both before AND after cropping an image to see how much the cropping drops the pixel size. You need it to be over 2000 pixels after cropping but before publishing to satisfy the etsy image police.

[TreeSeedMan]

I have started receiving this issue as well and have received no help and just gave up fixing things etsy expects me to fix

[VintageButtonJoy]

I just noticed that Etsy wiped my "activity" for the last two months. I can't see sales, favorites of my items or favorites of my shop. It's reading October. I also just had 15 more pictures flagged that were fine before. I was able to get 12 out of the dog house, so to speak, but now more are back in. 

[TreeSeedMan]

Is anyone going to actually provide information and help with this situation? No one has said anything useful yet

[CraftyCornishMaids]

you need to look at the device you are using to take photos, and work out how to get better resolution,

there should be a handbook online you can look at

[Amaradorn]

@TreeSeedMan I think the consensus of opinion is to:

• ensure image size is at least 2000px x 2000px (before uploading).
• if the above is done then you can ignore any error messages relating to the size of the images.

[VintagePussycatShop]

Etsy actually replied to me and admitted that there was an issue.  They said that it was an issue with images being loaded via a third party site (I use Vendoo, for example) but for me personally it was also happening when I loaded images directly.  I published a listing this morning that loaded fine, though, so hopefully they have resolved it? Or are at least working on it.  I am ignoring the errors in the meantime, especially since the images seem fine when I have friends view them. 

[Hoardedbymillie]

I’m having this same problem but when I pull up additional information on the photos in my phone, they say “12MP”, isn’t that even more than recommended? 

[BagmakerSupply]

@Hoardedbymillie: "... they say “12MP”, isn’t that even more than recommended?" Maybe. Megapixels (MP) is a measurement of something else. The check seems to look to see if the image is at least 2000 pixels wide and a minimum pixel density (probably 72 dpi).

[Hoardedbymillie]

3024x4032 is what my photos say. 

[SensibleBeauty]

I’m getting the same notice. My camera is set the same in all the pictures I take, and like you said, the picture in question is crisp and detailed. I just add this to a list of frustrations that goes unanswered.

[VintagePussycatShop]

This continues to be frustrating.  I had sent Etsy support a message and indicated one listing as an example of what is being flagged.  They advised me that it was flagged because the photo was 1634 x 1634 pixels.  Ok, that tracks with their 2000 x 2000 guideline.  Except that I have many listings that are 3024 x 3024 and ALSO being flagged for "low resolution".  And then I have one that is 1302 x 1302 and is NOT being flagged.  Not to mention that almost none of my listings were originally flagged when the "etsy search visibility" tab was rolled out, and my photo process/quality has been the same.  This only began being a problem in mid december and it has not been consistent. Finally, I went back to read the Etsy photo guidelines.  While they RECOMMEND over 2k pixels, they specifically say "Your first listing photo should have a width and height of at least 635 pixels to avoid showing up lower in searches".  So.....???? Are they flagging below 635? Or below 2k? Either way, its not consistent with the way my listings are being flagged. 

[Hoardedbymillie]

So frustrating and a huge waste of time. 

[DaysofYoreTreasures]

Sorry, my reply nested in the wrong place!

[artbyjocelyn]

It can also be detecting images where the item is too small or unclear in the photo, not necessarily the size of the image file.

[VintagePussycatShop]

@artbyjocelyn It could be - but its not.  At least not in all.  As of 12/22, I am getting this message on 90% of the photos I upload.  Dishes, clothing, various pixel sizes. Blue plates on an all white background, and I am close up to the item, but still "low resolution".  When they first rolled out the visibility dashboard, I had one listing out of over 700 that was "low resolution".  Now they are almost all showing as low res. 

[artbyjocelyn]

Look at those images and see if the item is too small in the image or not really clear enough. I tested this yesterday, for my print on demand group, and that was the result I was getting with images that were 2000pixels wide but there was a lot of background stuff in the images. By looking at a page of your images, I very well see how this could be the reason, too cluttered an image and Etsy's image assessing bot is suggesting you change them for that reason. 

