Wolt Photo Specs in Croatia: Image, Menu and Upload Guide

What Wolt actually publishes about image specs

Wolt's regional merchant pages state two things clearly: images must be landscape at a 16:9 ratio, and portrait photos are not allowed. The pages also list JPG and PNG as accepted formats. What they do not publish is a pixel minimum or a file-size limit. If you see a specific number like 1200x1200px or 5MB quoted as a Wolt rule, treat it as outside guidance, not an official requirement.

Because Wolt does not publish pixel specs, the safest approach is to check the upload screen in your Croatia merchant dashboard. Any warning or rejection message there is the authoritative answer for your account. Upload a large, high-quality JPEG and let the platform handle downscaling rather than uploading something small and hoping it looks sharp.

• Aspect ratio: landscape 16:9, portrait not allowed
• Formats: JPG and PNG
• Pixel minimum and file-size limit: not published by Wolt; check the upload screen
• Up to five images per item
• AI-generated images are not allowed

Wolt's content rules that affect how you shoot

Beyond file specs, Wolt's checklist sets content rules that change how you compose a shot. The whole item must be visible and centered with nothing cut off. Only the listed item may appear, so no side salad, no second dish, no condiment bottle creeping into frame. No people, no text overlays, no borders or decorative graphics. The photo must match the real product with a realistic portion.

The AI rule matters for Croatia specifically. Wolt does not allow AI-generated images. If you are tempted to use a generated image to fill a gap in your menu, do not upload it to Wolt. Shoot your own real dish and upload that. Tools that improve lighting, background and crop on a real photo are a different category from generating a dish that was never cooked, but the merchant is responsible for what goes on the platform, so keep the food itself unchanged.

Build one master file that survives every crop

The practical problem with a 16:9 requirement is that the same dish photo often needs to work in a square thumbnail, a vertical social post, and a wide hero banner. If you shoot tight to the edges of a 16:9 frame, a square crop will cut off the rim of the plate or the end of a fish. The fix is to shoot landscape but keep the entire dish inside a centered square that sits within the wider frame. That way any downstream crop still contains the whole item, which also satisfies Wolt's "nothing cut off" rule.

Shoot at eye level or slightly above, around 30 to 45 degrees for most plates, and straight down at 90 degrees for flat items like pizza or a pljeskavica on a board. Leave breathing room around the plate, roughly 10 to 15 percent of the frame on each side. Use soft, diffused light from one side rather than direct overhead flash, which flattens texture and creates hard shadows under bowls. Export a large JPEG at the highest quality your camera or phone allows, then let the platform resize it. Keep the master file and export separate versions for each channel rather than re-cropping the same small file repeatedly.

• Shoot landscape 16:9 but compose the dish inside a centered square
• Leave 10 to 15 percent empty margin around the plate
• Use a 30 to 45 degree angle for plated dishes, 90 degrees for flat items
• Diffused side light, no direct on-camera flash
• Export a large, high-quality JPEG from the original file

Croatian menu language and photo-to-description consistency

Wolt's Croatian market uses Croatian as the menu language. That means the dish name on the photo's menu listing should be in Croatian, and the photo must match what that Croatian name describes. A photo of grilled fish labeled "riba na žaru" is consistent; a photo of fried squid labeled the same way is not. Diners scanning a Croatian menu compare the thumbnail to the words, and a mismatch reads as a mistake or a bait-and-switch.

Be precise with local dish names. "Crni rižot" is a black cuttlefish risotto, so the photo should show the dark ink-colored rice, not a pale seafood risotto. "Pašticada" is a braised beef dish in dark sauce, often served with gnocchi, and the photo should show that sauce and those sides if they are part of the portion. "Peka" refers to cooking under a bell, and a photo of the finished meat and potatoes under a lifted lid communicates more than a plated close-up that hides the method.

Croatian dishes that are hard to photograph and how to handle them

Some local dishes defeat a standard overhead shot. Black risotto is nearly monochrome and absorbs light, so it looks like a dark blob. Shoot it at a lower angle with a strong side light and include a lemon wedge or a few whole prawns on top, but only if those are actually served with it. A dish that is genuinely dark needs texture contrast, not added props that misrepresent the portion.

Whole fish and fish platters are long and thin, which fights a square crop. Arrange the fish diagonally across the frame so the head and tail both stay inside the centered square, and shoot slightly above so the skin and grill marks read. Peka and other braised dishes can look like a brown mass; lift a piece of meat to show the interior and keep the vegetables visible around it. Octopus salad under a pile of onions disappears; separate the layers slightly so the tentacle pieces show. For desserts like rožata, a low angle shows the caramel top and the custard layer, which a flat overhead shot hides.

• Black risotto: low angle, strong side light, real garnish only
• Whole fish: diagonal placement so head and tail stay in the square
• Peka: lift a piece of meat to show the interior
• Octopus salad: separate layers so the octopus is visible
• Rožata: low angle to show caramel and custard layers

Allergen information and what a photo must not imply

Under EU Regulation 1169/2011, allergen information for the 14 regulated allergens must be available for food sold without packaging, and for distance selling including delivery apps, mandatory information must be available before the purchase is concluded. Photos never replace that information. A clean, appetizing photo does not satisfy the allergen disclosure requirement, and the menu listing must carry the allergen details separately.

The photo also should not suggest ingredients the dish does not contain. If a dish is photographed with a garnish of crushed nuts but the kitchen sometimes omits them, the image implies an allergen that may not be there, or hides one that is. Keep the photo faithful to what is actually served and keep the allergen text accurate and visible in the listing. For a Croatian menu with local dishes, this matters for fish, shellfish, gluten in pasta and bread, and dairy in desserts.

For the restaurant's own channels, such as the website menu, Instagram, a Google Business Profile, a QR menu, or print, FoodPhoto can take a real photo of the restaurant's own dish and improve light, background and crop while keeping the food as it is, and every photo comes as a kit of sizes. It does not generate a different dish and cannot guarantee approval by any platform, so the Wolt upload remains your own real photo.