Auto Trader photo guide: the 20 shots dealers need

Auto Trader's help centre puts it simply: buyers look at pictures first. This guide sets out what Auto Trader itself asks for, the number of photos, which way to hold the phone, the shots to take and where to stand, and how to do it on a forecourt that was never built as a studio.

Everything below was re-read against Auto Trader's own pages on 19 October 2026: its help centre articles What photos should I take for my advert? and Why won't my photo load properly?, its advert image terms, and the Vehicle photography & video guide (2026) it publishes for retailers.

The short answer

• How many photos on Auto Trader? At least 20 is what Auto Trader suggests, and you can upload up to 100.
• Portrait or landscape? Landscape. The help centre says landscape is best, and the retailer guide says all images should be landscape so a gallery is consistent and easy to scroll.
• What size do Auto Trader photos need to be? Between 1MB and 15MB each, JPEG or PNG, in a 4:3 shape such as 1024 × 768 pixels. That is the checklist in Auto Trader's help article Why won't my photo load properly on my advert?.
• Can I put text on the photos? No. The image terms prohibit any text on images, phone numbers and finance offers included. More in Auto Trader's image rules.

The 20 shots in Auto Trader's guide

The retailer guide numbers its shots in the order it suggests taking them. In our words:

Outside the car

1. Front three-quarter, from the driver's side
2. Front, head on
3. Side profile, passenger's side
4. Rear three-quarter, from the passenger's side
5. Rear, head on
6. Side profile, driver's side
7. An alloy wheel, with the whole tyre in frame

Inside the car

1. Front interior from the driver's side
2. Front seats
3. Odometer, with the mileage showing
4. Door switches
5. Steering wheel controls
6. Dashboard screen and vents, with the screen switched on
7. Rear seats, head on
8. Rear seats from the passenger's side
9. Front interior from the passenger's side
10. Dashboard, head on
11. Steering wheel and centre console

The boot

1. Open boot
2. Spare wheel well

The help centre's shorter list also asks for the engine bay and any damage, and for a convertible, one photo with the roof down and one with it up. Those take you past 20, which is what the 100-photo limit is for. The guide adds more for any feature worth showing: a sat nav or entertainment screen in each of its modes, notable exterior details, even the handbooks.

Where to stand and where to hold the camera

This is the part most dealers get wrong, and Auto Trader is specific about it.

• Distance. About ten normal steps back for the front and rear three-quarter shots. About five steps back for the head-on and side shots.
• Height, outside. Hold the camera level with the bottom of the windscreen or the side windows. That puts it at the right height whatever the car is, a small convertible or an SUV. It is lower than most people stand and shoot.
• Height, inside. Level with the wing mirror, for every interior shot.
• Framing. The registration plate sits level with the bottom of the frame, there is more space above the car than below, and there is the same space either side. On the front three-quarter, the headlight sits in the vertical centre of the frame.
• Wheels. Front wheels straight.

The guide makes one point that matters if you change backgrounds: camera height is critical when the background is replaced. Too high or too low and the car will not sit properly in front of the new background. A consistent height on every car is what makes a replaced background look real.

Check the car before you shoot

Auto Trader's guide lists the checks before a single photo is taken. The ones that cost listings most often:

• Outside: the car is clean, the wheel arches are free of mud, nothing distracting sits around the car, and the price board is out of the windscreen, because the price may change and the photo will not.
• Inside: the steering wheel is straight, the front seats are aligned, the air vents all point the same way, the screen is clean and switched on, no warning lights are showing, the trip is reset, and no coins, sunglasses or other personal items are in shot.
• Location: a neutral background, even light rather than a mix of bright sun and deep shadow, and no metal railings beside the car, because they reflect as stripes that a buyer can read as damage.

The first photo matters most

When a buyer searches, each car is shown by its first photo. That one image decides whether they open the advert.

