Packaging printable downloads within Etsy's file limits

I sell digital downloads, so the files are the product. If a buyer cannot get them, the lesson on the poster does not matter. I read Etsy's own help page, "How to Manage Your Digital Listings," on 11 November 2026, and I pack to what that page says. The page is here: https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015628347-How-to-Manage-Your-Digital-Listings

What that page says

Etsy splits digital items into instant downloads and made-to-order downloads. For an instant download, you upload the files when you create the listing. The page says you can upload up to five digital files, and the maximum size for each file is 20MB.

The same numbers show up again for made-to-order work. You do not upload the finished file when you create that kind of listing. When you complete the order, the page says you can attach up to five files with a maximum size of 20MB each.

ZIP is one of the file types in the supported list on that page, along with JPG, JPEG, PNG, and PDF. That is why a set of print sizes can travel as a ZIP. The ZIP counts as one of the five files, and that one file still has to be at or under the 20MB maximum.

The page also says file names are limited to 70 alphanumeric characters, periods, underscores, or hyphens. Buyers see those names. Etsy says it does not offer a way to edit the name after uploading, so I name the file before it goes up.

I am not adding rules the page does not contain. It does not say you may upload a sixth file if the others are small. It does not say 20MB means a specific number of bytes. It writes "20MB."

How I turn that into a folder

Because Etsy does not say whether 20MB means 20 times 1,000,000 or 20 times 1024 times 1024, I keep each upload at or under 20,000,000 bytes. That is the smaller reading, so I am not guessing my way over the line. This is my packing choice, not a sentence I found on Etsy's page.

Five slots fill up fast if I treat every size as its own upload. A vocabulary set might have a 2:3 poster, a 3:4 poster, a 4:5 poster, an 11×14, and an A4. That is already five files, with no instructions page left. If each of those also has a color version and a black-and-white version, I am way past five.

So I group files that belong together into numbered ZIPs. One ZIP might hold every ratio of the poster. Another might hold the worksheet pages. Each ZIP is one slot and must stay at or under 20,000,000 bytes. If a single poster file is already over that by itself, it cannot hide inside a ZIP. I export it again, often as a JPEG at a sensible quality, and I check the pixel size afterward so I did not throw away the print.

Names stay short and dull on purpose. "01-poster-ratios.zip" is clear. A name with spaces, accents, or a slash will fight the 70-character rule or the allowed character list. I keep accents inside the artwork, not in the file name. The buyer can read "lámina" on the poster even if the file is called "lamina-18x24.jpg."

The note I leave for buyers

Etsy's page says you can add a note for buyers that applies to digital listings, and that buyers can see it on their Downloads page. I use that note to say what is inside each numbered ZIP, in plain language. "01 is the poster in several frame shapes. 02 is the worksheet." I do not make them open a mystery file to learn the size.

I also say which sizes are included, in inches or A-series names, and I repeat the pixel size for the largest one. A buyer printing at home should not have to believe a nickname. "18×24 inches, 5400 × 7200 pixels" is something they can compare with the file info on their computer.

What I check on the listing page

Before I publish, I count the files on the listing. I stop at five. I look at each file's size and confirm it is not over 20MB by the careful reading above. I download them myself in a test way when I can, or I at least open the ZIPs on my computer and confirm the pictures inside are the ones I named.

If I need to replace a file, Etsy's page says to use the X next to the file name while creating or editing, then add the new file. It also says you cannot publish or save an instant digital listing if no file is attached. I do not remove the last file until the new one is ready.

Made-to-order lessons, such as a poster with a child's name, follow the complete-order steps on that same page: Orders, the New tab, Complete order, upload up to five files at 20MB each, then finish. I still name those files before I attach them.

The packer on this site is built around those published numbers: up to five files, and each one kept at or under 20,000,000 bytes, with ZIP as the way to group a set. It will not invent a sixth slot. If your set is bigger than one ZIP can hold, split it into 01 and 02 and tell the buyer what each one is.