How to Edit Photos for Your Uber Eats Menu

How Menu Photos Affect Your Uber Eats Orders

Uber Eats reports that restaurants with menu photos see significantly higher conversion rates than those without. When customers browse the app, they're choosing between dozens of restaurants in seconds. A well-lit photo of your signature dish stops the scroll. A dark, unflattering photo gets skipped. The gap between a phone snapshot and a professional-looking menu image is usually just one or two AI edits.

Uber Eats Photo Requirements

• Format: JPG or PNG
• Resolution: Minimum 320x320 pixels (Uber recommends 1080x1080 or higher)
• Aspect ratio: Square (1:1) displays best in the app's item grid
• Dish must be the main focus, centered in the frame
• Background should be simple and uncluttered
• No text, watermarks, logos, or price tags on the image
• No collages or multiple dishes in one photo (one item per image)
• Photo must represent the actual dish the customer will receive

Why Most Restaurant Photos Underperform

Restaurants typically shoot menu photos in their kitchen during service — the worst possible conditions. Overhead fluorescents mix with heat lamp amber, creating muddy color casts. Steam fogs the lens. The background is stainless steel and ticket printers. The photo gets taken in five seconds between orders. The result is technically a photo of the dish, but it doesn't make anyone hungry. AI editing fixes every one of these issues without reshooting.

The Three Edits Every Uber Eats Photo Needs

First, fix the white balance: 'correct the color temperature so the food looks natural.' This eliminates the green, yellow, or orange casts from kitchen lighting. Second, brighten and add contrast: 'brighten the photo and make the textures pop.' This reveals the details — the char on grilled meat, the glisten on sauces, the freshness of vegetables. Third, clean the background: 'replace the background with a clean, simple surface' or 'blur the background to focus on the food.' Three edits, three minutes, drastically more orders.

Uber Eats Display Considerations

Uber Eats crops images differently depending on where they appear — the restaurant page, search results, and item detail view all use different crops. Square photos (1:1) survive every crop without cutting off important parts of the dish. Keep the food centered with a small margin around the edges. Avoid placing garnishes or sides at the very edge of the frame where they'll get cropped out. If your dish is rectangular (like a sub or burrito), shoot it diagonally to fill the square frame.

Editing Your Full Menu Efficiently

Most restaurants have 20 to 50 menu items that need photos. Set up a consistent shooting spot — same surface, same angle, same light — and photograph everything in one session. Then batch edit in EditThisPic using the same prompt for consistency: 'fix the lighting, make colors vibrant, and blur the background slightly.' This gives your entire menu a cohesive, professional look without paying for a food photographer.