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How to Turn a Picture into a Line Drawing in Photoshop

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How to Turn a Picture into a Line Drawing in Photoshop

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Ever wondered how to give your photographs a timeless, sketched look? Our tutorial on converting photos to pencil sketches using Photoshop is exactly what you need. Dive into the world of digital art and unlock your creative potential today! Details here: https://pathedits.com/blogs/tips/how-turn-photo-into-pencil-sketch-with-photoshop #DigitalArt #PhotoshopTutorial

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Illustrations can enhance the style and appeal of your ecommerce site. However, creating illustrations (or hiring skilled illustrators) can be costly and time-consuming.

Thankfully, you can learn how to turn a picture into a line drawing in Photoshop CC 2019 following the photo editing steps below. Images of objects isolated on a white background work best for this technique, making this a great option for modifying or enhancing product photos.
Scroll down below the video for the written tutorial.
Getting started: How to outline an image in Photoshop

If you want to turn a photo into a pencil sketch in Photoshop, but don't want it to look like you did it in Photoshop, you'll need to pay attention to detail and prepare your image properly before you apply any filters.

I'm going to show you one method on how to convert your image into a pencil sketch flawlessly, and then we'll discuss specific tools you can explore to achieve other image outlining effects in Photoshop.

Not all photos are the same, so you'll need to use your judgment as you adjust filters, blurs and layer opacities each time you use Photoshop to convert a photo into a line drawing.

Step 1: Adjust the contrast of your photo

For the first step, we're going to adjust the contrast of the photo to optimize it for a line drawing. In this photograph, the red parts of the bike contrast significantly against the white background. However, you'll see there are sections of the bike's frame that are very light, like up here by the bike's seat.

We'll adjust the contrast of the entire photograph so the light areas of the bike won't blend into the background as we modify this photo. Go to your Layers panel and make sure the layer that contains your image is selected. If you're working in a flattened image (such as a JPG), this layer will be the locked Background layer.

If you can't see your Layers panel, you can access it by going to the top menu here, selecting Windows, and then scrolling down until you see "Layers."

Using Curves

We're going to use Curves to make the light parts of the photo darker against the light background. To do this, choose Image > Adjustments > Curves from the dropdown menu at the top of Photoshop's application window.

Now I have my Curves window open. This can look intimidating but it's actually really easy and fun to use. What I'm going to be doing is clicking and dragging on this line here to change the lights and darks in my image, like this.

I'm working in RGB, so when I pull down on the curve, it darkens the inside shades of the image, and when I pull up, it lightens them. If you're working in CMYK, it's just the opposite-down to lighten, up to darken.

I want to adjust just these white areas of the bike, so I'll click on the area in the image to see where those colors correspond on my curve-for this image, it's up here-and that gives me an idea of where I need to adjust my curve. So, I'll grab here, and pull down here, and see what that does to my image? Every image is a little bit different, but you should have an idea now of how to use curves to create more contrast between the object and the background.

Once you've got some significant contrast going on, click OK in the Curves dialog box.

Step 2: Set up your layers

Next thing we'll be doing is setting up our layers. We're going to have four regular layers in all and an adjustment layer, and I'll walk you through each layer, one by one.

In your Layers panel, duplicate the layer containing your image three times, so that you have four identical layers. To duplicate the layer, select the original layer in the Layers panel, click on the Layers panel menu in the upper right hand corner of the panel, and choose Duplicate Layer.

Name your layers

Let's name these layers so we don't get confused. We can keep the Background layer called "Background," that's fine. Now, click on the layer name of the Background copy layer so you can rename it. We'll call this one "Inverted." The next layer up-this one called "Background copy 2"-we'll name "Sketch." And the top one we'll rename to "Cross hatch." Let's move on to the next step.

Step 3: Convert the image to grayscale using an adjustment layer

This is going to be a black and white sketch, so the next thing we're going to do is convert our image to black and white. Yes, you can go to Image > Mode > Grayscale and convert it that way, but we're going to use an Adjustment Layer, which is a little more elegant and isn't as destructive.

To start, select the duplicated layer at the top of the Layers panel. We're doing this so that the adjustment layer we're going to create will sit on top of all the other layers.

Select the Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel-it's the icon that looks like a half black, half white circle. Choose Hue/Saturation from the dropdown menu.

Voila! You've just created an adjustment layer for Hue/Saturation, which means all layers that appear beneath the adjustment layer will retain the Hue/Saturation properties you set for that adjustment layer.

Adjust properties

With your adjustment layer still selected, go to your Properties panel, located to the right of your image by default. If you don't see your Properties panel, you can choose Window > Properties from the dropdown menu at the top of the Photoshop application window.

You'll see three sliders in the Properties panel: Hue, Saturation and Lightness. Drag the slider for Saturation as far as it will go to the left, so that the value listed for Saturation is now -100.

Your image now appears grayscale. Pretty cool, right?

Step 4: Convert your photo to a line drawing

In this next step, you'll learn how to outline, or trace, the picture in Photoshop using a series of layer effects. If your goal is to create just an outline of your photograph, you may decide your picture is complete after this step.

Make your top two duplicated layers invisible by clicking on the eye icons next to the layers in the Layers panel. Then select the visible layer that is second from the bottom of the Layers panel, the one we named "Inverted."

Change the Blending Mode

Click on the dropdown menu at the top of the Layers panel next to Normal. Select Color Dodge.

With the same layer still selected, invert the image by typing CTRL+I (COMMAND+I on a Mac). You can also invert the image by choosing Image > Adjustments > Invert from the dropdown menu at the top of Photoshop's application window.

So, if you look here in the Layers panel, there's a preview of what the image would look like if it didn't have the Color Dodge blending mode attached. Don't worry-this is all correct. And it's about to get even better.

Add a Blur

Next, choose Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur from the dropdown menu at the top of the application window.

In the Gaussian Blur dialog box that appears, adjust the slider until your image looks like a line drawing.

Moving the slider to the left will result in thinner lines; moving the slider to the right and increasing the blur will thicken and darken the lines, and add some shading to the image. Make sure that Preview is checked in the dialog box so that you can see how the image changes as you move the slider to the right or to the left.

How to make the strokes of your line drawing thicker in Photoshop

Now, as a side note, you may decide you want to thicken the strokes of your line drawing as it looks so far. To thicken the strokes, duplicate your original layer one more time and move the new layer above the layer you just adjusted (layer with Color Dodge blend mode).

Choose Filter > Filter Gallery... from the dropdown menu at the top of the application window. Choose Glowing Edges under Stylize. Here, you can adjust the Edge Width on the right-hand side of the window. Reducing Edge Brightness will result in a cleaner edge. Click OK.

Back in your Inverted layer, click CTRL+I (COMMAND+I on a Mac) to invert the layer, and change the layer blend mode to Multiply.

The outlines of your image will now be thicker and darker.

Step 5: Set your background and foreground colors

For the next steps in this process, we'll need to make sure that our foreground and background colors are set up correctly before we do anything with our filters. So let's do that now.

In your Toolbar, set your Background Color to white by double-clicking on the Background Color icon. In the Color Picker (Background Color) dialog box, click on the upper left-hand corner of the large color box.

Next, set your Foreground Color to a medium gray. Double click on the Foreground Color square in the Toolbar. In the Color Picker (Foreground Color) dialog box, click midway down the left side of the large color box.

Other colors in the large color box (such as the blues and reds visible in the Color Picker panel image below) are irrelevant since you're keeping the cursor all the way to the left side of the large color box.

Step 6: Add pencil shading to your image

In the Layers panel, select the layer above the layer you just worked with-the layer called "Sketch." Click on the eye icon to make the layer visible again. Your image will now look like a black-and-white photograph again.

Choose Filter > Filter Gallery... from the dropdown menu at the top of the application window. That big Filter window will pop up again.

Add Charcoal Filter

In the Filter window, click on the folder marked Sketch and choose Charcoal.

Adjust the Charcoal Thickness, Detail, and Light/Dark Balance sliders until the image in the preview window has the appropriate amount of detail. Remember, you already have a line drawing of the photo in a lower layer, so you only need to create shading in this step.

Click OK.

Back in the Layers panel, click on the dropdown menu next Normal and adjust the Layer Blend Mode of the charcoal layer to Multiply.

Step 7: Add a cross-hatching effect to your image

The last part of the process is what will really set your image apart, and make it truly look like something drawn by hand. We're going to add a cross-hatching effect.

In the Layers panel, click the eye icon on the top layer-the "cross-hatch" layer, to make the layer visible. All layers should now be visible in your image.

With the top layer selected, choose Filter > Filter Gallery... once more from the dropdown menu at the top of the application window. If you see the Filter Gallery option more than once in the dropdown, make sure you select the lower option.

Add Torn Edges Filter

In the Filter window, click on the option marked Sketch and choose Torn Edges. Adjust the toggles on the right-hand side of the window until you can see the details of your image, just like you see here on my screen.

Once you're happy with the appearance of the Torn Edges filter, click on the New icon located at the lower right-hand side of the Filter window. (This icon looks like a piece of paper with a plus sign in the middle of it.)

Add Graphic Pen Filter

You'll see Torn Edges appear twice in the right-hand side of the Filter window. While the top instance of Torn Edges is still selected, click on the Graphic Pen filter and change the Stroke Diagonal to Left Diagonal.

You can also adjust the sliders for the Graphic Pen filter until you're satisfied with the image in the preview window. As with the previous layer, you're only creating shading at this stage.

Click OK.

Change Layer Blend Mode

And now, change the Layer Blend Mode from Normal to Multiply as you did with the previous layer.

We're almost done!

Finally, because the graphic pen filter is crisper than the charcoal filter we applied to the lower layer, we'll add a slight motion blur.

Add Blur

With the same layer still selected, choose Filter > Blur > Motion Blur from the dropdown menu at the top of the application window.

In the Motion Blur dialog box, set the angle to -45° and move the Distance slider to the left to create a very slight blur. Make sure Preview is checked so you can see the blur before you apply it.

Click OK.

Step 8: Make your final tweaks

You're not done yet! Playing with the opacity of your layers and cleaning up any dark spots that you see in your image will put the final touch on your new pencil sketch.

First, let's adjust the opacity of some of our layers. You can adjust the opacity of the top two layers to reduce the intensity of the pencil shading.

In the image below, the top layer's opacity is reduced to 60% and the next layer down has an opacity of 70%.

You should not adjust the opacity of the bottom two layers as doing so could undermine the line drawing effect you have created.

Erase artifacts

Next, let's clean up any artifacts.

Depending on your image, there may be several places where the white background looks as if it has smudges, or dark spots.

In order to remove dark spots such as these, stamp the layers by selecting all layers, including the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, within the Layers panel. Type SHIFT+CTRL+A+E (SHIFT+COMMAND+OPTION+E on a Mac) to create a stamped layer, which will appear at the top of your Layers panel.

Set your foreground color to white in the Toolbar and choose the Brush tool from the Toolbar. Within the new stamped layer, carefully paint over any smudges using the brush tool. And there you have it! Your finished image will now look like a pencil sketch.

Now that you know how to turn a picture into a line drawing in Photoshop, be sure to check out our other Photoshop tutorials to master your skills.

With over 20 years experience as a graphic designer, Becky is passionate about helping people enhance their content by mastering image manipulation software. Becky has worked with a variety of educational publishers in the U.S. and U.K. and has taught design at six universities.

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How to Turn a Picture into a Line Drawing in Photoshop

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Learn how to use Photoshop to convert a picture into a line drawing. This tutorial will show you how to turn any photos into pencil sketches.

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Are you struggling to decide on the perfect background color for your product photos? Our comprehensive guide breaks down the science and strategy behind selecting colors that not only complement your product but also enhance its appeal to potential buyers. Check out the full article at https://pathedits.com/blogs/tips/how-should-i-choose-the-color-for-my-product-background #ProductPhotography #MarketingTips

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Photos are your chance to showcase your products and tell your brand's story. And it's safe to say product photos are key for most shoppers browsing online. As many as 95% of Gen Z and 88% of millennials rely on visuals when they shop online. Gen X and Baby Boomers aren't far behind, with 85% and 77%, respectively

So, what better way to capture shoppers' attention than using color strategically to evoke the right mood and emotions? Color can take an otherwise ordinary product and make it pop off the page. Not only that, you can create a cohesive brand your shoppers will become familiar with.

Understanding color's role in ecommerce allows you to make the right decisions for your shoot, but how can you choose the right background for your product photos? That depends on a variety of factors.

How to choose a background color for product photography

1. Figure out where you're using the photos

2. Consider the color of your product

3. Think about other subjects in the photo

4. Use color to evoke specific emotions

5. Complement your brand colors

6. Review your photos on different devices

1. Figure out where you're using the photos

Not only do your product photos need to look great on your own website, but you also need to consider the context of your photos for other placements, such as online marketplaces, social media, and brochures. Let's look at the best background colors for each channel.

Your ecommerce store

White, transparent, slightly off-white, and light gray are popular background colors for most ecommerce websites. These clean backgrounds make it easy for shoppers to browse through your products. Instead of being distracted by too much color, they can focus on and compare the products, like on Agood Company's online store.

If you want to use a touch of color, make sure the tones work well across your website. For example, children's product retailer Kidly opts for different neutrals that fit well together and suit the brand's light color scheme.

If your brand calls for bright colors and you want a unique ecommerce shop front, get inspired by Life Supplies, which uses different tones to separate its various product ranges visually. One quick glance and shoppers instantly know which products are from the same line.

Social media

When people look at your social media channels, you want them to see some visual connection between your images and your overall brand identity.

For example, Vielö sells premium skincare focused on organic and sustainable ingredients. The brand's Instagram page shows photos featuring neutral colors and tactile materials, such as wood, paper, stone, and others. No photo is the same, but they all work together in a collection.

You can also experiment with more colorful backgrounds, cropping, and filters for social media. It all depends on your brand and audience.

Amazon

Amazon requires sellers to use a pure white background for product photos. Even if you didn't use a white background at the time of shooting, you can add it during post-processing.

Here are other requirements to keep in mind for Amazon:

Etsy, eBay, and other marketplaces

While other platforms aren't as strict on having a white background, it's still recommended for marketplaces like Etsy and eBay. It brings uniformity to the product browsing experience and makes your products look professional.

However, Etsy, for example, also allows you to use brighter colors and lifestyle settings as product backdrops. Browsing the different Etsy gift collections shows how sellers use various backgrounds.

Print

Print signage, catalogs, and brochures haven't gone anywhere. They're still essential parts of marketing campaigns for many brands.

Clean white background is the perfect canvas for showing your product's features and colors, while contextual lifestyle shots will allow shoppers to envision how they may use your product. For example, DIY and home improvement retailer B&Q uses both across its brochures.

If you need to use product photos for in-store displays and signage, contextual lifestyle backgrounds tend to reign supreme.

2. Consider the color of your product

Product color is another consideration when deciding your background color. The main thing to remember is you need contrast between your product and the background color. This means your product should always be lighter or darker than the background, regardless of your chosen tones.

Bright, colorful products

If you're not limited to specific background colors, like white for an Amazon listing, and want to add color to your products, why not experiment with vibrant hues?

Once you know which products you need to photograph, review your shot list and look at the main product colors. Then, using the color wheel, review the opposite colors on the spectrum-these shades will let your products stand out.

For example, if you have a green-colored product like this cleansing bar by Ambi, you'll find reds, pinks, and violets on the opposite side of the color wheel. Using one of those as a background color for your product is a simple trick to create instantly eye-catching and attractive visuals.

You're not limited to just indoor studio shots, either. Take this purple wine bottle and tumbler from Partner in Wine as an example. While the overall shot features similar lilac tones, the product is displayed against the contrasting green grass, leading the eye straight to the product.

Similarly, if your product has warm tones, opt for a cool color as the background-and the opposite for products with cool tones.

If your product only features a hint of color, try that as a background option. But, instead of going for the exact same shade, tone it down and opt for a lighter one, like Mio 's body butter photo.

One trick is to use an online color tool like HTML Color Codes first to find your product accent color and then move the slider to the left for a lighter shade you can use as the background.

Neutral products

If your products are in the neutral tone range, why not stay there? Gray, nude, beige, and other neutral shades lend themselves equally as calm background colors for a sophisticated look. That's not to say you can't add a splash of color if it fits your brand, but neutrals work particularly well with equally neutral background colors and organic backdrops like stone, sand, wood, linen, and other materials.

Ethical and eco-friendly lifestyle brand Nkuku shows how adding similar neutral colors in the background can create an earthy but elegant look. The trick is to add enough color contrast to let the product take center stage.

White objects

If you sell white products and need a white background to fit the requirements of a marketplace like Amazon, ensure your lighting and editing emphasize any shadows or texture the product might have. Doing so will help the product stand out even on a white or off-white background, like the Amazon listings for white gloves.

If your white background shots need a touch of luxury, add a reflection shadow, just like Lily & Roo 's pearl necklace shot. It gives the illusion of a glossy surface, often used in higher-end jewelry, accessories, and tech stores.

However, If you have the creative freedom to pick a background, any darker colors will help your white product pop. There is no one-size-fits-all, and instead, consider your brand's color palette to help you choose a few different tones to find the best color background for your product, like this rich, maroon fabric showcasing high-end jewelry from Prestons.

Transparent products

What if your products have no color and are made of a transparent material like glass? Whether you choose a white or dark background, lighting your product to bring out its edges is key. Adding shadows will help separate your products from the background, just like Waterdrop 's shots of clear glasses on a white backdrop.

Another option is to add a subtle gradient. Nkuku 's glass bottles demonstrate it well-the lighter shade on the left highlights both bottles on one side, while the darker side contrasts the bottles' contour on the right.

Black products

Photographing black products brings its own challenges, similar to white and transparent. You want the product to be distinguishable from the background without losing any of its unique features.

Generally, this means you'll want to go for a lighter color background. But you don't have to always stick with white. Try more powerful colors, like Ethique did with its charcoal soap bar against a bright pink backdrop.

