A POD listing should offer a curated set of colours that suit the design and the person it is for, not every colour the blank is made in. The practical ceiling is how many colours you can show in photos and how many your design actually reads on, which for most designs means splitting the range into light and dark garments.
This is for sellers building their first apparel listings, and for anyone who added every colour just in case. Blanks come in a lot of colours (the Bella+Canvas 3001 alone is "available in 86 unique colors"), so the real decision is always what to leave out. If you are still choosing which shades to start with, our guide to which shirt colours to offer on Etsy covers the shortlist.
Why more colours is not automatically better
A long colour menu feels generous, but every option is a promise. Each colour has to look good with the design printed on it, has to be shown somewhere in the photos, and has to be priced and produced correctly. A colour that makes the print look muddy is worse than no colour at all, because the buyer who picks it gets the weakest version of your work.
A shorter, deliberate list also makes the choice easier. A shopper choosing between a few colours that all look right can pick one quickly, while a long dropdown of near-identical greys invites second thoughts. Keep the colours that belong to the design and its buyer, and let the rest go.
Photos set the practical ceiling
Etsy lets you add "up to 20 photos and 2 videos" to each listing, and the variation rules add a second limit: "If you have more than 20 options, you can only add photos for 20 of these options."
Those 20 photo slots are shared. A good apparel listing also needs a strong first photo, a close-up of the print, a size chart and perhaps a back view or a photo on a person. Whatever is left is what you have for colours. If a colour cannot get its own photo, the buyer who chooses it is buying something they never saw, and that is where colour complaints start. Our guide to shirt mockups in every colour from one design shows how to fill those slots without a photo shoot.
Variations, prices and fabric per colour
Colour is usually one of your variation types, next to size. Etsy now allows variations for up to 3 item attributes, and listings with 1 or 2 variation types can have up to 4,900 option combinations, so the raw limits rarely stop you. The tighter limit is pricing: you can set unique prices, SKUs and quantities for up to 400 option combinations. Colours multiplied by sizes adds up fast, and sellers outside the US also lose domestic and global pricing on listings with more than 400 variation options. If variations are new to you, start with what a variation is on Etsy.
Colour can also change the fabric. Gildan's US spec sheet lists the 5000 as "5.3-ounce, 100% US cotton", with exceptions: Ash is 99/1 cotton/polyester, Sport Grey and the Antique colours are 90/10, and heathers such as Dark Heather are 50/50. If your materials attribute says 100% cotton, the heather colours make it untrue. Garment-dyed blanks add another wrinkle: the Comfort Colors 1717 spec sheet asks you to "allow for slight color variation in production and washing."
Light garments, dark garments and design versions
The biggest factor is the design itself. Dark ink disappears on black and white lettering disappears on white, so most designs need two versions to work across a colour range: one for light garments and one for dark. Grouping your colours by tone tells you how many versions you need and which colours to drop.
| Colour group | Examples | Version that usually works | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| White and light neutrals | White, natural, ash | Dark version with dark ink | Pale details and fine lines stay visible |
| Mid tones and heathers | Sport grey, heathers, pastels | Test both versions | Contrast in the mockup, and the fabric blend |
| Dark colours | Black, navy, forest | Light version with white lettering | Painted or detailed art still reads |
| Garment-dyed colours | Comfort Colors shades | Depends on the shade | Slight colour variation in production and washing |
If a colour would need a third version to look right, it probably does not belong in this listing. Our article on light and dark versions of a design explains when you need both.
A simple way to choose your set
Start with the neutrals buyers expect for the product, such as white, black and a grey.
Add colours that belong to the niche or the occasion, such as school colours for a teacher shirt or soft shades for a baby announcement.
Render a mockup in every candidate colour and drop any where the print looks weak.
Count your free photo slots and keep only the colours you can show.
Check the fabric of each remaining colour against your materials attribute.
Once the listing has sold for a while, look at which colours buyers choose and trim the rest.
If you end up with far more colours than one listing can carry well, split them. Our guide to one listing with many colours or separate listings weighs the two approaches.
How Alomations handles colour sets
Two features do most of this work. Variation profiles let you save a size and colour set once, for example your core light and dark tees, and reuse it in every template, so each listing starts from the same curated list instead of a fresh scroll through the blank's full range. Saved variation profiles come with the paid plans.
Light and dark versions come from one design, so you do not redraw the artwork for black shirts. Tone rules per garment colour decide which version each colour gets, automatically, with an override when you disagree. The light variant turns lettering white even where it touches the drawing, and the dark variant keeps painted art and line drawings readable. Smart mockups let you preview every colour and every side before the run, which is where step 3 above happens.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an ideal number of colours for an Etsy listing?
No single number fits every design. Offer the colours your design reads on and that you can show in photos, and leave out the rest.
Should every colour have its own photo?
Ideally yes, within Etsy's limits: up to 20 photos per listing, and photos for no more than 20 options in a variation.
Do heather colours need different listing details?
Check the blank's spec sheet. On the Gildan 5000, heathers are a cotton and polyester blend, so a materials attribute that says 100% cotton would be wrong for them.
Can light and dark shirts share one listing?
Yes, as long as each colour gets the design version that reads on it. Buyers choose a colour, not a design version, so the right version has to be matched to each colour behind the scenes.
You can try the listing run, from design to finished Etsy listing, on the Alomations free plan.