[VintagePussycatShop]

@artbyjocelyn Thanks for looking at my shop, and for the reply.  I understand the "clutter" issue, and honestly I am not going to change that aspect (for multiple reasons).  But even the plain blue plates against a solid white background (and over 3k pixels on either side) are being flagged, so its clearly more than a cluttered background.  And some of my "cluttered" photos are also NOT being flagged.  Its very inconsistent, and when Etsy isn't being consistent with what they are flagging, its frustrating to try to jump through hoops and change my process when its not fixing the problem anyway. At this point, if I DO make any meaningful changes, it will be several months from now when (hopefully!) their AI bots have gotten some of their sh*t together.

[DaysofYoreTreasures]

@VintagePussycatShop 

I think the low res message could be related to the image being under 4 megapixels.

Etsy says:
Images should be at least 0.4 megapixels, but we recommend 2000px for the shortest side of the image, and a resolution of 72PPI for listing images. 
https://community.etsy.com/t5/Announcements/Etsy-search-visibility-page-More-insights-than-ever-befo...

and 
We recommend your listing photos have a width and height of at least 2000 pixels or more. Your first listing photo should have a width and height of at least 635 pixels to avoid showing up lower in searches.
https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015663347-Requirements-and-Best-Practices-for-Images-in-Y...

Using a megapixel calculator, I found that
1. 635x635 = almost exactly 0.4 megapixels.
2. 2000x2000= 4 megapixels.

I tested it back in October and found that only images under 0.4 megapixels returned a visibility warning - "Upload higher-resolution photos. 1 listing could use sharper, clearer photos to help it pop."

I think they may have raised the visibility message bar to 4 megapixels recently, but only for new listings, judging by the forum posts.

I checked listings 1 to 4 in your shop (blue plates) and the primary image size was 1600x1600.
Listing 5 was 1600x1600, 6 was 1355x1355, 7 was 1400x1400 & 8 was 1600x1600.  

* If you artificially increase the size of your original image, I think that might decrease the resolution but I am no expert.

[WoodbineEverlasting]

@DaysofYoreTreasures 

I don't think anyone will get an accurate understanding of intrinsic pixel values of someone else's listing photos, when looking at someone else's listings through their shop. We can only get an accurate intrinsic size when the photo file is inspected within the listings manager, in a listing edit.

[DaysofYoreTreasures]

@WoodbineEverlasting 

The intrinsic sizes in my listings manager do match the original-image sizes in the customer facing view.

Using the instructions from @SewlyButtons  on page 2.
For the first listing in my shop.
Intrinsic size: 2448 x 2448 px

From the customer side.
1. Left click to open the listing from your shop home.
2. Left click again to enlarge the primary image.
3. Right click and inspect. Look for the two data-original-image labels within the shaded code. Mine showed
data-original-image-width= "2448"
data-original-image-height="2448"

Edited to add - My apologies, I had not read your full conversation with @SewlyButtons on page 2, or I would have added this info there.

[WoodbineEverlasting]

@DaysofYoreTreasures 

Also per @SewlyButtons on page 2

"...A caveat to take note of, ---
This ONLY works when viewing an image from the Listing Manager (either while creating or editing a listing). If you do the same thing... inspect an image... from the actual listing itself from within your etsy shop... the intrinsic size will be MUCH smaller. I'm guessing because of more etsy coding. So for one of my listings, while the intrinsic size in the listing manager shows my 2667x2000... if I view that same image from the live listing, the intrinsic size is MUCH smaller."

This was the case for me. I was not getting the same intrinsic pixel size when inspecting the listing from my shop front. It was much smaller. Interesting that this is not the case for you.

[DaysofYoreTreasures]

@WoodbineEverlasting 

Give the method I described a try. It is different from the shop manager method.