On the other hand, dark backgrounds can create a luxurious, opulent feel, so if your brand calls for a dark design, go for it. You'll just have to pay attention to your lighting during the photoshoot to illuminate your product and its shape, like in this bracelet product shot by Seekers.

Whatever background color you choose, you want shoppers to see your products clearly. If the background overshadows the product or makes it difficult to see, that's a clear sign to try something different.

Finding the right balance comes down to experimentation. Remember, you can always change the background color in post-production or use a color change service if the photo doesn't turn out how you envisioned.

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3. Think about other subjects in the photo

While product color has perhaps the largest impact on which color background you should use, you might also have other subjects in the frame to consider.

Props

If you create lifestyle or styled product shots, you'll need props. Same as picking a background color or pattern, choose props that will complement your product rather than distract from it.

You might want to decorate the shot with props highlighting your brand's message. For example, independent organic skincare brand Harvest included cozy wool socks, a towel, and a rustic wood backdrop in its foot salve product shot. The brand focuses on natural ingredients, hand-crafted products, and simple packaging, which shows in its prop choice.

Another method is including natural ingredients as your props if you sell health, beauty, food, or drink products. Ethique does this playfully with bright colors and unique prop placement for its body care collection. Each photo features the main product ingredients, such as a slice of lime with ginger or a spoonful of matcha.

Models

Showing your products in use with the help of models is a great way to give shoppers more context about your product. For clothing, footwear, accessories and jewelry, it's a traditional way of showing how the product looks when worn, like on the Wild Fawn Jewelry online store. But you can use models for other types of products, too.

Spend time with your team and photographer, and consider how your model's hairstyle, clothing, and skin tone work with your background color to make your products shine. Establish who your models are in advance and which background colors you hope to use. Working with a stylist can also help ensure your models and products complement one another.

Remember, models play an important role in highlighting your products. But in most cases, they shouldn't be the main focus. For example, WILD SAGE + Co included a model for its beeswax candle shot, but the model's pose and clothing don't detract from the main focus of the image-the product.

4. Use color to evoke specific emotions

When you want to add some color to the background, consider how those colors may affect online shoppers. Are they complementary to the colors of your product and brand? Will they persuade shoppers to buy? Do they resonate with your brand?

Emotions associated with colors will vary across cultures, so it's not a universal method. But you might still get inspired by traditional color associations as a starting point. For example, blue can invoke feelings of serenity and logic, while green-freshness, health, and nature.

While color is important, the truth is, there's no best color for background. The colors you choose depend on your goal and what you're trying to convey.

5. Complement your brand colors

To get the most from your product photos, don't forget that they need to go well with your brand colors. The last thing you want is to have a handful of quality photos that don't match your website or brand color theme. This is why planning your shoot beforehand is so important.

6. Review your photos on different devices

With 54% of shoppers choosing online shopping for better value, there are many different types of devices accessing your online store. Even if shoppers are in a physical store, as many as 92% still check out products on their phones first. From computers and tablets to various smartphones-that's a long list of differently sized gadgets.

First, review how your images look on different screens-are they sized appropriately and visible even on smaller phones? As many as 44% of shoppers are expected to use smartphones in 2025, so ensure quality photos with cropped unnecessary details. Most browsers have built-in emulators to check sites on different screen dimensions.

Second, consider varying screen brightness and contrast levels. This means products need to stand out against busy backgrounds-or those that are too similar to your product tones-without colors blending together.

Product photography background ideas: colors to try

If you're looking for quick recommendations on picking the right color for your product shots, here are some tips and creative background ideas:

White

White is the most common background color for online listings by default, and for a good reason. It works well with most color combinations and doesn't require heavy edits.

White is a safe bet and works for many scenarios:

Fits online marketplaces: Ecommerce platforms like Amazon require at least one product photo to have a white background. Even if not a requirement, white is the perfect, distraction-free backdrop to show products on any online marketplace.

Creates a cohesive look: A white background is a great choice if you want a simple, clean look for your online store. With white background, there's no room for error because all your product backgrounds will work together.

Makes editing easier: Even if your background looks slightly off-white after photographing it or the backdrop has some wrinkles, it's easier to edit it to pure white compared to colorful backgrounds.

Brings attention to the product: Most products will instantly stand out against a white background.

Gives space for text: If you need to add any words alongside your product, such as for an infographic, a website banner, or an email, white background makes it easy to create a clean design.

Can decrease page load speed: Adding color to images can increase your file size. White background images, on the other hand, can help your site load faster, but make sure you still compress your photos.

Neutrals

The closest to a standard white background, neutrals like off-white, gray-from light to dark- beige or brown can highlight your products online.

Neutral works well for different product ranges and scenarios because it:

Fits most products: Neutrals play well with jewelry, clothing, homeware, skincare, beauty products, and even tech.

Don't distract from your product: Similar to white, neutral tones will keep the attention on your product.

Adds subtle warmth or coolness: Beiges and browns will infuse a warm feel to your shots, while cooler neutrals, such as gray or subtle blues, will tone it down.

Perfect for social media: White might lack personality for branded social media product images. This is where neutrals shine and can help you create aesthetically pleasing social media shots.

Black

If you're going for a more dramatic, elegant look-look no further than black for the background color.

A black background:

Creates a luxurious, timeless feel: It's not very often you'll find product shots with a solid black background, but it can work well if you're going for a classic, bold look. The depth of an all-black backdrop gives an air of sophistication, perfect for showcasing jewelry, leather goods, technology gadgets, or rich textiles.

Brings out product details: Lighter products with interesting textures can benefit from being shown against a black background to focus attention on their details, shape, or other unique characteristics that might otherwise not show on a white background.

Works well with metallic products: A black background helps show off the shiny, reflective surfaces of metallic products as the light bends around them and creates a mix of highlights and shadows.

Colors

Whether you want high-impact pops of color or soft pastel tones, strategic use of color backdrops can take your photos to the next level.

Here are some ideas on how to use colorful product photo backgrounds:

Contrasting colors: Use the color wheel to find opposite colors that'll make your products pop.

Complementary colors: Layering colors in complementary or similar shades to your product will create a harmonious look. It's a great way to mix and match your brand palette colors to add something unique to every photo.

Bright colors: If your brand is all about energy, vibrancy or capturing attention, bright color backgrounds will help you set that tone in your product shots. Just take care not to let the colors detract too much from the product itself.

Pastels: For a softer, more relaxed aesthetic, try using muted pastels. Shades like powder blue, pale peach, lavender, and subtle mint green can help express warmth and nostalgia. Pastels also tend to work well with floral, feminine, or vintage-style products.

Natural materials

Want something more unique than just a solid background color? Natural materials can help you create eye-catching product shots. From warmer materials like wood, terracotta, and cork to cooler, sophisticated ones like slate, stone, marble, and sand, there's plenty of room for choice.

If your brand sells products that invoke themes like nature, coziness, and the outdoors, consider wood, moss, leaves, pinecones, or feathers. For minimalist, modern aesthetics, try marble, stone or concrete backdrops. Rustic, artisan goods pop against tiles, burlap, or linen, like this wooden soap dish from Jungle Culture.

Changing color backgrounds after the shoot

One of the most powerful aspects of post-production is the ability to change the background color you used during your shoot. Sometimes you just won't have the perfect colored material when shooting-that's okay!

If you can't find the colors you need, you can always add the color afterwards by following our Photoshop tutorial. But for next-level results, our experienced photo editors are ready to help whether you want a simple, white background or a colorful one.

Best product background color FAQs

How should I choose the color for my product background?

Consider your product type and colors, brand, and the mood you want to convey when choosing background colors. Aligning background colors with your brand personality will help you create a cohesive look.

What is the best color for your product background?

White is a versatile background for most ecommerce websites, but the best background color will depend on factors, such as your product type, colors, and brand identity. Strategically using color will help draw attention, set the mood, and make details pop.

Should you use a white background?

White backgrounds showcase products without being distracting, creating a clean, minimalist look that works for most products and marketplaces. However, colored or textured backdrops can also highlight products uniquely.

What background should you use for food photography?

For appetizing food photography, complementary or clean, solid color backgrounds like white, black, and gray work best to avoid taking attention away from the food. Natural elements like wood boards or tablecloths also help enhance the photo.

Anete is a freelance B2B content writer with journalism experience and a passionate photographer. Merging her experience in tech and creative industries, she helps software brands increase their user base with engaging content. In her spare time, Anete works on personal projects and learns about coding basics.

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How to Choose the Best Product Background Color for Your Ecommerce Photography

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Learn how to choose the best product background color to adhere to marketplace requirements and optimize your product listings for the most sales and engagement.

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Step up your product photography with the allure of smoke and fog effects. These 4 practical tips will guide you through creating atmospheric images that capture attention and tell a story. Begin your journey at https://pathedits.com/blogs/tips/4-practical-ways-to-add-smoke-and-fog-to-product-photos #StorytellingPhotography #AtmosphericEffects #PhotoGuide

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Creating product photos for ecommerce can become repetitive, especially when you need to fit stringent marketplace guidelines, such as Amazon. But if you have some creative freedom, why not add something special to make your shots stand out?

Smoke and fog fog in photography can add dramatic and moody effects, bringing intrigue to product shots for things like jewelry, kitchenware, food, electronics, and footwear. You can even use fog and smoke to bring an atmospheric edge to shots of models advertising clothing, makeup, or anything else.

Harnessing these elements may seem challenging at first, but there are a few ways you can create foggy scenes with a mix of specialty products and post-processing methods.

Let's break this down into the two main phases of a shoot:

During the shoot: play around with real-life physical effects

After the shoot: how to edit smoke photos and add fog, smoke, and mist

Create a fog effect during the photoshoot

1. Dry ice

If you've ever wondered about what's behind the spectacle of smoky dishes or cocktails in a restaurant, dry ice is likely the secret ingredient. It's relatively inexpensive, widely distributed, and predictable regarding longevity. It also creates a thick, photo-worthy fog.

Keep in mind, dry ice can burn your skin just like frostbite if you're not careful. It can cause instant injury, so always use protective gloves when handling dry ice.

One more note: Because dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide, you need to be in a well-ventilated area. This prevents gas buildup that could cause suffocation. In a restaurant or bar, exposure to it is brief, but for product shoots, extended time around dry ice fog means you need to take precautions.

You can find dry ice at party suppliers, ice distributors, and many grocery stores.

Here are some tips and ideas for using dry ice in your product photos:

Set up a few test shots without the dry ice so you know what background, lighting, and product styling you want to use.

Plan to buy the dry ice a few hours before your shoot. If you ordered it online, set up your scene and be ready to shoot soon after it arrives.

Store your dry ice in an insulated cooler while leaving the lid slightly open for ventilation. Airtight containers and home freezers can cause it to build up and explore, so make sure you store it with precautions. Don't forget to use protective gloves.

Dial in your exposure and white balance. Dry ice disappears quickly, so get as close to perfect as possible before you add it to your shot.

Use props. Depending on your product and composition, you can get a large bowl with hot water and add chunks of dry ice to it. The high temperature will activate dry ice to produce the thick smoke effect.

2. Colorful smoke bombs

Smoke bombs have become popular accents for gender reveals and weddings. But they can also infuse color and drama into model editorials or car and motorcycle product shots.

Think about the product you're promoting and pick smoke bombs in colors that bring eye-catching contrast, or go for a complementary color scheme that suits your brand. There's plenty of room for creativity.

When planning your shoot, aim for large, well-ventilated or outdoor areas, ideally with some natural protection from high winds. Think of large warehouses or other structural buildings, woodland, and empty tunnels. You can also get great photos in a natural clearing like a desert or on the beach if there are no heavy winds.

Amazon and Etsy sell smoke bombs, as do specialty shops that sell fireworks and flares. It's a good idea to get a few extra smoke bombs in case of wind or if you want to experiment with different movements.

To get the most out of smoke bombs for your product shots:

Check for any local permissions or guidelines you may need to comply with.

Ensure your shoot location has good ventilation, or check the weather forecast and wind direction if you're shooting outdoors.

Run through the plan with your models so they hold the smoke bombs away from their faces and know the smoke bomb will get warm after pulling its pin.

Set up your shots prior to shooting. Shooting with a narrow aperture, like f/8 or f/11, will get your subject and smoke in focus.

Switch to manual focus and continuous shooting mode-this will help you avoid the camera struggling to focus, especially if the smoke travels around your subject.

As soon as your model pulls the pin, start shooting! You'll have around a minute, depending on your smoke bomb, to get your shots.

When the smoke bomb gets too hot, ensure your model drops it on the ground. Alternatively, arrange a spot for the model to place the smoke bomb after pulling the pin.

Don't forget to pick up any smoke bombs and dispose of them properly.

Remember: No two shots will be the same because wind direction and speed, as well as the movement of your models, will change the intensity and shape of colorful clouds.

3. Fog machine

If you want simple and subtle fog effect for your product shots, a fog machine might be what you need. You can pick from small, portable fog machines that fit in your hand, or heavy-duty ones with lots of features. There are options for every budget.

Fog machines create a realistic fog that resembles smoke, but the downside is the initial investment. You'll also need to purchase additional fluid to top it up. If you're crafty, you can even make a DIY one. However, once you have the machine and the fluid, you'll be making fog for a long time to come.
Photo by Anete Lusina
Much like smoke, you'll notice this fog rises, so it might disperse pretty quickly. For a successful shoot with your fog machine, first set up your scene and composition. Get your lighting, white balance, and exposure pretty close to correct.

For the fog to show in the photo, make sure your background is slightly darker, like in the example below. With just a small fog machine, you can soon create cozy, warm scenes even if the food or drink has gone cold.

Depending on the type of fog look you're going for, you may only have a short window for shooting, so get your setup ready before turning on the fog machine.

4. Water, a fish tank, and evaporated milk

This fog method involves an unusual mix of products, but the end result can be magazine-worthy. Borrowed from the film industry, this unique smoke method creates vivid, cloud-effect shapes. The downside? It requires quite a bit of preparation and shooting space.

You can use it for solid products that do well underwater, like glass or plastic containers for food, drink, or beauty products. Follow this tutorial to set it up.

Put these items on your shopping list:

Fish tank: You'll need to fill it with water and submerge your product inside.

Substance to inject: The tutorial suggests using evaporated milk, but other options include paint or ink.

Syringe: A 100ml syringe will have a nozzle that's just the right size to inject the substance into the tank.

Food coloring: If you want to add color to the "clouds," you can mix food coloring with the evaporated milk.

Hot glue gun: To avoid your products moving or tipping over in the water, you can hot glue them to the base of your fish tank and later remove them with a swab of isopropanol.

Camera trigger: Necessary to fire your camera's lights while letting you use one hand to hold the syringe and inject the substance.

5. Canned fog

If you only need a subtle fog effect, you can get a can of fog. It's as simple as grabbing an aerosol can and spraying it in the room you're shooting. The spray can releases a fine mist of particles into the air, creating a hazy or steamy effect that lasts quite some time.

It's a quick, safe, and simple way to add a cinematic and ethereal feel to your photos, whether you're photographing models or products. The best part is it's compact, so there's no lengthy preparation. Indoors, you'll have more time to work with the fog before it disappears, but you can use it outdoors, too-just make sure you stock up with a few cans.

Light is your friend when working with fog in a can. Whether you use windows or artificial light, fog in a can will diffuse the light, making it softer and flattering. Contrasting the background will help it show more prominently in photos, but it's not a must-you can still add layers of atmosphere to most backgrounds.

Add fog to your photos after the shoot

6. Add a fog effect in Photoshop

There are a few different approaches to how to add fog to a photo in Photoshop, but this is probably the quickest way to add cloudy puffs of fog to your image because it employs a filter already in Photoshop.

First, complete your usual photo edits. When you're done with white balance, exposure, contrast, and other adjustments and creative edits, create a new layer in Photoshop and move that layer to sit on top of other layers in your image.

You can name the layer "Fog" if you like-this makes it easier to see which layer you're working on.

Next, change the foreground color to white and your background color to black in your Toolbar.

In the next few steps, we'll use the blur functions to make the clouds more diffused in certain portions of the photo. Use the Elliptical Marquee Tool in the Toolbar to draw a broad ellipse around the object in your photo that is the source of the fog you're creating. In this example photo, steam would be coming from the coffee cup, so we'll draw a marquee around the cup.

In the pop-up window, choose a large number, such as 200, to indicate the feather radius.

With the Fog layer still selected, choose Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur... from the dropdown menu and set the blur radius to somewhere between 20 and 45.

Using your cursor, drag portions of the warp field to create a wafting effect around the source of the fog or steam. This also helps to introduce randomness into the fog pattern.

Finally, you need to remove most of the visible Fog layer. In this case, you just want a bit of steam to waft out of the mug.

Create a layer mask in the Fog layer by clicking the Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel (it looks like a black rectangle with a gray circle inside of it). A Layer Mask will appear within your Fog layer.

This next step requires you to use your artistic skill and judgment. Choose the Brush tool and select a soft round brush (your brush's hardness should be set to 0%). Change the foreground color to white, then paint over and around your subject to mask the portions of your image where you don't want the fog effects to show.

In the example image, this means we'll be "painting" a mask over almost all of the image except the areas just around the top and sides of the mug.

Want to add more? Create a new Layer. Then, select the Brush tool and choose a spatter brush from the Brushes panel.

If you want to learn how to create your own custom fog brush or add light rays, take a look at this tutorial.

7. Use a Brush in Lightroom

If you want a simple foggy look, you can use Lightroom without using advanced Photoshop techniques.

First, open your image in Lightroom, click on the Masking panel, and select Brush.

Adjust your brush size using the [ and ] keys and paint over the parts of your image you want to cover in fog. Click O to see which parts of your photo you've already covered, and use the Brush panel to adjust its size, feather, flow, and density.

Then, scroll down in the panel to your right to find the Dehaze slider and move it to the left. The image areas you covered with the brush will appear softer and lighter.

