What Photos Do You Need for a Website in 2026?
If you are planning a new website or website redesign, you will need more than a logo and one good headshot. A useful website photo library should include horizontal and vertical images, wide photos with open space for text, images of your team or process, and supporting detail photos.
Because your website must work across phones, tablets, laptops, and desktop monitors, each important image should also be photographed in multiple orientations and from several distances.
Here is a practical website photography checklist you can use when planning a professional brand shoot—or taking photos yourself.
What Photo Sizes and Formats Are Best for a Website?
Your photographer should provide the original, high-resolution images. Avoid downloading them from social media, copying them from a website, or sending screenshots, since those files have usually already been compressed.
For a Squarespace website, an image width of approximately 2,500 pixels is ideal for most full-width website images. Squarespace recommends keeping uploaded images below 500 KB when possible and warns that images under 1,500 pixels wide may appear blurry in larger spaces. The platform accepts JPG, PNG, WebP, and GIF files and automatically creates multiple image sizes for different screens. Review Squarespace’s current image specifications.
Here are helpful specifications to share with your photographer or website designer:
| Image Type | Recommended Shape | Suggested Website Dimensions |
|---|---|---|
| Full-width hero or banner | 16:9 or 3:2 horizontal | 2,500 × 1,400–1,667 px |
| Standard horizontal image | 3:2 | 2,500 × 1,667 px |
| Vertical portrait | 4:5 | 2,000 × 2,500 px |
| Tall mobile-friendly image | 2:3 | 1,667 × 2,500 px |
| Square image | 1:1 | 2,000 × 2,000 px |
| Blog or portfolio thumbnail | Keep consistent across posts | At least 1,500 px wide |
| Social sharing image | 1.91:1 | 1,200 × 630 px |
These are flexible working sizes, not rigid requirements. Your website designer may crop and resize images based on the website’s layout.
1. Wide Photos for Headers and Banners
Capture several horizontal photos that can stretch across the top of a page or section.
For each important setup, take:
One photo with the subject positioned on the left
One with the subject positioned on the right
One wider photo with plenty of background visible
One version without people, when appropriate
These options give your designer room to place headings and buttons without covering a face, product, or important detail.
Avoid cropping too closely during the photoshoot. Banner images are often cropped significantly when a desktop design adjusts to fit a narrow mobile screen.
2. Vertical Photos for Mobile Layouts
Vertical photos are no longer optional. On a phone, website sections are narrow and typically stack on top of one another. A vertical image can fill that space more naturally than a wide photo.
Capture vertical versions of your:
Primary brand portrait
Team members
Products
Workspace
Services in action
Speaking, performing, teaching, or working
Office, storefront, venue, or property
A 4:5 or 2:3 orientation gives your designer useful options for mobile layouts and social media.
3. Photos With Negative Space
Negative space is the open area surrounding the main subject. It gives your designer room to add website copy, buttons, or graphics.
Take photos with clear space:
Above the subject
To the subject’s left
To the subject’s right
Around the product or focal point
A photo may look beautifully composed on its own but still be difficult to use on a website if every part of the frame is busy.
4. People and Team Photos
People-focused images help visitors understand who is behind the business.
Depending on your organization, capture:
Individual headshots
Waist-up portraits
Full-body portraits
Team group photos
Team members interacting
Leadership photos
Employees assisting customers or clients
Candid workplace moments
Use consistent lighting and backgrounds for individual team photos so they look cohesive when placed together.
5. Photos of Your Work, Services, or Products
Show what the business actually does. These images can help visitors understand your services before they read every word on the page.
Examples include:
A professional meeting with a client
A speaker presenting to an audience
A musician performing or recording
A contractor completing a project
A retailer packaging or displaying products
A consultant working through a plan
A restaurant preparing or serving food
A nonprofit interacting with the community
A product photographed individually and in use
Choose real, specific scenes whenever possible. They generally communicate more about your business than generic stock photos.
6. Detail and Supporting Photos
Not every image needs to feature a person. Supporting photos help break up text and give your designer more visual options.
Photograph your:
Workspace or building
Tools and equipment
Products or materials
Hands performing a task
Branded packaging
Signage
Printed materials
Architectural details
Local surroundings
Relevant decorative elements
These images are especially helpful for page backgrounds, service sections, blog posts, testimonials, and calls to action.
7. Multiple Versions of Every Important Shot
Do not rely on one “perfect” photo for each scene. Websites require images to fit many different containers and screen sizes.
For your most important setups, capture:
Horizontal, vertical, and square compositions
Wide, medium, and close-up views
Subject on the left and on the right
Looking at the camera and looking away
Posed and candid versions
Photos with and without props
Images with extra room around the subject
Using multiple compositions is often more valuable than receiving dozens of nearly identical photos.
Website Photography Checklist
For a typical small-business website, aim to provide:
3–5 wide hero or banner options
5–10 vertical, mobile-friendly photos
Individual photos of key team members
At least one current group photo
5–10 images showing your services, products, or process
5–10 supporting detail or location photos
Both left- and right-aligned compositions
Horizontal and vertical versions of priority shots
Original high-resolution files
Written permission to use the images commercially
Google recommends using sharp, relevant images near the text they support and adding descriptive alternative text so search engines and visitors using screen readers can understand them. See Google’s image SEO recommendations.
Frequently Asked Questions About Website Photos
Should website photos be horizontal or vertical?
A business website needs both. Horizontal photos work well for banners and desktop sections, while vertical photos fit naturally into mobile layouts and stacked content.
How many photos do I need for a website?
Most small-business websites benefit from approximately 20–30 versatile, professionally edited images. A larger company, online store, portfolio, or team-based organization may need more.
Should I resize my photos before sending them to my web designer?
Usually, no. Send the original high-resolution files unless your designer provides different instructions. Your designer can select, crop, compress, rename, and optimize the appropriate images for the website.
Can I use phone photos on my website?
Yes, if they are well-lit, sharply focused, intentionally composed, and provided at full resolution. Avoid screenshots, filtered social media downloads, and images sent through apps that heavily compress files.
Why do website photos get cropped on mobile?
Responsive websites adjust images to fit screens with very different shapes. A wide desktop banner may be cropped into a narrow area on a phone. Providing vertical alternatives and leaving space around the subject helps preserve the most important part of the image.
Build a Photo Library That Gives Your Website Flexibility
The goal of a website photoshoot is not simply to produce a few attractive headshots. It is to create a flexible image library that helps visitors understand your business across every page and screen size.
When you capture multiple orientations, leave room for text, show your real work, and send high-resolution files, your website designer has far more freedom to build a site that feels intentional on both desktop and mobile.
