Restaurant Photography in Taipei: A Practical Guide for Delivery Apps, Menus and Google
Taipei restaurants shoot food for several places at once: foodpanda, Uber Eats, a Google Business Profile, a printed or QR menu and Instagram. Each one crops and displays photos differently, and the light in Taipei changes a lot between summer and winter. This guide covers a seasonal shooting schedule for window light, how to size and crop for each channel, and what to check before you upload.
Plan your shoots around Taipei's daylight
Taipei sits at about 25 degrees north, so the sun is high in summer and much lower in winter. Around the June solstice you get roughly 13 hours 33 minutes of daylight, and at noon the sun stands about 88 degrees above the horizon. That means summer window light comes from almost straight overhead, which is soft on a dish near the glass but casts short shadows. Around the December solstice daylight drops to about 10 hours 27 minutes and the noon sun is only about 42 degrees high, so low winter light reaches deep into a room and creates longer shadows.
Use this to set a shooting calendar. In summer, shoot between 10:00 and 14:00 near a north-facing window so the high sun bounces in without a hard beam. In winter, shoot between 11:00 and 13:00, when the low sun can light a table from the side and give texture to noodles, rice and glazed meats. Avoid direct sun on the plate at any time of year; a thin white curtain or a sheet of baking paper taped to the glass diffuses it.
- Summer (May to August): shoot late morning to early afternoon; keep the table within about 1 meter of the window.
- Winter (November to February): shoot around midday; side light from a low sun shows texture on sauces and grilled dishes.
- Year-round: turn off overhead tungsten or fluorescent lights, which mix color temperatures with daylight.
- Cloudy days are useful: the light is even and you can shoot all day without moving the table.
Shoot for the delivery apps first
Delivery apps are where most Taipei customers first see your food, so start there. The two main platforms serving Taiwan are foodpanda and Uber Eats. This site has spec pages for both: /delivery-photo-specs/foodpanda/taiwan/ and /delivery-photo-specs/uber-eats/taiwan/. Check those pages before a shoot so you know the shape of the image the app expects.
If a platform's page does not publish pixel dimensions, do not guess. Open the upload screen in the merchant app or portal and read the guidance there, or upload a test image and see how it is cropped. A safe habit is to shoot a little wider than you need and keep the dish centered, so a square or vertical crop still works. Shoot from a 45-degree angle for a natural view of the plate, and from directly above (90 degrees) for bowls, hot pots and set meals where the arrangement matters.
Match the photo to the channel
A single photo rarely works everywhere. A delivery app thumbnail is small and often square, so the dish needs to fill most of the frame with no empty table around it. A Google Business Profile cover photo is wide, so a horizontal shot with the dish and a little context, such as the table or the room, reads better. Instagram favors vertical 4:5 and square 1:1 posts. A printed menu works best with a clean, bright image on a plain background so the ink does not muddy the food.
Shoot each signature dish in at least two framings: a tight square for delivery and a wider horizontal for Google and the website. Keep the background simple, a plain wall, a dark wooden board or a clean tablecloth, and move clutter out of frame before you press the shutter. Traditional Chinese menu names are long, so leave some empty space at one side for text if the photo will sit next to a description.
Make the food look like the food
Delivery customers judge the photo against what arrives, so accuracy matters more than styling. Do not swap ingredients, add items the kitchen does not serve, or use a photo of a different dish. Shoot the portion as it is plated for a real order, because an oversized bowl in the photo leads to complaints and refunds.
Practical details make the difference. Wipe the rim of the bowl with a clean cloth. Shoot broths and soups within a minute of plating so they still look hot. For fried dishes, shoot immediately, before steam softens the crust. Use a white plate or a dark bowl depending on the dish: pale noodles and dumplings read better on dark, braised meats and dark sauces read better on white. Keep a spray bottle of water and a paper towel nearby for herbs and vegetables that dry out under light.
Use real photos on every channel
Some platforms restrict or ban AI-generated food images, and rules can change. Before uploading to foodpanda or Uber Eats, read the current merchant guidelines on that platform's own site and follow them. If a platform bans AI-generated images, shoot and upload your own real photo there. Do not label an image as ready for a specific platform unless that platform has confirmed it.
For your own channels, a real photo of your own dish is always the right base. 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). Use it for your website menu, Instagram, Google Business Profile, QR menu and print, and upload your own original photo to each delivery platform according to its rules.
Checklist before you publish
- Pick your shooting window by season: late morning in summer, around midday in winter.
- Diffuse direct sun with a white curtain and turn off mixed indoor lights.
- Shoot each signature dish as a tight square and a wider horizontal.
- Shoot from 45 degrees for plated dishes and 90 degrees for bowls and set meals.
- Wipe plate rims and shoot soups and fried food within a minute of plating.
- Check the foodpanda and Uber Eats Taiwan spec pages before you export.
- Read each platform's current merchant guidelines on AI images before uploading.
- Leave space at one side of the frame for Traditional Chinese dish names.
Questions
What size should food delivery app photos be in Taiwan?
Check the upload screen in the foodpanda or Uber Eats merchant app, because the required dimensions can change. This site keeps spec pages for both platforms for Taiwan, but if a page does not list pixel sizes, follow the guidance shown at upload. Shooting slightly wider and keeping the dish centered makes cropping safer.
When is the best time of day to photograph food in Taipei?
In summer, shoot between 10:00 and 14:00 near a north-facing window, when the high sun gives soft, even light. In winter, shoot around 11:00 to 13:00, when the lower sun reaches into the room. Overcast days work well all day because the light is diffused.
Can I use AI-generated images on foodpanda or Uber Eats?
Rules vary by platform and can change, so read the current merchant guidelines on each platform's own site. If a platform bans AI-generated images, shoot and upload your own real photo there. Never assume an image will be approved.
How many photos do I need for a Taipei restaurant menu?
Cover your bestsellers and any dish you promote on delivery apps first, then add the rest of the menu over time. Each dish needs at least a tight square for delivery and a wider horizontal for Google, your website and print. A QR menu usually needs one image per item, while a printed menu can use fewer, larger photos.