Flex: Image size guide

How Shopify handles images

Whenever you upload an image, Shopify creates different sizes of that image and will automatically serve up the most appropriate size in different scenarios to ensure better performance. However we still recommend that you compress your images first so they’re not unnecessarily large to begin with.

Read more: Image optimization tips from Shopify

Image Aspect Ratios

When sizing your own images, keep this rule of thumb in mind: bigger, square-ish images will require a width:height ratio close to 1:1 but narrower, more rectangular images will need something closer to a 3:1 width to height ratio. 

Size Recommendations

The table below shows recommended image sizes based on the dimensions we’ve used for the photos in this demo shop. We suggest sticking to the recommended image widths but feel free to vary the height as per the rule of thumb noted above.

Product Images

While we have a recommended size listed below, it's also dependent on the product type (for example, if the product image is of a model wearing a dress, this will most likely be a portrait orientation instead).

A general tip here is to upload product images with the same image aspect ratio with the highest pixel dimension, and let Shopify's CDN handle the resizing. 

Resolution

For all images, 72 dpi is recommended. Although other resolutions can be uploaded, subject to Shopify's file size limitations, uploading higher resolution images will not improve image quality. 

On all of the latest versions of Out of the Sandbox themes, high resolution devices such as iPhones and MacBook Airs, the theme code will load 2x resolution images automatically.