You can also add several layers by clicking Create New Mask in the Masks panel and selecting Brush again. Doing so gives you the precision to paint over specific parts of the photo you may want to adjust using not just the Dehaze slider but also others like Brightness and Clarity.

8. Download smoke effect overlays

Similar to using brushes in Photoshop, you can download free and paid smoke and fog effect overlays. You can find them by searching on Google, Etsy, stock websites, and marketplaces like Creative Market.

Apply them on a separate layer over your photo and experiment with different blending methods and opacity levels. Then, fine tune using layer masks for extra precision. You'll find most creators sell bundles of different overlays, so you'll have plenty of different ones to choose from.

9. Use a mobile app for simple smoke edits

If you've captured a great image with your smartphone and you want to add a little mystery, but you don't want to import it into Photoshop, you can use an app. Check out the following:

Tips and tricks for adding smoke and fog to product photos

Now that you know a couple of methods to create fog, here are a few general tips to remember no matter which tutorials or methods you choose.

Here are some DOs:

Exercise caution when working with any smoke or fog devices, especially indoors.

Test your photoshoot idea ahead of time to make sure your smoke method will not damage products and will work with your photoshoot background.

Select a contrasting background. Black or other darker backdrops will show off your fog the best.

Use directional light-light the edges, light from above, whatever it takes to create the mood you want to achieve.

Edit after the shoot so you can increase color saturation and smoke intensity to your liking.

Shoot in RAW, if possible, so you get the most image data available for post-production.

Check your images as you go. If autofocus isn't getting the job done, switch to manual and pick the perfect point to focus on, such as the subject's eyes or a central point of a product.

Have a tripod handy if you need a precise manual focus set on products.

Shoot tethered or check the back of the camera screen as you go. Just like with focus, see if you're happy with the results. And if you're not, then be prepared to change up your exposure, aperture, or shutter speed. You may need to add exposure compensation to create a more dramatic fog effect.

And here are some DON'Ts:

Use a white or light background. The fog likely won't show up against it. If you need a white background, you can always send it to our professional editors to do it for you.

Use on-camera flash. The fog will reflect your flash, and you won't get the end result you want.

Rely on the colors you get straight out of the camera. Fog tends to neutralize color and make everything less vibrant unless you use colorful smoke bombs.

Depend on autofocus. With fog in the picture, your camera might not choose the correct focal point. No one wants blurry, out-of-focus products.

Rely on your exposure meter, either. Fog can trick your camera and create disappointing results.

Why create a fog or smoke effect for product photos?

You may wonder why pick such a temperamental visual for your product shots. After all, you can't exactly capture or contain it. Within seconds, it will disappear before your eyes.

But when you see the result, you may get convinced it's worth giving it a shot. Consider the below photo by Noughty, showcasing the brand's premium non-alcoholic wine. Now picture the same two bottles on a simple wooden tabletop. It wouldn't give the same level of drama, mood, and vibrancy without the soft pastel clouds.

Fog can also add a mystical quality and a storytelling element to your images. If you're shooting something like crystal balls or healing gems, this can be an obvious fit-like in the example below. But even if your subject is less than magical, fog can still lend a dreamy or moody quality.

Additionally, the products you photograph are 3D, but the photos themselves are 2D. Fog can give your flat, distorted composition much-needed depth and dimension, similar to shadows.

Below are just a few ideas where a fog effect can add visual interest to your product photos:

Elevate luxury products shot on simple backgrounds, such as fragrances, makeup, watches, jewelry, and drinks

Add atmosphere or color to outdoor and indoor model shots

Create a cozy feel for hot food and drink photos

Add drama to car and motorbike photoshoots

Fog, mist, smoke: what's the difference?

From an atmospheric perspective, fog, mist, and smoke are different. Mist is tiny water droplets suspended in the air. It's usually light and mostly transparent and evaporates quickly.

Fog is also composed of tiny water droplets, but it's denser and heavier, so the "clouds" of fog last longer. Smoke is a collection of small, solid particulates emitted when something burns, like in the product lifestyle shot below.

From a photographic perspective, they're different, too. Mist doesn't give quite the effect that fog does, and it's harder to recreate it in the studio.

Fog tends to stay low and disperse horizontally, evaporating at the edges. Smoke, on the other hand, travels upward from its source-it's more difficult to wrap around a subject because of this. You can use smoke in photos, but because of how it travels, it's less predictable than fog.

There are a few ways you can add fog to your images. Choose the right one for your situation or play around and test them all!

Add fog and let your photos come alive

Fog and smoke effects can elevate even the simplest product photos-you can create ethereal, moody, and eye-catching product shots that stand out against the rest. In the world of ecommerce, that's a bonus.

Don't be afraid to experiment with different fog techniques until you find the right atmosphere for your product. And if you need a hand editing them to perfection, our skilled retouchers are ready to help.

How to add fog to a photo FAQs

How do you add foggy effects to photos?

You can add fog effects to photos by using dry ice, fog machines, smoke bombs, or photo editing apps like Photoshop and Lens Distortions. Each method creates a unique fog look, so you can get creative with combining some of the techniques.

How do you add fake fog in Photoshop?

Photoshop lets you add fake fog using different methods. You can apply fog overlays and adjust blending mode and opacity. You can also use the Clouds filter to create a fog pattern, then distort and mask it. Or customize brushes to paint in unique fog effects.

How do you add fog to a photo in Lightroom?

To add fog to a photo in Lightroom, use the Adjustment Brush to paint over areas where you want to add fog. Then, move the Dehaze slider to the left and adjust it to your liking. Try also decreasing the Texture or Clarity slider to soften the fog.

How do you make fog effect?

You can make a fog effect in photos using dry ice, fog machines, smoke bombs, aerosol fog spray, or editing apps like Photoshop and Lightroom. Using overlays and custom brushes, you can add a realistic-looking fog effect to your photos.

How do I make an image look hazy in Photoshop?

To make an image look hazy in Photoshop, add a Curves adjustment layer and lower the midpoint while raising the outer points. Then, apply Gaussian Blur, set blending to Soft Light, and reduce opacity. You can also download and add haze overlays to blend them with your photo.

Anete is a freelance B2B content writer with journalism experience and a passionate photographer. Merging her experience in tech and creative industries, she helps software brands increase their user base with engaging content. In her spare time, Anete works on personal projects and learns about coding basics.

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How to Add Fog to a Photo: 9 Ways to Play With Smoke Product Photography

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Going for dreamy, mystical, or dramatic product photos? Follow these tips to add smoke and fog and get the effect you're looking for.

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Photo Editing: Best Photo Enlarger List Without Losing Quality - Bijutoha

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Here is a list of Photo enlarger tools prevalent in today's digital world, especially for those wanting to upscale low-resolution images without sacrificing quality.

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In conclusion, mastering the ghost mannequin technique in Photoshop can take your product photography to the next level. With the ability to seamlessly remove mannequins from clothing images, your products will stand out and attract more customers. Don't let the fear of a complex editing process hold you back, this tutorial breaks it down step by step. #productphotography #photoshoptips #ghostmannequin #ecommercetips #productmarketing #photoshoptutorial https://pathedits.com/blogs/tips/photoshop-tutorial-how-use-ghost-mannequin-technique

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Ghost mannequins create a great effect when you want to show off both the front and interior of a garment-as if the clothing were placed on an invisible mannequin. By following the steps below and employing a little artistic skill, you can learn how to create your own invisible mannequin in Photoshop.

This particular ghost mannequin application also allows you to set your image on any color background.

How to create a ghost mannequin in Photoshop: the step-by-step tutorial

For this ghost mannequin tutorial, we'll use the following photos for our garment front and interior, and show you how to use the ghost mannequin technique to merge them together.

Scroll down below for the full written tutorial.

1. Set up your layers

Open the image of the garment shot on a mannequin or model in Photoshop and double-click on the Background layer to make the layer editable. Rename the layer "Front."

Create a new layer and place it behind the Front layer. Name the layer "Background." Then, fill the new Background layer with 100% black by typing SHIFT+ F5 ( FN+ SHIFT+ F5 on a Mac laptop) and choosing Black next to Contents.

Note: If you're working with a black garment, set the background color to 100% white.

Creating a black background will help you see your selection accurately as you create it. We'll change this background color later as needed.

2. Select the background using the Magic Wand tool

Make sure the Front layer in your Layers panel is selected.

Select the Magic Wand tool from Photoshop's toolbar or press W on your keyboard.

If you don't see the Magic Wand tool, it may be hiding behind the Object Selection tool or the Quick Selection tool. Click and hold on whichever of these selection tools is visible to reveal and select the Magic Wand tool.

With the Magic Wand tool selected, you'll see two buttons at the top of the application window in the options bar: Select Subject and Select and Mask... Click on Select and Mask...

If you get an error message saying nothing could be selected, make sure you're on the Front layer.

A Preview Window will appear, and what you see in that window depends on the View Mode selected under Properties on the right side of the screen.

Make sure View is set to On Layers (Y).

Click on the Select Subject button at the top of the screen.

Photoshop will attempt to figure out the subject of your photograph and then create a selection accordingly. If your original photograph has a solid background that's a different color from your garment, this selection will be close to perfect.

On the left-hand side of the Preview Window are tools you can use to help you work with the selection.

If you need to refine the selection (such as the edge on the left-hand side of the dress in the image above), you can paint along the edge of the selection using the Refine Edge Brush tool or the Brush tool on the left-hand side of the Preview Window.

See the tutorial on the Magic Wand tool for a detailed explanation of Select and Mask...

3. Select the mannequin using the Magic Wand tool

The next step is to remove the clothing from the mannequin in Photoshop.

Select the Quick Selection tool, then choose Subtract from the options bar at the top of the Preview Window. Add and Subtract look like dashed ellipses surrounding "plus" (+) and "minus" (-) signs.

Select areas of the mannequin that are still showing by clicking on them in the Preview Window. These areas will disappear from view as you click on them. If you accidentally remove part of the garment as well, type CTRL+Z (COMMAND+Z on a Mac) to undo, and then reduce the "Size" option next to the selection tool.

The selection doesn't need to be perfect, but it does need to be refined enough for you to feel confident removing any additional pixels from the image using your Eraser tool.

On the right-hand side of the Preview Window, move the slider for Shift Edge to the left, about 30%. This will move the selection inward slightly, helping remove any halo effects from the selection.

Click OK.

4. Create Layer Mask

In your Front layer, click on the mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to mask out the subject's background. Then, select the mask icon next to the Front layer icon.

Choose the Eraser tool from the Toolbar and make sure the foreground color is set to white and the background color is set to black.

Erase out any portions of the mannequin that are still visible.

With the image we're using, the model's arms cover part of her skirt. We'll need to use the Clone Stamp tool to "paint back" portions of her skirt.

To learn more about the Clone Stamp tool, check out this article on Photoshop tools.

After "repairing" sections of the skirt covered by the model's arms, you're ready for the second stage of the ghost mannequin Photoshop tutorial.

5. Create selections of the interior

It's time to break out that second image-the one that shows the interior of your garment (such as the neck).

Repeat Steps 2 and 3 with the interior photograph so you have a selection of the garment itself, and then create the layer mask.

Using the Rectangular Marquee tool, select the neck area of the garment. Type SHIFT+ CTRL+ C ( SHIFT+ COMMAND+ C on a Mac) to copy the selection and the mask.

In your Front image, select the Background layer and type CTRL+ V ( COMMAND+ V on a Mac) to paste the selection. Name the layer "Neck."

Type CTRL+ T ( COMMAND+ T on a Mac) to scale or rotate your neck layer so the back of the neck lines up with the front of the neck and shoulders.

Repeat the process with any other portions of the garment where the back of the garment should show.

6. Warp and clean up interior portions

This is the step that separates a good Photoshop ghost mannequin from a great Photoshop ghost mannequin.

Remember, the photo you had that you grabbed your garment's interior from lay flat, but you want those portions to look just as filled out as the front of your garment. You can use the Warp transform tool to do the trick.

Make sure you have the layer selected that you want to warp (we'll start with the neck in this example). Choose Edit > Transform > Warp to enable the Warp tool.

Pull up on the center of the neck with the Warp anchors to form a curve, as an actual neck would form. You can also use the tool to adjust any other discrepancies you see.

Once you've adjusted the curve of the garment, use the Eraser tool to gently remove any areas that don't line up completely with the top edge of the neck.

Repeat the process with other areas of the garment where the interior shows.

7. Darken interiors

In order to finalize the illusion that this photo was taken on an invisible mannequin, you need to add drop shadows to the interior portions of the garment.

Select the Neck layer in the Layers panel. Choose the Burn tool from the Toolbar. If you don't see the Burn tool, it might be hiding behind the Dodge tool or the Sponge tool.

Once the Burn tool is selected, you have several options in the Options bar for what you want to darken-highlights, midtones, or shadows. Use your judgment over which of these options best suits the color of your garment. Then, "paint" with the burn tool over the areas of your garment's neck that would be in shadow.

Repeat the Burn tool adjustments on any other layers where interior portions show.

8. Get the background color you want

You're almost done! Go back to your Background layer and change its color to white or whatever other color you prefer. Since you used black when you created your selection, you can be confident that your ghost mannequin will look good in front of any color.

Getting the best photographs to work with

The better the source material, the easier it'll be to create your ghost mannequin in Photoshop. While some sellers have actual invisible mannequins to use for their product photography, many rely on regular mannequins or models and the technique described in this tutorial.

To ensure you have the best photos to work from, do the following during your photo shoot:

Shoot clothing items on a symmetrical mannequin, arms pointing down.

If you're using a model instead of a mannequin, make sure their arms hang down and their legs are uncrossed. Also, clip back long hair or jewelry that could obscure the actual clothing product.

Keep camera and lighting in the same place when shooting clothing interiors. Clip your clothing item to a piece of whiteboard or foam core, then stand the board up at the same location and height as the mannequin to ensure consistent lighting.

Keep backdrops neutral and plain. A plain white or light gray, non-reflective backdrop is best. Our analysis of the top online clothing brands found that more than 94% of those brands have a plain, neutral background.

Iron or steam clothes prior to shooting, and make sure garments fit on the mannequin properly - without folds or gaps.

Place your camera at the same height as the product. In other words, don't have the camera above the item, looking down. Shooting with the camera at the wrong angle will distort the product and require more post-processing work.

Make the most of your product photos

In an ideal world, you'd have complete control over your clothing photography. However, you can still create an invisible mannequin effect in Photoshop with less than perfect source materials.

Not enough time to figure it all out yourself? Send your photos to us, and we'll whip up a professionally edited photo with a ghost mannequin in no time - and for less than 50 cents an image.

Ghost mannequin Photoshop FAQs

How do you do the ghost mannequin effect?

You can use the ghost mannequin effect on any garment that has been photographed on a model or a mannequin. Use the ghost mannequin effect to showcase garments without the distraction of a model or a visible mannequin in your ecommerce photos.

Why use ghost mannequin?

Using a ghost mannequin can help your customers understand what a garment will look like when it's being worn. Ghost mannequins provide a more accurate understanding of how a garment will fit than garments photographed on a hanger.

What is the mannequin effect in Photoshop?

The mannequin effect in Photoshop is a technique that allows you to remove all visible signs of a person or a physical mannequin from your photo using a series of Photoshop tools. The end result looks like the garment is being worn by someone invisible, such as a ghost.

What is an invisible mannequin?

An invisible mannequin is the same as a ghost mannequin. Invisible mannequin photography gives the illusion of a garment being worn and shows how the garment will fit a person. However, in an invisible mannequin ecommerce photo, the model or mannequin is rendered fully invisible.

How do you take ghost mannequin photography?

1. Photograph the garment on a model or mannequin against a white background if possible.

2. Lay the garment flat on a white surface and take photos of the interior portions of the garment that are visible on a hanger.

3. Using the steps in this tutorial, carefully remove the model or mannequin from the photo, and stitch that photo with photos of the interior.

With over 20 years experience as a graphic designer, Becky is passionate about helping people enhance their content by mastering image manipulation software. Becky has worked with a variety of educational publishers in the U.S. and U.K. and has taught design at six universities.

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Ghost Mannequin Photoshop Tutorial: How to Make Clothing Photography Pop

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Learn how to add a ghost mannequin effect to your clothing images so they look more realistic and drive more sales. This step-by-step Photoshop tutorial will show you how to accomplish the technique on your images.

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Path Edits expertly guides readers through the nuances of fabric wrinkle smoothing in Photoshop, making it an indispensable resource for digital artists. #EditingTips #ImageEditing #PhotoRetouching #Photoshop #Tutorial #Video

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Wrinkled fabric can ruin a good product photo. While it's always a good idea to iron or steam clothing and fabrics before your photo shoot, you'll often still notice some unseemly wrinkles when you go to edit your photos. Luckily, there are a variety of retouching techniques you can use in Photoshop to smooth those wrinkles in your fabric and clothing photos.

The process of smoothing wrinkles on fabric and clothing in Photoshop requires subtlety and skill to prevent your final photo from looking flat and overtouched. Therefore, you should always retouch wrinkles by hand rather than relying on AI to do it for you. However, when you're working with many photos a day, you need to have methods you can use quickly.

This Photoshop tutorial covers three different methods for smoothing wrinkles on fabric and clothing: the healing brush tool, the patch tool, and the frequency separation method. The best method depends on the photo and your needs.

We'll use the following product photo-the wrinkles on the model's pants are distracting. We'll use Photoshop to smooth out these wrinkles. You can click the image below to open it in a new tab and save it to your computer if you want to follow along.

Scroll down below the video for the full written tutorial.

Method 1: Healing Brush Tool

The Healing Brush method is the least automated method for removing wrinkles, meaning it might take the longest but it typically leads to the best results. If you only have a few wrinkles on a solid color to remove, the Healing Brush tool can do the job quickly.

Step 1: Select the Healing Brush Tool

Select the Healing Brush Tool from the Toolbar on the left column of the application window. If you don't see it, the Healing Brush Tool might be hiding behind the Spot Healing Brush Tool or the Patch Tool.

