Glovo Food Photography: What to Shoot and How to Check It

What Glovo actually publishes about menu images

The verified position is short. Glovo is a delivery marketplace majority-owned by Delivery Hero. It does not publish pixel dimensions, aspect ratio, file-size limits or accepted file formats for menu images. Its integration documentation states that uploaded menu images are manually reviewed. That is the full set of platform facts available here.

Because no official spec exists, any fixed number you see elsewhere (a required square size, a maximum file size, a format list) is not a Glovo requirement unless it comes from Glovo directly. Treat such numbers as someone else's working habit, not a rule.

The practical consequence: you cannot format your way to approval. You can only make the photo accurate, clear and consistent with what the customer will receive.

• Known rule: uploaded menu images go through manual review.
• Not published: pixel dimensions, aspect ratio, file size, file formats.
• Known ownership: Glovo is majority-owned by Delivery Hero.
• Action: ask your Glovo account contact or check the upload screen for current limits before export.

Why manual review changes how you shoot

A manual reviewer is comparing your image to your menu listing. They are not measuring pixels. What they can judge is whether the photo shows the dish you named, whether the portion looks plausible, whether the image is legible, and whether anything in the frame is misleading.

This is where most rejections and rework come from, not from resolution. A sharp, well-lit photo of the wrong dish is a bigger problem than a slightly soft photo of the right one. Shoot the dish as it leaves the kitchen for a delivery order, not a styled version with extra components that the customer will not receive.

Manual review also means consistency across your menu matters. If one dish is shot on a dark wooden board and the next on a white plate under a different light, the menu looks assembled from different restaurants. Reviewers and customers both notice.

A shooting plan built around the dish, not the platform

Start from the menu, not the camera. List every item you will photograph and decide, per dish, what the customer needs to recognize: the shape of the portion, the number of pieces, the sauce, the side. A bowl of ramen, a slice of pizza and a plate of grilled fish each need a different framing decision.

Shoot top-down (90 degrees) for flat items where layout matters: pizza, platters, salads with visible components, breakfast spreads. Shoot at roughly 45 degrees for items with height: burgers, sandwiches, bowls with toppings, layered desserts. Shoot near eye level (around 10 to 20 degrees above the table) for tall drinks, stacked desserts and anything where the side profile is the selling point.

Fill roughly 70 to 80 percent of the frame with the food and keep a small margin so a later crop does not cut the plate edge. Use one light source: a window at the side of the dish, or a single diffused light at about 45 degrees to the side and slightly above. Avoid direct overhead flash, which flattens texture and creates hard shadows under plates.

Shoot more than one frame per dish: one tight, one with breathing room. When the upload screen turns out to want a different crop than you assumed, you will have room to adjust without reshooting.

• Top-down for pizza, platters, flat salads.
• 45 degrees for burgers, sandwiches, topped bowls.
• 10 to 20 degrees above the table for tall drinks and stacked desserts.
• Fill 70 to 80 percent of the frame, leave margin for cropping.
• One diffused side light at about 45 degrees; no direct flash.

Crop and export checks before upload

Since Glovo does not publish an aspect ratio, do not assume square. Prepare at least two crops per dish: a square (1:1) and a landscape (16:9 or 4:3). Square is the safest default for menu grids and mobile lists in general, but confirm on the upload screen what shape is accepted before you commit.

Keep the dish centered in the square crop and check that the plate edge, the sauce and any garnish are inside the frame. Then check the same image at thumbnail size on your phone: shrink it to roughly the width of a matchstick and see whether the dish is still identifiable. If it turns into a brown blob, the crop is too wide or the lighting too flat.

Export as JPG at high quality and keep a full-resolution master of every dish. File-size and format limits are not published by Glovo, so check the upload screen for the current accepted formats and maximum size, and export a second, smaller version if the first is refused.

• Prepare one square (1:1) and one landscape (16:9 or 4:3) crop per dish.
• Keep the full plate inside the square crop, centered.
• Check legibility at thumbnail size on a phone.
• Keep a full-resolution master file for every dish.
• Confirm accepted formats and file size on the upload screen.

Common review pitfalls and how to avoid them

Because review is manual, the safest approach is to remove anything a reviewer could read as misleading. Do not use stock photos or images of a similar dish from another restaurant. Do not add text, logos, watermarks or promotional overlays to the food image. Do not use heavy filters that change the color of the food. Do not show a portion larger than what is actually served.

Match the image to the listing name exactly. If the menu item is a 'double cheeseburger,' the photo should show two patties. If the item comes with a side, show the side or state clearly that it is not included. Reviewers compare the image to the listing; customers compare the delivered food to the image.

Keep a simple naming system for files (dish name plus crop version) so that when an image is questioned you can find the original quickly and re-upload without reshooting.

Using the same shoot across your own channels

The same real dish photos can serve your own website menu, Instagram, Google Business Profile, QR menu and print. Those channels have their own format needs, and you control the crop on each. A square for the menu grid, a 4:5 or 9:16 for Instagram, a wider crop for the website hero.

FoodPhoto takes a real photo of the restaurant's own dish and improves light, background and crop for menus, delivery apps and social, keeping the food as it is. Every photo comes as a kit of sizes (hero image, delivery-app sizes, Instagram formats, Google Business Profile). It cannot guarantee approval by any platform, so always review the result against your listing before uploading to Glovo.