The front three-quarter is the standard first photo for a reason. It shows the face of the car, its side and its stance in one frame. Straight-on shots flatten the car; side profiles lose the front end. Taken from Auto Trader's distance and height, about ten steps back with the camera level with the bottom of the windscreen, it gives a buyer the most complete impression of the car from a single picture.

For the first photo to work as a small thumbnail:

• the whole car is in frame, with some space on every side
• the background is clean and not competing with the car
• the light is on the car, not behind it
• the front wheels are straight

Why buyers need the interior shots

Auto Trader's list gives the interior more than half of the 20 shots. That is not padding. For a used car, interior photos answer questions buyers cannot answer any other way: wear on the seat bolsters, the condition of the screen, whether the rear headrests are there. A listing without them leaves the buyer to assume the worst, or to move to a listing that shows them.

The guide's tricks are worth copying: bring the backs of the front seats forward for the rear-seat shot, and recline the front seats for the head-on dashboard shot, so both spaces read as roomy.

Engine bay and damage

The engine bay is the photo dealers skip most. From the buyer's side, it is evidence of how the car has been looked after, and a missing one invites the question of what is under the bonnet.

Damage photos work the other way: they build trust because they show honesty. A buyer who has seen the scuff on the rear bumper before they ring already knows what they are dealing with. A buyer who finds it at the viewing either walks away or negotiates hard.

Shooting on a busy forecourt

Auto Trader's guide assumes a neutral, evenly lit space. A working forecourt rarely has one. What you can control:

Light. Overcast days give even light with no hard shadows across the bonnet. In sun, shoot early or late when the light is lower and softer.

Direction. Have the light falling on the front and side of the car you are shooting, not behind it. Backlight flattens the car and loses the colour.

Background. Use the cleanest background available for the outside shots: a plain wall or an open space beats a service bay or a row of other cars.

Height and distance. Follow the guide: the bottom of the windscreen, ten steps for the three-quarters, five for the rest. Getting this the same on every car is what makes a stock page look like one business.

When the background is the problem

Even a good photographer on a busy forecourt struggles with backgrounds. The car is parked where there is space, not where the backdrop is clean.

This is what AI background replacement solves. A photo taken on a busy forecourt, framed and lit properly, can have its background replaced with a clean, consistent studio. It works when the original is shot well: the car fills the frame sensibly, its edges are clean, and the light on it is decent. As Auto Trader's guide points out, camera height matters most of all here. What background replacement cannot fix is a photo taken from an odd angle or in poor light.

The sequence that works: follow the shot list, hold the camera where the guide says, and let the AI handle the background. The result is a consistent gallery wherever each car was actually photographed.

Keep text off the photos

Auto Trader's advert image terms prohibit displaying any text on listing images, contact details and finance offers included, and breaking the rule can lead to all of a dealer's adverts being removed (advert image terms). Burned-in logos and price banners sit against the same wording. For the full set of rules, see Auto Trader's image rules: what's allowed.

So your Auto Trader photos carry the visual argument without text, and your branding goes in the description. Motuva's banners and logo features are built for the channels you control, your own website and social, and not for marketplace uploads where the rules restrict them.

Putting it together

Auto Trader's 20 shots are achievable for every car with a fixed routine: the same order, the same distance, the same camera height. Add the engine bay and any damage on top, and anything about the car worth showing.

The most common mistakes are too few photos, a camera held too high, missing interior shots, skipping the engine bay, and a first photo that does not earn the click. None of them needs new equipment to fix.

To try a consistent photo workflow on your own stock before committing any spend, Motuva's free plan covers 20 images a month, with no card and no demo call.

Start free — no card, no demo →

For how the platform fits your listing process, see what Motuva does →.

Auto Trader's two help centre articles, advert image terms and Vehicle photography & video guide (2026) were re-read on 19 October 2026. Platforms update their guidance, so check the current versions before settling your routine.

Related reading: Do better photos sell cars faster? (The data) → · Car listing photo requirements →