Step 2: Set your brush size

In the Options bar at the top of your application window, set your brush size to about twice the size of the deepest wrinkle you want to remove. Set Hardness to 0% and Spacing to about 20%. Make sure the Source is set to Sampled and the Sample is set to Current Layer.

Step 3: Sample smooth fabric

Take your Healing Brush tool and "sample" an area of the fabric where it's not wrinkled by hovering the mouse over that area, typing the ALT key ( OPTION on a Mac) and clicking the left mouse button. Then, "paint" over the wrinkle as if you were using the brush tool. You'll see a plus sign symbol (+) over the area of the image you're sampling from, and a circle over the area you're fixing with that sample.

Continuously grab new samples as you work so the smoothed fabric looks natural and not flat. In the photo below, we smoothed one leg but not the other so you can see the difference.

If you're only smoothing one or two wrinkles, the Healing Brush Tool can be a great option. But if you have a lot of wrinkles you need to remove, this tool can become very time-consuming. If that's the case, you should consider using the Patch Tool.

Method 2: Patch Tool

The Patch Tool takes whole "patches" of pixels from one area of your image and merges them with another portion of your image. Use the Patch Tool when you have many wrinkles over a large area to fix, especially if the wrinkles are crisp and defined.

Step 1: Open the Patch Tool

To begin, grab your Patch Tool from the Toolbar. It might be hiding behind the Healing Brush Tool or the Spot Healing Brush Tool.

Step 2: Adjust your Patch Tool settings

Once you've selected the Patch Tool, you'll see some settings for it in the Options bar at the top of the application window.

For this exercise, set the Patch to Normal and also select Destination (instead of Source). The Diffusion option gives you the ability to determine how much the edges of your patch will blur with the original pixels. You can play with this setting to see what works best for the image you're editing.

Step 3: Select smooth fabric

With the Patch Tool, draw a selection around an area of your garment where it's not wrinkled. Then, holding down the mouse button, move that selection over an area you want to smooth.

The patch of smooth material will replace the patch of wrinkled material in your image.

The patch tool does something similar to the Clone Stamp Tool, but in larger areas. It's a very simple tool to use. Knowing how much of an area to select, and how much diffusion to apply, comes with practice and can change from fabric to fabric.

Step 4: Finalize with the Healing Brush Tool

Once you've "patched" your wrinkles, you can use the Healing Brush Tool to blend in the edges of the patch if necessary.

In the image below, you can see how a combination of the Patch Tool and Healing Brush Tool can help patch the wrinkles in the model's pant leg. The whole process took just a few minutes.

Method 3: Frequency Separation

The Frequency Separation method requires more setup than the other two wrinkle smoothing methods described in this tutorial. But once you set up your document for frequency separation, you'll find this is a very quick and easy process.

The Frequency Separation method is good to use when you need to smooth wrinkles throughout the entire garment. With this method, you separate the color from the texture of the clothing, allowing you to smooth wrinkles quickly without losing the fabric's texture and shading.

Step 1: Set up Layers

To begin, duplicate your Background layer three times. You duplicate a layer by choosing Duplicate Layer from the Layer panel's dropdown menu-this looks like four tiny horizontal lines-in the upper right corner of the panel.

If you like using Photoshop shortcuts on your keyboard, you can type CTRL + J ( COMMAND + J on a Mac) to duplicate a layer.

Name your new layers Color and Edges, respectively.

Step 2: Blur color Layer

Make the Edges layer invisible by clicking the eye icon next to the layer.

With the Color layer selected, choose Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur from the dropdown menu at the top of the application window.

In the dialog box that appears, move the slider to the right until most of the wrinkles in your image are blurred out.

Click OK.

Step 3: Prepare Edges Layer

Next, choose your Edges layer and toggle on the eye icon to make that layer visible again.

Go to Image > Apply Image from the dropdown menu at the top of the application window.

In the dialog box that appears, choose your Color layer from the Layer: dropdown menu. Set your Blending Mode to Subtract, set Scale to 2, and Offset to 128. Click OK.

Now, back in your Layers panel, set your Blending Mode for your Edges layer to Linear Light.

If you're not sure how to change your Layer blending mode, it's the dropdown menu just to the left of your Opacity setting at the top of your Layers panel.

Once these layers are set up correctly, you're ready to begin actually smoothing the wrinkles in your image's clothing or fabric.

Step 4: Smooth wrinkles

To begin smoothing, make sure you're in your Edges layer. Choose the Lasso Tool from the Toolbar. If you don't see the Lasso Tool, it might be hiding behind the Polygonal Lasso Tool or the Magnetic Lasso Tool.

In the Options bar at the top of the screen, adjust the selection Feather to a number between 20 and 40-you can play with this number to see what works best for you depending on the image you're working with. Select a wrinkle or an area of wrinkles you want to smooth out using the Lasso Tool.

Next, choose Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur from the dropdown menu at the top of the application window.

Note: You may see " Gaussian Blur" as the top option in the Filter dropdown menu. Do not select that, as its settings will be the same as the last time you used it. Be sure you select " Gaussian Blur..." from the Blur sub-menu.

A dialog box will appear. Move the Blur slider until the wrinkles dissipate.

Repeat the process as necessary until you've obtained the smooth, wrinkle-free look you're after.

Smooth wrinkles, smooth sales

Smoothing wrinkles in clothing or fabric is a subtle art that really must be done by hand in order to get a realistic result. Once you master the tools and techniques outlined above, you'll be able to smooth wrinkles in your product images in a matter of minutes.

Not enough time to master these techniques yourself? You don't have to. We can take care of your trickiest or simplest wrinkles, be it apparel, furniture, or any other product. No AI or shortcuts here-every edit is carefully done by hand.

With over 20 years experience as a graphic designer, Becky is passionate about helping people enhance their content by mastering image manipulation software. Becky has worked with a variety of educational publishers in the U.S. and U.K. and has taught design at six universities.

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How to Smooth Wrinkles on Clothes and Fabric in Photoshop

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Check out this step-by-step tutorial on how to remove wrinkles from clothing in Photoshop. Learn three methods: Healing Brush Tool, Patch Tool, and Frequency Separation.

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Clipping path and image masking are both useful image editing techniques to help you isolate a subject from a background. The main difference for clipping path vs. masking is how you isolate the subject.

​​Isolating a subject allows you to repurpose your product photo and use it on any other background to fit your ecommerce or marketing needs.

Clipping path and image masking are two techniques that help achieve this. But what are the differences between the two? Let's look at the breakdown for clipping path vs. masking and which tasks each photo editing technique is best suited for.

Clipping path vs. masking: what's the difference?

The main difference between clipping path and image masking is the technique you use to remove the background from an image.

More complex images require image masking. It's technically possible to remove the background from complicated images with clipping path, but the result isn't as appealing as it would've been with image masking.

As you can tell in the image above, the photo edited with clipping path looks unnatural. That's because the hard edges of a clipping path are visible. On the other hand, image masking handles hair very well for a seamless finish.

For more straightforward products, like Sana Jardin's perfume bottle below, the brand likely used a clipping path. The result of shooting this shiny product? A sleek, clean-cut perfume bottle with a reflection shadow that adds a touch of luxury.

And to get the natural-but not messy-outline, the photo editor probably used image masking to remove the background of this Crown Affair scrunchie photo. Note the use of drop shadow as well. Adding a subtle shadow to products creates a 3D look and helps them stand out, especially against a clean white background.

You can use both techniques in a single image: clipping path for straight, hard edges and masking for the softer or more complex areas. If a photo calls for both image editing techniques, your best bet is to use a clipping path first and then follow up with masking for the finer details.

For example, this play gym from Lovevery was likely edited using a clipping path and masking.

The stronger lines of the toy's frame could easily be edited with clipping paths, but masking would be more appropriate for the softer material bottom and baby's hair.

What is a clipping path?

Like image masking, clipping path is an image editing technique that allows you to remove the background from an image. You can create a clipping path using the Pen tool in Adobe Photoshop and then selecting paths that form a closed vector shape to separate a part of the image. Everything inside the path will be selected, and anything outside will be left over.

Clipping path is generally used when the subject of the image has straightforward edges-think boxes, electronics, simple accessories or garments, ornaments, etc.

Still, clipping paths require an experienced, accurate hand. A poorly drawn clipping path can result in images that don't look real or natural, and consumers easily notice even the smallest mistakes. Sloppy images don't make a great impression, and that's typically reflected in sales.

You want your product photos to stand out-in a good way-so you definitely want to consider working with a professional for these types of edits. To give you an idea of the level of detail involved, we zoom into images sometimes as much as 200% to get as close to the edge as possible.

Types of clipping paths

Clipping paths aren't too complicated, but there are a few different types of clipping paths:

Single-layer clipping path

A single-layer clipping path is a simple path created on one layer with the Pen tool in Photoshop. This is useful when you need to remove or change the background for subjects with straight, simple edges, like in the examples below.

Multilayer clipping path

Multi-layer clipping paths are created with the Pen tool in Photoshop to extract multiple parts of an image. This is an advanced type of clipping path used to separate each part of a photo and is particularly useful for retouchers, especially to color correct sections of the image.

In the example below, we created a separate clipping path for each shoe and shoelaces. This allows not only to remove the background, but also to change the color of each shoe without altering the shoelaces.

Illustrator clipping path

Photoshop isn't the only software or app you can use to create clipping masks. Adobe Illustrator also has its own path and mask tools. Referred to as Clipping Masks in Illustrator, this tool allows you to cut out portions of an image into a specific shape.

What is image masking?

Image masking is another method of image background removal. This technique involves a variety of tools in Photoshop, such as Background Eraser tool, Magic Eraser tool, and color separation technique.

Masking is a non-destructive way to adjust a part of your image while leaving the rest untouched. For photo editors, that means more control over where and how the image adjustments take place because masks are applied on layers. Masking is typically used for images that contain more complex lines, like hair, fur, etc.

Using AI to remove background and complete clipping paths and image masking

What if you're in a hurry or don't have access to a professional retoucher? Artificial intelligence (AI) photo editors and AI masking features in Photoshop can help you quickly remove the background without any editing experience.

The downside is the result won't be as high-quality as hand-edited background removal using clipping paths or masks, especially for complex subjects. But for some marketing visuals, you might find it's just enough. If you're curious about the differences between AI and professional retoucher edits, take a look at this AI background removal comparison.

Why should you remove the background from product photos?

Perhaps you wonder why it may be necessary to remove the background. After all, can't the photographer simply shoot a great product photo that's publish-ready? There are a few reasons why you may want to consider isolating a subject in a photo:

Allows you to reuse visual assets: Once you've removed the background, you can repurpose your photo to fit Amazon and other marketplaces, create ghost mannequins for apparel, design creative marketing visuals, and more.

Cost-effective: Whether you isolate the subject yourself or outsource it to professional photo editors like Path, it'll cost significantly less than photographing the same subject again. Ordering photo edits in bulk will cost even less.

Saves time: Instead of organizing a new photoshoot, you can use already photographed subjects and create new visuals in just a few hours, perfect for last-minute campaigns or store listings.

Elevates DIY photos: Not every photoshoot will have a spacious or perfectly-lit studio space. Knowing you'll remove the background makes DIY product photography more accessible for smaller budgets.

Removes distractions: If you aren't able to shoot on a clean white background and avoid unwanted objects in your shots, background removal erases all of that.

Makes pixel-perfect images possible: If you're creating product groups, it's easier to mix and match products with removed backgrounds for sharp, well-lit results, like the example below by vegan skincare and fragrance brand Fais. It features several products that all have backgrounds removed before placing them in a group to create a gift set.

The bottom line on clipping path vs. masking

When it comes to background removal, neither method is superior in a clipping path vs. masking comparison. Both clipping path and masking edits have their place in photo retouching, especially for the wide variety of images needed for ecommerce photos. And both require a practiced hand to execute well.

Interested in professional, affordable photo edits? The Path team does all edits by hand and offers 24/7 support.

Anete is a freelance B2B content writer with journalism experience and a passionate photographer. Merging her experience in tech and creative industries, she helps software brands increase their user base with engaging content. In her spare time, Anete works on personal projects and learns about coding basics.

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Clipping Path vs. Masking: What's the Difference?

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Learn the difference between clipping path and image masking techniques from Path. Professional image editing services for ecommerce product photography.

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It also acknowledges that human photo editors are still needed for certain tasks, such as removing backgrounds from images with hair or fur.

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Every business uses some form of technology. And, believe it or not, more businesses use artificial intelligence (AI) than you probably realize. Many even use it in their photo editing processes, especially when it comes to tedious tasks like background removal. However, some things are best left to humans.

So, we were curious, are AI background removal tools all they're cracked up to be? Or do we still need human finesse and creativity in this part of the photo editing process? Let's see how background removal by hand vs. AI background removal compare.

Background removal by hand vs. AI background removal

Background removal by hand involves photo editing software, with Adobe Photoshop being the go-to choice for many. When removing backgrounds in Photoshop by hand, you'll typically use a combination of tools and techniques, including clipping paths, image masking, the Brush tool, Magic Eraser, and more.

AI background removal, on the other hand, involves technology outside of Photoshop. The technology automatically detects the background and the foreground and then isolates each from one another, creating a cropped out image on a transparent or white background. It relies on machine learning to accomplish this process.

Note: Our virtual photo editing team at Path edits every photo by hand-no AI or automations here. We carefully zoom in up to 500x to make sure every last detail is captured. You need those details to convert customers! Especially when they zoom in on your product photos.

Here is an example of an image we removed the background from. You can see the original, some versions edited with AI, and then the image the Path team edited by hand.

Notice how the AI-edited images differ here-they both cut out the dog's tail and one of them actually cut out a portion of the dog's leg! As you can see, if you sell pet products or feature animals in your photos, you might want to pay extra attention to how AI background removal tools treat edges with hair.

Even humans and clothing can pose challenges for AI background removers, as illustrated in these product photos. Be extra careful if you have models with curly hair or products with fuzzy edges like sweaters.

AI background removal

We can't say AI-edited images are a total flop. AI background removal does have its advantages, though it's tough to say whether they outweigh the drawbacks. Let's take a look:

Advantages of AI background removal

Faster and more efficient. Compared to removing the background by hand in Photoshop, AI can handle the job a lot more quickly.

Requires zero photo editing skill. You don't need any photo editing skills to be able to use AI photo editing. All you have to do is upload the photo and the technology will take care of the rest.

Many free tools available. While programs like Photoshop require a fee, many AI background removers are available free of charge.

No photo editing software required. If all you need to do is remove the background, you don't need any dedicated photo editing software to take care of additional types of edits.

Disadvantages of AI background removal

Requires manual quality check. AI background removal isn't as simple as uploading and downloading. You still need to check the quality of the image, since there's no one doing that for you.

Frequently delivers imperfections. AI technology, while amazing, isn't quite perfect. Many AI background removals come back with serious imperfections. Fixing those errors can often take more time than if you were to edit by hand from the get-go.

Can't combine with other edits. Background removal is just one step to your product photo editing process. If you remove the background yourself or outsource your edits, you can also accomplish other required manipulations like drop shadow or retouching.

Hidden costs. Many AI background removal tools advertise themselves as free, but this is often for its lowest level of quality or with a quantity limit. You might have to pay for more images or better quality.

No one to give feedback to in order to fix issues. More technology means fewer humans, and that leaves you to handle issues on your own without the help of an empathetic person.

Degrades image quality. The output of AI background removals often includes image compression or other processes that degrade the quality of your beautiful product photos.

Unclear image usage rights. Before using an AI tool, make sure you read the fine print. Uploading your images might grant the program usage rights.

Background removal by hand

Sure, we're biased. But for good reason. Removing backgrounds by hand helps you get every pixel perfectly edited.

Advantages of background removal by hand

Closer attention to detail. If you're editing by hand, you can zoom in as much as you like to get super accurate and capture every tiny detail.

Ability to make other edits at the same time. Most product photos need more than just background removal. You'll likely add shadows, retouch imperfections, and make other fixes while removing the background.

Collaborate with a human to figure out the best way to edit your photo. Not sure how to best achieve the results you're after? Working with a professional editor means you can collaborate with them.

No limitations in terms of image or edit complexity. There are no limits when it comes to hand-done edits! You can receive original source files and all layers so you can revert edits as well.

Disadvantages of background removal by hand

Takes more time. If you're doing every background removal by hand, you'll find yourself spending lots of time making edits-probably more than you want to. Of course, this doesn't apply if you outsource to a studio that does the edits by hand for you.

Requires skill. Not everyone is a Photoshop pro. Background removal requires specific skills, and it takes time to acquire those skills.

Must use photo editing software. Photoshop is pricy, and bootstrapped entrepreneurs might not have the budget to pay for quality photo editing software.

Costs more than an AI tool. On that note, many AI tools are free or lower cost than programs like Photoshop.

Get your photos edited by professionals-not with glitchy AI

From a simple white background to the most complex clipping paths, it's important your product photos are perfect down to the last pixel. But with photo editing, a quick product shoot can easily turn into a week or more of retouching and formatting your images. Let us look after the edits, so you can get back to the work that needs you.

AI background removal vs. background removal by hand FAQ

What is the best way to remove the background of a photo?

The best way to remove the background of a photo is to do it in Photoshop or outsource the job to a photo editing studio.

What is the difference between remove BG and removal AI?

Remove BG has a maximum image file size of 12 MB, while removal AI allows images of any file size.

What is the best AI to remove background from a photo?

The best AI to remove background from a photo is none at all-it's best to do it by hand or outsource to a photo editing studio that does edits by hand.

What is the best way to remove background on iPhone?

Go to PathEdits.com and order background removal for the photos you need edited. You can visit the site on your iPhone or computer.

In her past agency life, Alex has led digital marketing initiatives for Fortune 500 companies. Now, she's passionate about helping retailers and retail industry leaders harness the power of the written word and fuse it with strategic content, email and social media marketing campaigns.

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Is It Better to Remove Background by Hand or With AI?

