Photos
Why 2000×2000 is the photo that keeps the names
Use a 2000×2000 pixel square. Put the card smaller than the canvas. Etsy crops to a square on phones. A 5×7 shot edge-to-edge loses the year and the last letter of the name. Cream margin is not decoration; it is the crop insurance.
Sellers argue about dpi and then upload a rectangle that Instagram would crop. The listing photo is a square first. If Avery loses the A, the file can be perfect and the listing still dies.
The number
2000 pixels on the long side is the size Etsy has asked for, for years. A square at 2000×2000 meets it and matches the thumbnail. You may upload larger; you may not upload a 800-pixel phone snap and hope the type holds.
The card itself should sit inside that square with a visible cream border. For a 5×7, think of the card as an object on a desk, not as wallpaper. For an 18×24 seating chart, the whole poster must be readable as a shape — a later photo can be the close-up of two tables.
Eight photos, not one hero
Hero: full card, names inside the square, SAMPLE if the names are filled. Then the RSVP. Then the details card. Then a flat of the suite. Then a print-at-100% note. Then the envelope size. Then the back, if you designed one. Then a quiet desk shot you actually took. No stock couple holding a card they never ordered.
What this is not
This is not a mockup pack for sale. It is the listing-photo rule the scorer already nags you about. If your draft says “I shot it full-bleed so the names are huge,” expect the score to drop.