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Every business uses some form of technology. And, believe it or not, more businesses use artificial intelligence (AI) than you probably realize. Many even use it in their photo editing processes, especially when it comes to tedious tasks like background removal. However, some things are best left to humans.

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A beautiful shot of a vibrant lipstick swatch or a close-up of an eyeshadow palette can entice shoppers to buy. But photographing makeup products comes with unique challenges.

Unlike apparel, the products are small. Their shine, shimmer, and color saturation might translate poorly from in-person to on-screen. That's where photo editing comes in.

With some simple tweaks, you can enhance makeup product photos to showcase each item at its digital best. Whether you're shooting products yourself or working with a photographer, we'll walk through some editing techniques to make colors pop, fix reflections, and retouch surfaces for a spotless and ecommerce-ready look that converts.

How to shoot makeup products

Like other commercial photography, mastering makeup product photography can take years. But that's not to say you can't create product images that make your products stand out and drive sales. Putting a few shooting and editing tips into practice can make a big difference, even on a small budget or with a DIY approach.

And while photo editing certainly can do some magic, you'll almost always get the best results if you have a decent original shot to work with. Considering that, you'll want to keep some shooting tips in mind to make sure your edits go smoothly.

Clean the product and background

It's always important to work with clean products, and makeup in particular. This includes the exterior and the actual makeup product itself.

You can expect sticky, shiny, and liquid products to attract dust, hair, and dirt, so make sure your shooting space is as clean as possible too. Use cotton gloves to avoid leaving marks or sweat on products when you style your shots.

Reduce distracting reflections and glares in the studio

Shooting items with matte surfaces will be easier because they reflect less light. However, many makeup products come packaged in reflective materials like plastic, metal, and glass.

To reduce unwanted reflections and camera glare when photographing these products, try these tips:

Clear the studio: Remove any other shiny or reflective surfaces and turn off any lights you don't need for the shoot.

Remove unnecessary packaging: Unwrap solid products packaged in transparent plastic, such as beauty blenders, for a sharper, clearer photo with no reflections.

Use light diffusers: Softboxes or white screens in front of a window produce softer light and help eliminate hotspots and light reflections.

A great example of capturing challenging products in a pleasing way is beauty brand Minori. Its product bundle includes both matte and reflective packaging, but none of the surfaces have distracting reflections in the photo.

Include product swatches

Product swatches are small amounts of a makeup product like lipstick or eyeshadow. They're common in makeup product photography because they show the true color, texture, and pigmentation of the product. Swatches make it easier for shoppers to compare different products or shades of the same product.

You can photograph swatches on a plain background, such as paper or cardboard. Your background doesn't necessarily need to be white. For example, Annabelle Minerals uses a heavily layered swatch for its blush on a light peach background.

Showing swatches on the model's skin, such as on the inner forearm, displays how the product looks on different skin tones, like on the lip and cheek rouge listing from Pure Anada.

For solid products, like pencils, crayons, and eyeliners, you can get creative by drawing lines in varying intensities on a plain background, like The Detox Market which showcases Ere Perez's lip crayon swatches.

Don't forget to shoot close-ups

Adding to the variety of your product shots are close-ups. Shooting a product in its full size and cropping it later won't result in the same look and image quality as shooting it up close. Reason being that an intentional close-up will ensure the product is perfectly in focus, producing sharp details.

That's not to say you need to use a close-up image straight from the camera. You'll likely consider cropping the photo to emphasize the product and remove any distractions, like in Elate Beauty 's brow and liner brush product listing below.

Style shots with props

Including your brand's props and product styling during the shoot will help you avoid complex editing later on. For example, Pure Anada uses foliage elements in every eye shadow listing.

To recreate this in post-processing would require advanced skill, especially to make your props look realistic. So, if you already know props are a must-have for your shots, use them during the shoot if possible.

How to edit makeup products for a professional result

While there are some things you can do during the shoot to help you create a beautiful product photo, images straight from the camera are rarely publish-ready. This means editing is a necessary part of preparing your photos for use in ecommerce, on social media, and elsewhere online.

The purpose of editing for ecommerce and marketing is to enhance your products while keeping their true appearance intact for buyers. Read on for some of our tips for taking your product shots from "blah" to "wow."

Remove background

Background removal eliminates any distractions around the product-regardless of where you shot it-turning the cut out product into a flexible asset you can repurpose.

A popular method for product shots is adding a white background. Marketplaces like Amazon require sellers to use it for all products, but doing so brings visual consistency to any online store. You can also use the product with other backgrounds, including transparent, combine several products to create item groups, and much more.

Color correct for accuracy

Accurately describing your products is just one part of giving customers all the information before a purchase. Photos also need to match what they'll receive in their order. With over 64% of product returns happening because the item didn't match what's on the listing, it's a simple fix that will save you from unhappy customers and money spent on refunds.

How do you put this into practice? Focus on minimal edits. Matching makeup products to the skin is already difficult, but accurate colors in photographs make it easier for online shoppers. Also, ensure image white balance is neutral-you can read more about it in this product editing guide.

Remove any blemishes or imperfections

You may notice some smudges, spots, or marks on your photos that you missed during the shoot. They may be on your products, in the background, or on the model's skin or clothing, as in the example below.

But all it takes is a spot removal using Photoshop:

Spot Healing Brush: use it to brush over any imperfections, which the software will replace with pixels sampled around the area.

Clone Stamp: you can copy an existing part of your photo and "paint" it over the blemish.

If your shots need more advanced editing or you're tasked with a large volume of images to fix, you can outsource it to a team of experienced editors.

Create a lifestyle composite

We mentioned removing the background for your products, but did you know you can create completely new images using lifestyle composites? The method involves taking a cut-out product and placing it on a contextual stock photo, like a makeup kit added to an image of a bathroom cabinet.

Lifestyle composites can save you time and money otherwise spent on organizing a new photoshoot. However, for the composite to look natural, you have to pay particular attention to:

Shadows: For a product to fit in a new scene, add shadows that match where the light source may be in the stock photo.

Colors: You may have shot your product in neutral light, but the stock photo may have a warmer or cooler look. This means you have to correct color for both separately.

Perspective: If you photographed a product head-on, look for stock photos that match the angle of your product shot. For some images, you'll be able to skew the product perspective using Photoshop.

Size: A product that looks too large for the background will stick out like a sore thumb. Consider other elements in the image to help you correctly size the product to match its real-life dimensions.

Lifestyle composites can be complex to create. However, you can outsource to photography studios that specialize in them.

Design a collage for an advertisement

Like lifestyle composites, background-free product shots are perfect for creative marketing assets like collages. The difference is, collages don't require advanced photo editing skills. You can easily create them in apps like Canva.

Using your brand's colors and typography, you can design a simple collage like on Elate Beauty's Instagram page. You can reuse your background-free product shots in so many different ways without ever having to repeat a design.

Create product infographics

Product infographics combine photography and graphic design elements to offer a playful and informative way to present product information. If you want a creative way to share your product benefits or ingredients without using walls of text, that's where infographics come in. All you need is to pick a background, add a product with a transparent background, and include text.

Graphics like these are also popular in marketplaces like Amazon. Vegan beauty brand Ecco Bella uses an infographic in its own online store. In just a few seconds, infographics give buyers a convenient way to learn about products before reading descriptions.

Remove labels or logos

Some marketing visuals may call for logo-free product shots. You can remove the product label or logo using Spot Healing Brush or Clone Stamp in Photoshop-the same Photoshop tools used for removing blemishes.

Add brand labels or logo

On the flip side, if your logo has changed since the photoshoot or if the product sample used in the shoot didn't have the logo-facing side towards the camera, you may want to add it.

Similar to creating a lifestyle composite, you'll have to ensure the logo or label matches the surface you place it on. For example, if you're adding it to a glass jar, you'll have to bend or skew the logo for it to align with the shape and look natural. You can follow this video tutorial to learn how to create this effect.

Add shadows for a subtle 3D look

White background ecommerce shots may be fit for online stores and marketplaces, but they can also look flat if that's all you use. To fix that, adding a shadow, like a subtle drop shadow, will help your products stand out from the background and look more realistic.

Create color variants

If your products come in different colors, you can create color variants of the same product. The result will be a uniform look in your store, apart from the color changes in each photo. You'll also save time setting up a shoot whenever new color variants come in stock.

One method to do this in Photoshop involves adjusting the hue of a particular color in your product photo:

1. Open your product image in Photoshop.

2. In the top menu, click on Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation.

3. Select the color you want to change by using the pointer icon and clicking on the color in your photo or choose one from the dropdown menu, like Reds.

4. Move the Hue slider to select your new color. Use the Saturation slider to fine-tune its vibrancy.

5. To remove this effect on other parts of your photo, click on the layer's mask and select the Brush tool. Make sure its opacity is at 100%, and paint over sections that don't need the color change.

For more complex color changes, you can repeat the steps above several times-targeting a different part of the image each time-or outsource to professional photo editors.

Crop to fill the frame

As we mentioned earlier, close-up shots often still need manual cropping in Photoshop or any other photo editing app-this helps eliminate unnecessary details in the shot and takes focus straight to the product. Square crop is particularly effective for centering your product and filling the frame to grab attention, like in the example below by beauty and skincare brand Tower 28.

Photoshop's Crop tool has built-in ratio templates and a grid to create pixel-perfect crops every time. First, select the Crop tool in your sidebar. Then, click the dropdown in the top menu and select 1:1 (Square).

You'll see a crop grid overlaying your image. You can adjust it by moving the image or cropping it further to fit your photo. The middle square helps you find the center of each photo if you want your product to be in the middle.

Align products for a uniform look

Cropping and centering each product creates alignment in your online store, particularly when viewing all product ranges together. It helps guide the shopper to compare products rather than get distracted by odd, uneven framing.

Clean beauty brand Tower 28 has different types of products in its store, but all listings look central. How do you achieve this?

If you know the image dimensions used for displaying products in your online store, you can use those same dimensions to create visual consistency-centering each product in the frame evenly, even if the actual products are different sizes in real life.

You can also find the image size your store is using by right-clicking on any existing product image and choosing Save image as... to download it. Open the downloaded file and look at the image properties for the pixel dimensions. Make a note of this size.

For example, we'll use 600 pixels as width and 700 pixels as height.

1. Open your product photo in Photoshop.

2. Click on the Crop tool in the sidebar.

3. In the crop dropdown menu, select W x H x Resolution.

4. Add the correct pixels in the two boxes to the right of the dropdown, starting with width.

5. In the same dropdown menu, click on New Crop Preset and give it a name.

Now every time you crop photos for your store, you can use the same crop template. Use the crop grid to help you center your products. This way, regardless of product size, you'll be able to center them each time and create an appealing, uniform look for your store.

Improve your makeup product shots for growing sales

The beauty ecommerce market continues to thrive, with order volume up 10% in 2022 alone. To stand out from the competition, you need product shots that look professional and give shoppers what they want before clicking "buy."

With some simple editing techniques, you can elevate your product photography even on a DIY budget. But if you need something more advanced or want to save time and effort, our team of professional editors is ready to help refine your shots and let your products shine.

Anete is a freelance B2B content writer with journalism experience and a passionate photographer. Merging her experience in tech and creative industries, she helps software brands increase their user base with engaging content. In her spare time, Anete works on personal projects and learns about coding basics.

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Capturing Beauty: How to Shoot and Edit Makeup Products for Ecommerce

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Find out how to shoot and edit makeup and cosmetic product photos to drive the most sales online.

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How to Create a Transparent Background in Photoshop – Path (pathedits.com)" is well-written and instructive. It clearly explains how to make a translucent Photoshop background for logos and commercial photographs. Screenshots and graphics make the content easier to follow.

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Creating a transparent background for your product image in Photoshop opens up a wide range of eye-catching display options for your featured products. For example, a transparent background gives you the ability to place your product against a background that dynamically changes colors. On responsively designed sites, a featured product with a transparent background can interact differently with its background depending on the user's screen size.

Your website's logo files should also be created with transparent backgrounds so that you can place the logo anywhere on your site, regardless of the page's background color.

Using Photoshop to create a transparent background, and then saving the file in the appropriate web-ready format, is remarkably easy once you know what you're doing. We'll walk you through this simple process in the tutorial below.

How to create a transparent background for a product image in Photoshop

1. Make your image into a layered file

2. Create your selection

3. Delete the background

4. Save your image in the proper web-ready format

5. Save your file

Step 1: Make your image into a layered file

Open your product image in Photoshop. Most likely, it'll be in a JPG format. For this example, we'll use an image of a wristwatch taken against a white background.
Source: devnenski / Adobe Stock
Open your Layers panel. By default, this panel rests to the right of your image window, but if you don't see it you can access it by clicking on Window > Layers from the dropdown menu at the top of the application window.

In the Layers panel, double-click on the Background layer. A New Layer dialog box asking you to rename the layer will appear. You can leave this as the default Layer 0, and click OK.

You've now unlocked your background layer, and anything you delete from it will be transparent.

Step 2: Create your selection

Select the Magic Wand tool from the Toolbar on the left-hand side of the application window. Then, click on Select Subject from the Options bar at the top of the screen. Photoshop will attempt to select the object from your photograph, regardless of the background. You will see the selection as "marching ants" surrounding the selection.

If the selection isn't perfect, you can use the Magic Wand tool to remove more of the background from the selection, or add more of the product to the selection, depending on how the selection.

In this example, Photoshop didn't completely remove the watch's shadow from the selection, so we'll choose the Subtract from selection icon in the Options bar, and then click on portions of the shadow with the Magic Wand tool until the selection only contains the watch.

When you create your selection, make sure you also select any areas where there are "holes" in your product image, as in the area where the watch face meets the wristband in the example image.

Step 3: Delete the background

Once you have just your product selected, select the inverse by typing SHIFT+CTRL+I (SHIFT+COMMAND+I on a Mac), or by choosing Select > Inverse from the dropdown menu at the top of the application window.

With your inverse (background) selected, type BACKSPACE (DELETE on a Mac). Your background will now be transparent. In Photoshop, a transparent background is represented with a gray and white checkerboard pattern.

Type CTRL+D (COMMAND+D on a Mac) to deselect your selection.

Step 4: Save your image in the proper web-ready format

Creating a transparent background in Photoshop is just the first step; you need to make sure you save your product image in the correct format in order for it to display with a transparent background on your ecommerce website.

The best format to save your image in is as a PNG-24. This format allows for multiple layers of transparency, meaning your image will never have a pixelated "halo" when placed on a different color background. Older transparent file formats such as PNG-8 and GIF can create this undesirable halo effect, so whenever possible, use a PNG-24.

To save your file as a PNG-24 in Photoshop CC, type SHIFT+ALT+CTRL+W (SHIFT+OPTION+COMMAND+W on a Mac) or choose File > Export > Export As... from the dropdown menu at the top of the application window.
Note: If you're using an older version of Photoshop, and you don't see the Export As... option, you can choose Save for Web and select PNG-24 from the Preset dropdown menu on the right-hand side of the dialog box.
In the dialog box that appears, under File Settings on the right-hand side of the box, set the Format to PNG, and make sure the Transparency box is checked. Do check Smaller File (8-bit) - this converts the file to a PNG-8

On the left-hand side of the image you'll see the file size predicted for your PNG file. This is important to keep an eye on because larger file sizes will make your web page load more slowly. My personal preference is to keep web images at around 200 KB or smaller.

On the right-hand side of your dialog box, under Image Size, you have the option to adjust the dimensions of your image. Smaller dimensions mean a smaller file size. However, you don't want to make your image's dimensions smaller than you want them to appear on your website; doing so will create blurry or pixelated images.

Also, with many of your customers viewing your product on a retina display, it's good practice to save your product image at a size 50%-100% larger than the size you expect it to display. This will help it look crisp on all devices. In other words, if you know your product will show at 400px wide at its maximum, you'll want to make it at least 600px wide here.

So, yes, there is a little bit of balance you'll need to work with to maximize your image size while minimizing your file size. To minimize load time, you can choose only to have your featured product images saved larger for retina displays, and allow the bulk of your product images to be saved at actual size.

Step 5: Save your file

Once you've set your Image Size to proper dimensions, click Export All.

In the Save dialog box, choose the folder where you keep your web-ready product images. It's a good idea to keep your optimized image files separate from your original image files to avoid confusion when loading your images onto your site. Name the image file and make sure its extension is set to .png.

Click Save.

You can now place your transparent product image against different backgrounds on your site and have it display perfectly.

How to create a transparent background for a logo in Photoshop

The logo that you use on your website should always have a transparent background. That way, you have the flexibility to display it anywhere on your site, no matter what color the background of the page is.

However, if your logo is saved as a JPG, you'll need to remove the background in Photoshop and resave your file as a PNG-24, just like we did for the product image in the example above. If you're lucky enough to have a logo as a vector file (with extensions .AI, .EPS, or .PDF), you'll still need to open the file in Photoshop and convert it to a PNG-24 so it will be in a web-ready format.

1. Open your logo file in Photoshop

2. Make your background transparent

3. Save your image as a PNG file

Step 1: Open your logo file in Photoshop

In Photoshop, go to File > Open and navigate until you see your logo file. Click Open.

If you're opening a .JPG (or other raster format) file, the file will simply open in Photoshop.

If you're opening a vector format file, however, you'll need to make sure your settings are correct in the dialog box that appears:

Crop To: is set to Bounding Box

Constrain Proportions is checked

Mode: is set to RGB Color

Click OK.

Step 2: Make your background transparent

If you're working with a vector file, you can skip this step. If you're working with a JPG, however, you will need to select and delete the background from the image.

Like we did in Step 1 when we made a product image background transparent above, you'll need to double-click the Background layer in the Layers panel and click OK to convert the Background to Layer 0.

Selecting the background of a logo file is slightly different from selecting the background of a product image since the background of your logo is most likely all white. Choose the Magic Wand tool from the Toolbar and click on the white background of your logo file. If you need to select multiple areas, hold down the SHIFT key and click with the Magic Wand tool to add to the selection.

Once you've selected the entire background, type BACKSPACE (DELETE on a Mac). You'll now have a transparent background, represented by a gray and white checkerboard pattern.

Step 3: Save your image as a PNG file in Photoshop

Follow Steps 4 & 5 from where we made a product image transparent above to export your file as a PNG-24. These steps are the same no matter what file format you started with, whether your original file was a JPG, AI, PDF, or other file format.

When you export your image, you'll notice that your file size is significantly lower than that of your transparent background product image. This is because logos tend to have only one or two colors, unlike the thousands of colors that exist in a product image. So you don't need to reduce your image proportions when you save your logo file. Keep your dimensions at the same size as the original file you have been working with, and click Save.

You now have the knowledge to create web-ready images with transparent backgrounds that will display beautifully without slowing down your site.

With over 20 years experience as a graphic designer, Becky is passionate about helping people enhance their content by mastering image manipulation software. Becky has worked with a variety of educational publishers in the U.S. and U.K. and has taught design at six universities.

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How to Create a Transparent Background in Photoshop

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Creating a transparent background for your product image and logo in Photoshop lets you use your image dynamically across the web - learn how.

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Get Inspired: 50 Ecommerce Sites With Beautiful Product Photography

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Seeking some inspiration to get your creative juices flowing for your product photos? These 50 ecommerce sites are a good start.

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Put your best foot forward with clothing photos that pop—and drive engagement and sales.

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You've invested in product photos for your clothing line, so how do you edit them to make sure they drive sales? You don't want what would be simple fixes to hurt your bottom line. Maybe it's dull garment colors on the screen, even though the clothing looked great during the shoot. Or perhaps you've noticed a bunch of fabric wrinkles you didn't see before.

With the right approach to photo editing, you can enhance your apparel shots to look their best. Whether you edit the images yourself or outsource them to professional editors, we'll show you what to look for so your clothing shots are ecommerce-ready.

Why is editing important for clothing photography?

Post-processing is essential even with perfectly styled garments and the right lighting. Photos fresh from the camera rarely do the products justice.

Small editing tweaks can make a big difference for online shoppers. Seeing a realistic depiction of the clothing they're buying means they can find items that look great and fit well.

Some common edits brands need to make to apparel photos include:

Color correction so the red dress or blue shirt you're selling shows the same tone in the image as it does in real life

Making sure the photo is clear and bright enough so both desktop and mobile shoppers can see the product and zoom in to inspect the garment and its details

Getting rid of distracting wrinkles you couldn't get rid of on-set because of the model's movement

Removing a stain that happened on shoot day

It all comes down to making your clothing products appealing and professional with crisp, clean photos that fit your brand.

1. Cut out the background

For ecommerce sellers, pure white backdrops are a must-have, with top ecommerce sites like Amazon and eBay requiring white backgrounds for product photos. But even beyond seller requirements, a clean white backdrop helps garments pop like in the example below, whether you've shot a model photo or the garment alone.

Removing the background also opens up creative options, allowing you to repurpose product images in different ways. For example, you can add a transparent, colorful, branded, or lifestyle background.

Once you've cut out the background, you can leave it on a white background or create another copy with a transparent background. Clothing with transparent backgrounds will work on websites with a custom color scheme, so your product shots can match it.

Alternatively, you can choose a slightly darker shade of white, like the sustainable fashion brand People Tree. By doing this, individual listings stand out against the background of a white online store.

2. Add shadows for depth

Do your cut-out clothing photos look a little lifeless on a plain white background? Adding a subtle shadow can create a more appealing and natural look that's still fit for ecommerce marketplace requirements, like the example below.

Adding a shadow in post-production lets you control its direction, regardless of the lighting conditions during the shoot. That way, you can fully focus on ensuring the garment is composed and lit correctly during the shoot and add a shadow later during post-production.

3. Smooth wrinkles

If there's one thing that makes a clothing photo look unprofessional, it's wrinkled garments. No matter how much steaming or ironing you've done, there's almost always an inevitable wrinkle or crease. Make sure your photos are wrinkle-free before uploading them to your online store.

You can fix fabric wrinkles during post-processing in Photoshop using a couple simple methods:

Zoom in closer to the wrinkles and select Spot Healing Brush. Using the tool, paint over wrinkles so that the software can replace them with pixels from nearby areas, removing wrinkles.

Use the Clone Stamp tool to cover wrinkles. First, select a wrinkle-free area of the garment that matches the color and lighting of the wrinkled spot. Hold down the ALT key (OPTION on Mac) to copy it and "paint" it directly over the wrinkles.

4. Remove stains and other imperfections

Stains, dust, hair, and other imperfections on clothing aren't always avoidable. For example, sweat and liquid drops may add realism to some photos, but the result may not be appealing for customers.

Below, the unedited photo on the left shows stains in authentic context. To enhance the t-shirt's look for ecommerce, we edited the version on the right, removing damp marks while maintaining the outdoorsy feel.

Fixes like these are straightforward in most cases. As mentioned above, you can use Spot Healing Brush or Clone Stamp, depending on the size and type of imperfection you need to remove.

You can also try the Patch Tool, like in this YouTube tutorial. Using this method works well for fixing larger imperfections and for more control over the resulting texture or pattern of your garment.

5. Color correct

Natural light can make your studio setup and clothing appear different in the images than when you shot them. The camera picks up colors you might not even notice with your naked eye. As an example, the photo might end up with a light cast from other sources around your studio, a more blue hue if you shot during daylight, or a warm yellow hue if you shot at golden hour.

All of these factors will contribute to showing an inaccurate garment color.

To fix it, head into Adobe Lightroom. First, make sure your photo is bright enough using the Exposure slider to select a suitable brightness. Then, adjust the color temperature and tint to a neutral result. You can do it using the following methods:

Pre-built White Balance presets: Select one of the White Balance profiles based on your shooting conditions. For example, if you shot using natural light, select Daylight, Cloudy, or Shade. Lightroom will automatically adjust temperature and tint.

White Balance Selector: Select the pipette icon, then click on a neutral-color area of your image (white, gray, or black). It will adjust the temperature and tint based on your selection to make it as natural as possible. Try it again if the software didn't get it right the first time.

Temperature and tint sliders: Manually move both sliders to match the clothing's true colors.

6. Create a lifestyle composite

Adding some lifestyle context to your product images can spice them up. You can hire models and locations for a photoshoot, but this can be expensive if you only want a few lifestyle shots. The answer? Lifestyle composites.

Lifestyle composites involve photographing a product or a subject-or using a product shot you already have-and removing the background. Then, you can either pick a stock photo as the new background or shoot one yourself. The goal is to create a faster, more affordable lifestyle photo using post-processing instead of organizing and budgeting for a photoshoot.

Editing these photos typically requires more advanced skills, but you can outsource it. To get started, prepare a simple product photo, for example, a model wearing one of the garments. In the next step, you or the editor will remove the background-if it hasn't been done already-and add a stock photo of a suitable location as the new backdrop.

Many product photography studios, like POW Product Photography, offer this advanced service.

When you blend the images together, ensure the product has natural shadows, is cut out and sized correctly to fit your background image, and seamlessly blends in.

For a natural result, you may need to adjust colors on either image so they fit together because lighting setup will be different for both. Doing so will help avoid your composite looking like an artificial cut-out.

The best part about composites is you can repurpose the same product shot with different backgrounds as many times as you need.

7. Add or remove brand tags

Clothing labels and tags that stick out can be distracting. Alternatively, you may want to add or alter the existing brand tag on a clothing item you have already photographed.

Remove a tag

An image like the one on the left might work well on social media when you share it to increase brand awareness. However, if you wish to use the photo as an online store listing, you might want to remove the background and the brand tag. As a result, customers can pay attention to the color and texture of the garment's fabric rather than be distracted by the brand's label.

You can remove the tag using a mixture of the methods we mentioned for removing wrinkles and spots. The goal is to replace the label area with a realistic-looking part of the garment.

Add or replace a tag or label

To add a label, photograph it first. Then you can cut it out, copy it onto the product photo, and resize and transform its perspective to match the garment in the photo. If you're adding your brand logo directly to the garment, follow this blend effect tutorial for a natural result.

If you've already shot a garment with a tag, you can just add the brand logo to it. In this example, we used a t-shirt with a plain label tag and added our logo. Don't forget to match the perspective by skewing the logo if the tag isn't facing the camera head-on.

8. Remove hangers

Don't worry if you don't have the right setup to hang your clothing items during the shoot. You can photograph the pieces while holding them, and remove any hangers and arms afterwards, like in the example below. It works similarly to removing imperfections.

In this case, work with larger parts of the image first to remove the hanger and any hands. To remove any remaining hanger parts around the garment, such as around the neckline of a jacket, you'll need to zoom in for precision and use the same tools for removing blemishes and wrinkles.

9. Create a ghost mannequin shot

You might want to consider creating a ghost mannequin shot if simply removing the hanger isn't enough and makes garments look too flat. With this technique, the clothing appears to float on an invisible model or mannequin while maintaining its shape.

As the clothes appear worn by someone, it looks more realistic and appealing than a photo of clothing on a hanger. You'll need to re-shoot your garments for this, but you only need a few photos, and anyone who fits your garments can model them.

Generally speaking, though, invisible mannequin shots are planned, as they require shots both with a mannequin or person and without. Keep this in mind as you're shooting your apparel photos.

Follow this ghost mannequin photo guide to find out how to use ghost mannequin images for your brand. You can also outsource your ghost mannequin edits to our professional editors and get your images back in as little as six hours. We also offer perks for bulk orders.

10. Change clothing color variants

You may worry about reshooting your collection from scratch when you have a new color piece in stock. But, if you've photographed the garment, you can change the color in post-production to match what's in stock. This will save you time organizing your shoot and give you the flexibility to adjust shop listings whenever a new color becomes available.

11. Align images for an appealing online store

It's difficult to get every model photo to look exactly the same, especially if you shoot with diverse talent. But a simple way to create an attractive ecommerce store with a coherent look is aligning or cropping all of your main listing photos. This way, when customers visit your shop, they'll see items of similar type presented the same way.

One outdoor gear brand dedicated to sustainability, Cotopaxi, puts this idea into practice with its online storefront. All models are central in the main product listing photo, leaving similar spacing between the top of the photo and the model's head.

This approach allows for flexibility in model posing while still keeping overall uniformity across the photos. Not every model will have the same body type or proportions, so making sure there's even spacing at the top of the image and the model is central still creates a unified look.

Similarly, Cotopaxi applies this method to displaying bottoms. Rather than including a full body shot, every listing leaves a similar distance between the model's feet and the bottom of the picture, allowing just enough to see a small part of the model's top.

12. Crop shots to fill the frame

In addition to your main listing photos, customers may want to see your garments up close. When you're shooting, plan to take full-body and close-up shots so you have a variety of images to choose from. For maximum impact, you'll likely still crop the close-ups during post-production.

Zoomed-in crops let customers inspect the finer details of your garments, such as the stitching, fabric quality, buttons and zippers. It's like shopping in person. If you try on a jacket, for example, you'll probably notice its pockets, lining, and cuff in addition to its overall fit and look.

Rapanui, a sustainable, organic cotton clothing brand, uses crop shots to highlight fine details on its garments. Combined with full-length white background shots, shoppers have enough visual information to decide whether to purchase the item.

A few simple edits to elevate your ecommerce shots

Eye-catching and professional clothing photos are key to hooking customers. Imagine shopping for clothing online without full garment views or close-up details-you'd likely click away. But creating compelling images doesn't require a large studio or team.

Thoughtful editing can make the difference between losing shoppers and convincing them your clothing is a must-have. Still unsure about spending too much time editing photos yourself? Our team of experts can help with your photo editing needs.

Anete is a freelance B2B content writer with journalism experience and a passionate photographer. Merging her experience in tech and creative industries, she helps software brands increase their user base with engaging content. In her spare time, Anete works on personal projects and learns about coding basics.

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Picture Perfect Apparel: How to Edit Clothing Product Photos to Drive Sales

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Learn which edits to make to clothing product photography so your images drive engagement and sales. Photoshop techniques include photo retouching and background removal.

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You don't have to spend a dollar to alter the look of your photographs because there are a lot of free applications that you can use.

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No More Fees: Edit Photos with these Simple + FREE Photo Editing Apps - Bijutoha

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Are you tired of paying hefty fees for photo editing apps? Well, worry no more! There are plenty of free apps available that can transform your photos

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Shadows in your ecommerce photos can help products jump off the page and into carts. And you only need Photoshop to do it—no fancy or expensive lighting equipment required.

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Realistic shadows around objects make product photographs look professional and believable. However, you may not have the ability to create photographs in the right settings, or with the correct lighting to achieve the shadows you need.

With patience and finesse, you can add natural-looking drop shadows in Photoshop to your product photos. This photo editing process takes time, skill, and an understanding of how shadows work.

To learn how to add a shadow in Photoshop to your product photos, watch the video below-and then scroll down to follow along via written tutorial.

How shadows work

Before you begin to draw or create your shadow in Photoshop, it's helpful to understand how shadows work. Objects have two types of shadows:

1. Cast shadows are shadows around an object that appear on the floor or on other objects around the object.

2. Form shadows are shadows that appear within the object itself.

Both types of shadows are determined by the direction of, distance from, and number of light sources. You can use form shadows on your object to see how a realistic cast shadow might appear. Cast shadows become lighter and blurrier as they get further from the object.

In this Photoshop tutorial, you'll learn how to add a natural shadow in Photoshop using a combination of the Drop Shadow Layer Style, transform tools, the gradient tool, blurs, layer masks, and alpha channels.

The difference between a drop shadow and a cast shadow

Creating a realistic shadow is a much more complicated and rewarding process than just applying a drop shadow to an object. Drop shadows by themselves are roughly the same size and dimension as the object. Rarely in real life would you encounter a shadow that looks just like an unmodified drop shadow. Adjusting your shadow into a three-dimensional cast shadow using the method described in this tutorial is essential to making your shadow look natural.

Tutorial: How to add a natural shadow in Photoshop

1. Isolate your object from the background

2. Create a new background behind your isolated object

3. Determine your cast shadow color

4. Create a drop shadow

5. Create a layer from your drop shadow

6. Distort the drop shadow

7. Create an alpha channel

8. Create a gradient within your alpha channel

9. Blur selection

10. Create a layer mask

11. Consider light source and clean up shadows

1. Isolate your product from the background

Open the photo you plan to modify. Once you're in the new file, open your Layers panel by going to Window > Layers. Select the object in your photo.

Copy your selection and paste it into a new layer. Doing this will allow you to work with your product image without destroying the original photo.

Give your new layer a name that indicates the background has been removed (or "isolated") to avoid confusion with other layers as you create your shadows.

Click on the eye icon next to your Background layer to make the background invisible. This way, you'll only be able to see your object against a transparent background.

2. Create a new background behind your product

In your Layers panel, select your hidden background layer. Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color.... A dialog box will appear asking you to name the new layer. Let's call it "solid white."

Click OK.

Now the Color Picker window will appear on your screen. Move your cursor all the way to the upper left-hand corner of the color field to select white. Or, in the hexadecimal color value at the bottom of the dialog box (next to the # symbol), type "ffffff." This will give you a pure white color.

Click OK.

You should have a layer of white covering your entire image.

In your Layers panel, grab your new white Fill layer and drag it underneath your "isolated" layer.

3. Determine your cast shadow color

Shadows have color, and you can look at form shadows on your object to determine what the color of your cast shadow should be.

Find a form shadow within your object, and use your Eyedropper Tool to select that shadow.

The selected color will appear as your foreground color at the bottom of your Toolbar. Double click on the new foreground color to bring up the Color Picker adjustment dialog box.

Adjust your selected color to be a bit darker and less saturated by moving the selection down and to the left of the color field. Click OK.

4. Create a drop shadow

With your isolated object layer selected, click on the fx button at the bottom of your layers panel and select Drop Shadow.

The Drop Shadow dialog box will pop up. Create a drop shadow by setting your shadow color to your foreground color. Don't worry about the opacity, distance, spread, and size levels yet-you can adjust all of that later-but you can use the values in the screenshot below as a starting point.

Once you're satisfied with your Drop Shadow settings, click OK.

5. Create a layer from your drop shadow

Go to Layer > Layer Style > Create Layer to separate your drop shadow from its layer. This will allow you to modify the shadow independent of the object. A warning dialog box might pop up when you go to create the layer; if that's the case, just click OK.

6. Distort the drop shadow

In your Layers panel, select the newly created drop shadow layer.

Go to Edit > Transform > Distort to pull your drop shadow down to the floor.

Artistic knowledge comes in handy here-consider where the form shadows are on your object to determine which direction the cast shadow should fall naturally, and think about the vanishing point of your image to determine just how far you should distort the shadow.

7. Create an alpha channel

Our shadow is starting to look realistic, but remember that in real life, shadows become blurrier and lighter the further they get from the object. Using an alpha channel is an easy way to control the areas of the shadow that need to blur and lighten.

To create an alpha channel, go to Window > Channels to open your Channels Panel. Click on the Panel menu to select New Channel.

A New Channel dialog box will pop up. You can keep the name as its default, Alpha 1. Under Color Indicates, make sure the Selected Areas radio button is chosen.

8. Create a gradient within your alpha channel

In your Channels Panel, select your new Alpha 1 channel just as you would select a layer. Make sure the visibility (eye icon to the left of the channel name) is toggled on for all channels.

Select the Gradient Tool from the Toolbar. At the bottom of the Toolbar, make sure the foreground is set to black and the background is set to white.

In the Options Bar at the top of your application window, make sure the gradient is set to black-to-white, and the gradient type is linear.

Once your gradient settings are correct, set your cursor at the furthest point of your shadow (or beyond) and draw the gradient toward the part of the shadow that's closest to the object.

The selection will be visible as a red gradient overlaying your image.

9. Blur selection

Once you've created your gradient in your alpha channel, you'll see a red gradient on top of your image, indicating how the mask within the channel interacts with your image. You can toggle the eye icon next to Alpha 1 to make the red gradient invisible so it's not distracting.

Click on the top channel in your Channels panel (either RGB or CMYK, depending on your image's color mode) to select your color channels and deselect your alpha channel.

Go to your Layers panel to make sure you still have your drop shadow layer selected.

Go to Filter > Blur > Lens Blur. A dialog box will show up giving you significant controls over your blur.

Make sure the box next to Preview is checked. Under Depth Map, select Alpha 1 from the Source dropdown menu.

Keep the Blur Focal Distance at 0, and check the box next to Invert.

Slide the Radius to a high number (in this example, it's set to 72). Leave all other values at their defaults. Click OK.

10. Create a layer mask

Go to Select > Load Selection. Choose Alpha 1 from the Channel dropdown options and make sure the radio button next to New Selection is checked.

Click OK.

Now you'll see a selection approximating the darkest areas of the gradient you created in your alpha channel.

Select inverse by going to Select > Select Inverse, or by using the Photoshop keyboard shortcut for the action by typing SHIFT + CONTROL + I ( SHIFT + COMMAND + I on a Mac).

In your Layers panel, click on the Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the panel. When the mask is applied, the shadow will appear to "fade" as it recedes into the distance. Notice the thumbnail for the layer mask matches the thumbnail next to Alpha 1.

You should see your shadow recede into the background as it gets "farther" away from the object.

If you're looking for a subtler shadow, reduce the opacity of your Drop Shadow layer.

11. Consider light source and clean up shadows

Finally, make sure no portions of your shadow appear on the wrong side of your product or object. So, in the example in this tutorial, there should be no instances of the shadow that appear in front of the bicycle since the light source pushes the cast shadow behind it. Using the Eraser Tool, carefully remove shadows that don't belong.

When to use a natural shadow in ecommerce

There are many reasons and ways to use drop shadows in product photos. When you display a product against a white background, adding a natural shadow helps your product pop against the background and creates a more realistic, professional-looking photo.

Furniture in particular lends itself to the natural drop shadow technique, adding dimension and depth to your product photos without the technical lighting aspects that occur during the shoot. Here's an example from The Mood Store, where you can see natural shadows added to several images:

Famous Footwear does the same for its main product images, which are uniform in layout, background, and overall aesthetic.

Add natural shadows to bring your product photos to life

Adding natural shadows to each of your images in Photoshop is an important step to editing your product photos for the most sales. But it's a time-consuming and detailed process-if you don't have someone from your team dedicated to product photos, it can quickly become a distracting task.

You can outsource your natural shadows, and all your drop shadows, to Path-your virtual photo editing studio ready for you 24/7-so you can spend time on the more important parts of business and life.

How to add a shadow in Photoshop FAQ

How do I add a shadow to an image in Photoshop?

1. Isolate your object from the background

2. Create a new background behind your isolated object

3. Determine your cast shadow color

4. Create a drop shadow

5. Create a layer from your drop shadow

6. Distort the drop shadow

7. Create an alpha channel

8. Create a gradient within your alpha channel

9. Blur selection

10. Create a layer mask

11. Consider the light source and clean up shadows

What is the easiest way to add a shadow in Photoshop?

The easiest way to add a shadow in Photoshop is to add a Drop Shadow effect to the layer containing your isolated object.

How do you add a subtle shadow in Photoshop?

One of the easiest ways to create a very subtle shadow in Photoshop is to create a small, feathered ellipse of color under your object. This method works well for solid, simple shapes that you want to appear "floating" in a white space with a shadow beneath them.

1. Create an ellipse under your object using the ellipse tool. Set the ellipse to be short and wide, about the same width as your object.

2. Feather the selection.

3. Fill the selection with 50% gray.

4. Reduce the opacity of your new shadow.

What is drop shadow in Photoshop?

Drop shadow is a layer effect you can apply to any layer in Photoshop by selecting the layer and choosing Layer > Layer Style > Drop Shadow... from the menu at the top of the application window. While drop shadows can be manipulated into realistic-looking shadows, simple, unaltered drop shadows make the object look flat, as if it were a piece of paper casting a shadow on another piece of paper underneath.

With over 20 years experience as a graphic designer, Becky is passionate about helping people enhance their content by mastering image manipulation software. Becky has worked with a variety of educational publishers in the U.S. and U.K. and has taught design at six universities.

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How to Add a Shadow in Photoshop for Product Photos

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Shadows in your ecommerce photos can help products jump off the page and into carts. And you only need Photoshop to do it-no fancy or expensive lighting equipment required.

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Tips and tricks to help you create high-quality product photos that lead to sales—even on a DIY budget.

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Online buyers likely don't notice the many shiny, reflective, or transparent products available across different ecommerce niches. There's no reason to-they're simply shopping online.

But if they come across a listing with a poorly edited product photo, it could make or break their purchase decision. They might be distracted by the glare of plastic product wrapping, spot a necklace with visible scratches, or a kitchenware set with photographer reflections on the metal surface. Those products will stick out like a sore thumb for all the wrong reasons.

Many products have challenging shiny, reflective, or transparent surfaces, so it helps to know how to shoot and edit them for a professional result. Look at some of our tips and tricks to help you create high-quality product photos that lead to sales-even on a DIY budget.

Examples of reflective products

Not sure which products can create unwanted reflections? There are actually more than you might think. Shiny, reflective, or transparent products might include:

Jewelry

Watches and other accessories

Glassware and kitchenware

Electronics

Cosmetics and skincare products

Sports equipment

Office stationery

DIY tools for gardening, painting, and other activities

Fabric or materials such as leather, transparent polymers, and others

Packaging and containers

Labels and stickers

How reflections and shine affect your product photography

There's no doubt that shiny, reflective, and transparent products can be tricky to photograph and edit. But there's more-some products also have unique shapes, which makes photographing and editing even more challenging.

For example, long-lasting product retailer Buy Me Once has a listing for a stainless steel garlic press.

Even though the garlic press is reflective and has a complex, uneven shape, the photo shows no unwanted reflections, and you won't find any scratches or fingerprint smudges on the metal. The product photo may look simple, but creating a picture-perfect finish like this takes careful consideration.

A few things to keep in mind when shooting and editing photos that feature shiny or reflective products are:

Prevent unwanted reflections

Watch out for blemishes, dust, and scratches (or remove those during editing)

Avoid light spots that are either too bright or reflect on the product surface

Retain any important product detail, such as a brand logo on a container or the transparency of a glass product

Use just the right amount of reflection so the effect looks natural without being distracting

When to use reflective lighting

Sometimes you want reflective lighting. There are instances where adding shine can enhance the image. Look at clean cosmetics brand RMS Beauty. Light reflects on the cream in the brand's product photo, emphasizing its texture. It's appealing because all product details are still visible, despite the added shine.

Similarly, an intentional sheen can add a sense of freshness to food and drink products, like in the example below from London Fermentary, a fermentation specialist. The effect is subtle but adds dimension and vibrancy to the glass bottles, as does the reflection on the white surface.

Look at some image samples online before you shoot your products to have a better idea of what the outcome will be. It will help you prepare and set up your composition and lighting equipment.

How to prepare your studio setup for shiny or reflective products

First, organize your studio space and have the right tools handy to avoid complex photo editing later on. Some things to look out for include:

Reflections of unwanted light, color, people or objects around your studio setup

Harsh light that changes the look or color of your product

Missed key parts of your product, such as labels or other details that have become blurry or obstructed because of a reflection or bright light

Smudges, fingerprints, and scratches on the product surface

Clear the set

Start with a clutter-free setup for your product photo session.

Only allow the people you need on the set. Otherwise, they may unintentionally block light, appear in product surface reflections, or even add light reflections of themselves. For example, if someone is wearing a watch or using their smartphone.

Remove or turn off any other light sources in the room. You might also need to block natural window light if you work with studio lights and want precise control over your light sources.

Clean the setup and your products

Make sure your products are clean after styling and positioning them. Shiny surfaces like glass or metal will quickly pick up fingerprints, and dust will be easily visible in your photos. Microfiber cloths are handy for this.

You can also use a pair of cotton, microfiber, or latex gloves to handle your products and keep them stain-free. For electronic components, use anti-static gloves to avoid built-up static charges.

Take off the plastic packaging

Does your product come in cellophane or other similar transparent packaging? Consider taking it off for the photoshoot so shoppers can see the product without obtrusive material getting in the way.

For example, if you sell gift baskets, you should take pictures after you assemble them but before you wrap them in cellophane-the shiny material can make your products look less sharp in a photo.

You can do it like the eco-friendly product retailer Peace With The Wild. It has two photos of its grapefruit bath bomb. One shows the product up close (with added styling using petals), and the other photo displays the bath bomb in its transparent, branded packaging.

Use basic product photography equipment

You don't need an expensive studio setup to create professional photos that look great online. DIY your lighting setup with some of these basics in your photo kit:

A sturdy tripod

One light as a minimum, such as a studio light or a flashgun (if you're on a tight budget, you can shoot using natural window light)

At least one light modifier to diffuse the light, like an umbrella or a softbox (the larger the modifier, the more diffused the light, lessening the chances of glare)

A modifier (such as a beauty dish or a grid spot) that creates a small, concentrated area for a strong, contrasted result

A reflector and bounce cards or boards in black and white-you can start with an affordable, multi-use kit like this 5-in-1 reflector set

A white backdrop for ecommerce product shots, a colorful backdrop for more creative photos, and something to place beneath your product-a board, plexiglass, fabric, or paper

A level surface-such as a chair, desk, table, or floor-on which to place your products

How to photograph shiny products like metal and glass

With your studio kit ready, it's time to start planning your equipment setup and compositions.

The main thing to remember is that it takes patience to build up to that perfect shot-from setting up your composition to adjusting your lights and camera settings. But the good thing is it becomes easier the more you do it, especially for similar products requiring the same type of setup each time. Consider taking a photo of your setup or drawing it in a notebook so you can recreate it next time.

Find the right angle

For reflective products, start by finding an angle that eliminates-or reduces to a minimum-any reflections of you, the camera, and any other equipment or people on the set.

You may need to tilt or move the product to get the right angle, or you can use props or craft putty to prop up an item like a ring or a watch.

For products with a mirror, such as this makeup palette by RMS Beauty, you can angle the mirror to reflect the product itself or a plain white background (or both).

Position lights above the products

If you're working with metal products like cutlery or jewelry, try positioning your light directly over them. This is a simple but effective method to create a soft light that works with various metal products of different shapes.

Set up a large softbox face-down directly above your products-look for lay flat or overhead boom stands or arms to hold your softbox

If the dark edges of your softbox end up reflecting on the product surface, add a large, translucent diffuser (or white fabric) over the light to eliminate them

You can also use a light with a diffuser at an angle for a more dramatic effect and shadows. For example, put the light on the opposite side of the camera, facing down at the product at around a 45-degree angle, like in this tutorial

A single light on the side of the product

If you have a plastic, acrylic, or glass product, like a bottle container, you can create a professional look with just one continuous light. You can even use your smartphone to shoot this setup if you're on a budget.

Start by adding a softbox or a strip box facing the product on one side and a white foam board or a large V-flat on the opposite side of your light, like in this video. The trick is to move the light so its reflection on your product complements it, not obstructs the label or other details. Continuous lighting makes this easier because you can see the result instantly.

Experiment with different light angles to see what works for your product's shape and design so you don't obstruct essential elements like the brand logo. DASH Water, for example, has the light run across the left side of its sparkling water bottle.

If your light is too strong, add a white material, like paper, fabric, or diffuser, between the light and the product. And, if you're losing too much detail on the opposite side of the light, set up a white board or reflector on the other side, like in this video guide. It will reflect light and brighten your product's opposite (dark) side.

Light on both sides of the product

If you have two lights, you can add a modifier, such as a softbox or a grid, to both and place them on the opposite sides of your product. You can start with both lights mirroring each other directly and then turning them slowly to find a result that works.

For example, turn the lights slightly towards the camera or angle them facing down towards the product, like in this video. Ultimately, you'll get a result similar to the Gentle Folk Wines Rainbow Juice below.

This setup works well to illuminate both sides of your product while keeping any central logos or labels visible. Do you need extra light in the center of your product? To get an evenly lit image, take another shot with a light facing the product's front and merge all photos in Photoshop.

Illuminate transparent products

For any transparent products, such as perfume or beverage bottles with translucent liquid, it's just as important to light what's inside. You have a few options to try in a situation like this:

The first setup is to add a light behind the product (facing the camera) and two black boards-one on either side of the product. You can use a flash strobe, continuous light, or even a window light with white paper or fabric in front of it.

The two black boards on either side will add dark edges to the silhouette, like in the example below.

The second option is to add a white background, like a white board big enough to cover your product. Then add a continuous light that shines a narrow beam towards the center of the board, like in this video. Add two black boards on either side of the product to create a silhouette similar to the setup above.

If you shoot products with a rim like a glass bowl, wine, or cocktail glass, lower your tripod and tilt up your camera. Doing so will create an appealing rim shape, like in the example below.

For a more advanced setup, illuminate the product from behind using a flashgun, a studio light, or a softbox, and another light at the front. Add a white sheet between the product and the backlight for additional diffusion.

You don't even need an extra stand for the frontal light, as shown in this tutorial because you can hold it in your hand and shoot using a remote or a timer. Then, all that's left is to merge all photos in Photoshop.

Set up bounce cards or foam boards

You'll inevitably come across surface reflections when photographing metal products or metallic packaging. Use cards, foam boards, and reflectors to correct or enhance your shots:

Use a black card or reflector in front of the product to bring out any silver logo or text on the product or its packaging-experiment by changing the angle of the card or reflector.

Use a white or black foam board (depending on which color complements your product) to avoid reflections. Cut a hole in it to fit your camera lens, and place it in front of your camera. This way, you will avoid reflecting your clothing or anything else behind the camera.

Try a silver or gold reflector to add extra sheen to your products, depending on your metal type. Move the reflector around the product to find a complementary result.

Adjust your camera and light settings

It takes several test shots to get your camera and light settings spot on. During your test shots, consider the following:

Lowering your light intensity level to reduce hotspots or blown-out highlights on your products

Setting your camera to a smaller aperture between f/5.6 to f/16 to capture your products in full and avoid blurred-out labels or other details

Changing the distance between the lights or diffusers and your products-this will create varying degrees of light intensity and softness

Give your camera an object to focus on

Shooting transparent or translucent products may make setting your camera focus difficult. A quick tip to solve that is to put something inside the product, such as a pen. Set your focus on the pen manually and remove it before you start shooting.

Show product transparency in lifestyle shots

In cases where product transparency is a key selling point, a lifestyle shot can make it easier for customers to see the product's characteristics. Take the example of the Buy Me Once transparent speaker. Putting the speaker in front of the curtain makes it easy for customers to recognize the product is made of glass and to better envision how it'll look in their home or office.

Use a dulling spray to reduce shine and glare

If you want a more matte look for your shiny products, consider a dulling spray like the one from Krylon. It's designed to add a temporary dull finish that reduces shine, and you can easily wipe it off after your shoot.

But be careful using it on porous materials, like product labels, because the dulling spray can make those look fuzzy or even ruin some colors or text. Instead, cover those before you use the spray. It's safe to use on less porous materials like metal, glass, plastic, and acrylic.

Edit your product photography like a pro

Getting perfect product shots straight from the camera isn't always possible. Sometimes you notice imperfections only after you open your product photo on your computer and see it on a bigger screen. Other times you already know you can't fix some things during the shoot.

We have a few quick editing tips below to help you deal with some common shiny and reflective product photo problems.

Reduce glare

If your light is too bright, you can have light hot spots like in the example below. Sometimes, glare can add dimension to the product, but other times it's too distracting. You can use Photoshop's Clone Stamp tool to take pixels from one part of the photo and paint them over the part that has glare.

Or try the Color Picker tool. Select a color sample from a part of the photo (like the green on the figurine) and then use the Brush tool to apply that color to the parts needing glare removal.

Edit reflections out

Even with careful preparation, you can find some unwanted reflections.

Same as with glare removal, you can use the Clone Stamp in Photoshop to sample pixels and paint them over the reflection, like on the gold necklace below. Or use the Spot Healing Brush tool to let the software cover the reflections based on the surrounding pixels.

Some photos require more complex editing. For example, the glass bottle below has both a window reflection and a distracting mix of red and yellow. If you want to leave more complicated fixes to professionals, our editors can retouch any reflections to save you time.

Fix color cast on shiny metal

You have a few simple fixes if you have some light cast on silver products. The first option is to use Hue/Saturation Layer in Photoshop and select the color you want to remove, like yellow. Then, reduce that color's saturation until you like what you see. You can use a Layer Mask to remove this effect from other parts of your image if required.

The second option is to use the Sponge tool in Photoshop. Ensure it's set to Desaturate, and brush over the product areas with the unwanted light cast. In the example below, we used this method to desaturate any color on the metal straws. We also retouched the background with Healing Brush to remove any unflattering spots on the linen.

Correct transparent products

Glass and clear acrylic products may show reflections or glare, especially if you work with natural light. It may be impossible to eliminate those during a shoot, but you can still fix them in post-processing.

Using the Clone Stamp tool, you can copy exact detail from other parts of your photo to another area. For example, to cover up reflections on a pair of glasses. In this case, we would take a sample of the pink background and add it over the glass where the reflection is visible.

You can do the same for the black temples by zooming in for extra precision. The reason for getting in closer is to ensure you don't accidentally go over the edges of the original area.

Create composites

Shooting a perfectly lit product photo takes time, experience, and equipment. But even with just one light, you can fully illuminate your product by shooting several images and combining them in Photoshop.

Whether you use studio lights or natural light with a reflector, the trick is to move your light source around the product to ensure you've lit every part of it. It's better to have more photos than not enough, so you can pick which ones to combine to create a composite image like in this tutorial.

Fix overly shiny skin

It's not just products prone to shine and reflections-these imperfections can also show up in lifestyle photos. You might have models with overly shiny skin, especially if it was hot on shoot day.

If you work with a makeup artist, take a test shot and ask them to add a more matte finish to the model's face or body if needed. Be mindful that smaller photography studios can get warm, especially if you use several lights. This means the model's skin can become shinier during the shoot-you can ask the model to use a light mattifying powder or blotting paper if it becomes an issue.

If you need to fix shiny skin in post-processing, use any mentioned tools, such as Spot Healing Brush, Clone Stamp, or a simple Brush tool with color sampled from a nearby image area.

When you've finished, zoom out and look at the final result from a distance-does it look natural? People's skin has texture and natural shadows, so creating a realistic result can be tricky. Still, if you're stuck, our editing experts can help.

Get your photos ecommerce ready

After fixing any unwanted reflections or shine, there are a few extra steps to ensure your product photos are ready for your website, social media, or ecommerce marketplace.

Put your photos on a white background

White background product photos are the industry standard for ecommerce stores. Removing the background in your product photos gives you several benefits:

White background product shots comply with popular marketplace image requirements, such as Amazon

You can easily remove any distractions in the background of your studio and swap them for a clean white or transparent background

Product photos with a removed background are versatile marketing assets and can be repurposed with colorful backgrounds, graphics, or stock photos

You can further enhance your images by adding shadows or lighting effects to your products

Fix colors to show true look

You'll likely need to do some color correction to ensure the products in your photos represent what they look like when customers purchase them.

For example, if you shoot during the golden hour (the first hour before sunrise and the hour before sunset), the light will be warmer, resulting in a more yellow photo. Your camera may also be manually set to shoot warmer images, or the camera auto function might pick up colors our eyes don't notice.

Use Lightroom's White Balance profiles or White Balance selector to automatically set a natural white balance or adjust the sliders manually. Read our jewelry photo editing guide to learn more.

Retouch missed imperfections

Don't forget to remove any other imperfections in the photo before using it online. Look for scratches, smudges, fingerprints, and dust for shiny products. These are generally simple to fix using Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop.

All you need to do is brush over the imperfection, and the tool will attempt to replace it based on the context and nearby pixels. It may take several tries to fix a more prominent spot, but you can zoom in closer for a more accurate result.

Add shadows for depth and a 3D look

Adding a shadow effect during post-processing can help your products stand out, particularly if you use white background shots for ecommerce.

White or transparent products will benefit from a subtle shadow so they don't blend in with the background. Still, this effect can enhance any shape, material, and color product. For example, the organic silk brand Moonchild uses a drop shadow for its silk travel set product photo.

Picture-perfect ecommerce shots that capture attention

Shiny products or packaging are integral to most types of ecommerce products. While it may be challenging to get the lighting right, and it may take time to edit out all of the imperfections, the finished result will catch the customers' attention if done well.

How to photograph reflective products FAQs

How do you photograph highly reflective objects?

Make sure the product is dust and smudge-free. Use diffused lighting, like a large softbox, to create soft, even light, and position the camera at a slight angle to avoid directly reflecting the light source or the camera.

How do you photograph reflections?

Position the camera or object at an angle for an appealing reflection. Use manual focus so all necessary image parts are in focus, and pick a higher aperture like f/11 for a sharp photograph. You can use white paper or foam boards to reflect pure white and avoid having to edit unwanted reflections.

How do you use reflectors in product photography?

To lighten any shadowed areas of your product, position reflectors opposite to your main light. Experiment with matte or highly reflective surfaces for different results. You can also use a black board or reflector to absorb any light and create a more dramatic light fall-off.

What is the best reflective surface for product photography?

Acrylic boards can work as inexpensive and flexible reflectors for product photography. You can also use them as the shooting surface for products like jewelry for a glossy, high-end result. Before you shoot, make sure they're smudge and dust-free to avoid editing out imperfections later.

Anete is a freelance B2B content writer with journalism experience and a passionate photographer. Merging her experience in tech and creative industries, she helps software brands increase their user base with engaging content. In her spare time, Anete works on personal projects and learns about coding basics.

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How to Photograph Reflective Products + Tips and Examples

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Tips and tricks to help you create high-quality product photos that lead to sales-even on a DIY budget.

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Trying to figure out how to file taxes as a freelance photographer? Check this high-level guide to help you through. #FreelancePhotography #FreelancePhotographer #photography

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How to File Taxes: A Freelance Photographer’s Guide

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Trying to figure out how to file taxes as a freelance photographer? Check this high-level guide to help you through.

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Unleash Your Creative Vision and Capture Jaw-Dropping Moments with Your Smartphone

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In the ever-evolving landscape of photography, one phenomenon stands out-mobile photography. With each passing year, smartphone camera technology has leaped forward, revolutionizing how we capture moments. The lenses have become sharper, the image-processing capabilities more powerful, and the results truly breathtaking.

Embark on a captivating journey as this blog post explores the rise of mobile photography, serving as your trusted guide to unlocking the full potential of your smartphone. Discover invaluable tips and tricks to elevate your skills and help you capture stunning images that defy expectations.

Mastering Composition: Framing the Perfect Shot with Your Smartphone

Discuss the fundamental principles of composition, such as the rule of thirds, leading lines, and symmetry.

Provide practical advice on applying these principles to smartphone photography, including techniques for positioning subjects and utilizing negative space effectively.

Unlocking the Power of Light: Lighting Techniques for Mobile Photography

Explore various lighting scenarios, including natural, artificial, and low-light conditions.

Share tips for finding the best lighting conditions and using light to enhance the mood and atmosphere of your photographs.

Editing Like a Pro: Enhancing Smartphone Photos with Editing Apps

Introduce popular smartphone editing apps, such as Adobe Lightroom, Snapseed, and VSCO.

Walk readers through basic editing techniques, including adjusting exposure, contrast, and color balance to elevate their smartphone photos.

Capturing Motion: Tips for Stunning Action Shots with Your Smartphone

Highlight techniques for freezing or emphasizing motion using burst mode, slow shutter speed, and panning.

Provide practical advice for capturing dynamic subjects like sports events, wildlife, or street photography with your smartphone.

Exploring Mobile Photography Genres: Macro, Landscape, Portrait, and Street Photography

Dive into different genres of photography and how they can be pursued using a smartphone.

Offer genre-specific tips and tricks, including recommended settings, equipment, and composition techniques.

Creating Unique Perspectives: Experimenting with Angles and Perspectives in Mobile Photography

Encourage readers to think outside the box by exploring unusual angles, perspectives, and creative compositions.

Share examples of unique smartphone photographs that showcase the power of perspective in storytelling.

Building a Mobile Photography Community: Sharing and Discovering Inspiration Online

Discuss the importance of joining online photography communities and platforms to connect with fellow mobile photographers.

Suggest popular platforms and hashtags where readers can share their work, gain feedback, and find inspiration.

Remember to adapt the topics and content to suit your target audience and your blog's specific tone and style.

FAQs

Q1: How can experimenting with angles and perspectives enhance my mobile photography?

Ans: Experimenting with angles and perspectives adds visual interest and uniqueness to your photos. It allows you to capture scenes from different viewpoints, creating a fresh and captivating visual narrative. By breaking away from conventional angles, you can bring a sense of dynamism, depth, and creativity to your mobile photography.

Q2: What are some practical tips for finding unique angles and perspectives?

Ans: Look for opportunities to get low or go high, shoot through frames, incorporate reflections, play with symmetry and patterns, experiment with unusual angles, and explore macro perspectives. Additionally, keep an open mind and observe your surroundings with a creative eye. Sometimes, inspiration can strike when you least expect it.

Q3: Can I achieve unique perspectives without any additional equipment?

Ans: Absolutely! While external lenses or accessories can enhance your options, you can still create unique perspectives using just your smartphone. The key is to explore your environment, experiment with different angles, and find interesting subjects that lend themselves well to unconventional perspectives.

Q4: How can I practice and improve my skills in capturing unique perspectives?

Ans: Practice is essential to improving your skills. Challenge yourself to see the world from new angles regularly. Take time to observe your surroundings, study the lines, shapes, and patterns, and consider how you can capture them in a fresh and unique way. Share your work, seek feedback, and learn from other photographers who specialize in unique perspectives.

Q5: Can experimenting with angles and perspectives apply to any genre of mobile photography?

Ans: Absolutely! Whether you enjoy landscape photography, street photography, portraiture, or macro photography, experimenting with angles and perspectives can enhance any genre. It allows you to add depth, visual interest, and a personal touch to your images, regardless of the subject matter.

Conclusion

In this blog post, you will find a comprehensive guide to the exponential growth of mobile photography. It offers valuable insight, tips, and tricks to enhance and master smartphone photography skills. You will learn about the art of composition, lighting, styles, and perspectives to harness the potential of smartphone cameras.

Get ready to take action; the world around you is waiting to be captured. You can showcase your unique perspective through mobile photography and tap into a thriving community of passionate photographers. Unleash your creativity and let your imagination drive your photographic journey. Remember, you hold the power to capture incredible images in your hand. So don't hesitate; turn your photographic vision into reality. Let your photographs create an impact and inspire others. Happy clicking!

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Tips and Tricks for Capturing Stunning Images with Your Smartphone

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Unleash Your Creative Vision and Capture Jaw-Dropping Moments with Your Smartphone

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With the rise in ecommerce and evolving consumer behavior, omnichannel selling is increasingly important for retailers. Integrating several third-party marketplaces for your online store makes it easier to reach larger audiences and boost sales. With expected revenues of over $575 billion in the US by 2023, online retailers shouldn't miss the opportunity to maximize their profits.

But when you're selling on multiple channels, it can be challenging to remember how to optimize your product photos. That's why we've put together this handy guide and chart to help you understand the product photography requirements across various online marketplaces.

Product photo size requirements for third-party marketplaces

Amazon product photo size requirements

Amazon's image requirements provide extensive specifications for every product detail page in your store. Each detail page must have at least one product image, which serves as the MAIN image and appears to customers when they search for products. The MAIN photo must include one view of a single product on a pure white background. Site standards for the MAIN image are particular, especially with the use of models and mannequins for apparel and accessories.

Additional specifications for Amazon images include:

No text, logos, borders, color blocks, watermarks, or other graphics on top of a product or in the background.

The image must show the entire product that is for sale and may not touch or be cut off by the edge of the image frame, with the exception of jewelry.

Images should not show packaging boxes, bags, or cases unless they are an important product feature.

Amazon recommends uploading six additional variant images and one video to help the customer evaluate the product. These pictures may show the product in use or in an environment, different angles, and different features.

As an additional resource, Amazon offers an Image Style Guide to help optimize your product photos and provide examples of MAIN and variant images and file name specifications.

eBay product photo size requirements

The eBay image guidelines state that sellers must have at least one picture to appear next to the title in the listing. However, you can upload up to 12 product photos per listing. If you are selling cars, parts, or automotive accessories on eBay Motors, you may upload 24 images. Copies of your photos are stored and will stay in a completed listing for up to 90 days. You may recycle the images if relisting the item or adding to a similar listing.

Other requirements include:

The product should fill 80%-90% of the image frame.

Borders, text, artwork, or logos are not allowed.

One difference from most other marketplaces is that eBay allows the product image background to be any hue between white and light gray similar to the images below. Photos with light shadows are acceptable, but mirror reflections aren't allowed.

Here is an example of images with white and light gray backgrounds.

Etsy product photo size requirements

Etsy product photo guidelines allow you to upload up to ten photos with a resolution of 72 pixels per inch (PPI) for each listing in your shop. If the image colors look incorrect, they recommend converting to standard RGB (sRGB) color space using editing software before uploading.

The image orientation is an essential factor for your product listing. The first photo needs to be landscape or square so that the image's focal point appears correctly in the cropped thumbnails. All additional listing photos should follow the same orientation to create a cohesive aesthetic for your store and a better customer experience.

Etsy provides several tips to optimize your listing images. Some of the recommendations include:

Use Etsy's crop tool to make sure the frame of your listing image is accurate.

Capture images from a far enough vantage point with extra negative space around the product to give you room to crop your photo without losing parts of the item.

Use an aspect ratio of 4:3.

Take horizontally oriented images rather than vertical ones to have more cropping space.

Use the Etsy placement tool when adding listing images to adjust the thumbnail.

Clay jewelry and accessories shop, Afton By Palm, uses a distant vantage point to allow for creative cropping that showcases the product in a unique way.

Maximum product photo file size: larger than 1 MB may not finish uploading

Product photo file type: .jpg, .gif and .png. Transparent .png files are not supported

Product photo image size: 2000 px for the shortest side is recommended
Maximum number of photos:
Google Shopping product photo size requirements

The image size requirements for listing your products on Google Shopping are very straightforward. The Merchant Center will not accept the photos if they do not meet the conditions.

Google Shopping allows sellers to upload 11 full-size product photos. While the minimum dimensions are smaller, they recommend the images be at least 800 px square for the best results. Keep in mind that Google may automatically crop your image to find the best display for your product.

Additional requirements include:

Images take up 75%-90% of the image frame.

Text, watermarks, or borders are not allowed.

Images must have a solid white or transparent background.

Product staging is allowed, but staged images should not be the primary photo.

Generic images, graphics, or illustrations are prohibited. Exceptions are allowed for hardware, vehicles and parts, and computer software.

Here is an example of how the image should fill the frame.
Find out how you can make your product photos SEO-friendly now
Product photo size requirements for ecommerce platforms

Shopify ​​product photo size requirements

Shopify's product photo size requirements help retailers enhance the mobile and desktop shopping experience. Shopify suggests keeping the width to height ratio the same for every image to create a unified look among the products. The first image of the product is your feature image, and it will appear across your store - on the homepage, cart page, checkout page, and other collection pages.

Sellers can upload up to 250 photos per product in a variety of formats. The platform will automatically resize images to fit smaller mobile screens, but sometimes images will need additional manual editing. Shopify notes that square photos with the product centered both vertically and horizontally are best for cropping and are easier to edit for smaller screens. It is worth noting that your images must be more than 800 px square for the zoom function to work.

Men's hair and beard care line Beardbrand uses images with the same measurements and cropping specs, creating a uniform look for all product photos. This approach makes it easy for shoppers to browse.

Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento) product photo size requirements

Adobe Commerce, formerly Magento, is a page builder that integrates Adobe products to manage multi-channel commerce from one dashboard.

An additional perk to the Adobe platform is that you have access to their resizing option, guaranteeing all images will match a specific pixel size. This tool can help images load faster, assist with zoom performance, and create a consistent look for all product photos.

Adobe Commerce requires one thumbnail and at least 2 product images per listing. Sellers can upload up to 15 product photos to display in the following roles:

When uploading your images to Adobe Commerce, you will select the role of each image.

WooCommerce product photo size requirements

The WooCommerce plugin is available for any WordPress site and is fully customizable to fit your online store's needs. Though WooCommerce recommends 800 px square images, they note that larger images are better for products with many fine details. This will create a better experience for shoppers who use the zoom function.

WooCommerce has three types of product images that serve different purposes on each product listing:

Single Product Image: the largest image and the main photo on the product details page.

Catalog Images: medium-size images that appear on related pages such as Product Category pages, Related pages, Up-sells, Shop pages, and Cross-sells.

Product thumbnails: the smallest images used in the Cart, Widgets, and Gallery thumbnails under the Single Product Image.

WooCommerce recommends using a white background, especially on your main product photos. An example of acceptable product images is shown below.

BigCommerce product photo size requirements

For multi-channel retailers, BigCommerce is an excellent solution. It offers pre-built integrations with Amazon, eBay, Google Shopping, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, allowing you to sell from a single dashboard rather than multiple accounts.

BigCommerce's product photo size requirements recommend 1280 px square. However, the theme of your website may suggest another size. When resizing your photos, it is important to understand the contrast in the image sizes.

Here is the difference between 5,000 pixels on the longest side vs. 1280 pixels.

Large image files can slow down a site's speed, so they recommend compressing your images to ensure a positive customer experience. Compressing will not compromise the quality of your photos. In fact, the compressed version of the image will load up to 5 times faster.

Product photo size requirements for social commerce

Facebook product photo size requirements

Facebook Shops, allows businesses to operate as a single online store across Facebook and Instagram. The ecommerce platform gives merchants tools for promotion through ads like Facebook Product and Facebook Dynamic. It's important to note the product photo size requirements vary between the advertising placements.

Facebook Shops product photo size requirements

All Facebook Shops images will display in a square 1:1 format. The minimum image size is 500 px square, but 1024 px square produces the best quality. One photo per product in your inventory is required. However, retailers should upload four or more images that show the product from different angles, including close-ups of texture or details.

Like other channels, Facebook recommends:

Using a white background on product photos.

The images must be the actual product itself and not a graphical representation.

No text, offensive content, advertising or promotional material, watermarks, or time-sensitive information.

The entire product must be shown.

In addition to regular product listings, Facebook Shops sellers can create collections and showcase certain items.

Coffee and tea brand BLK & Bold illustrates how businesses can use different angles and details to create variety within its Facebook Shop product listings.

Facebook dynamic ads product photo size requirements

The minimum image size for Facebook dynamic ads is 400 px square, but 500 px square or higher will appear across Facebook, Audience Network, Messenger, and Instagram. The minimum sized image will only show on Facebook.

Instagram product photo size requirements

Since Facebook owns Instagram Shopping, the platform has the exact product photo size requirements. However, there are several differences due to the platform's capabilities.

You can select how your product images will be cropped on both platforms when it comes to editing. The settings will automatically apply to all of the products in your catalog. The crop settings will also apply only to the product pages on Instagram. The images won't be cropped anywhere else in shops on Instagram.

As a seller, it will also be essential to know the guidelines for the various Instagram Ad options. There are three placement areas to promote your products: Instagram Feed, Stories, and Explore. All three content options require .jpg or .png files, at least 1080 px square resolution, and have a maximum 30MB file size.

Instagram automatically adjusts your product images for each step of the checkout process.

Pinterest product photo size requirements

Shopping on Pinterest is unique because it uses data sources from your store website to create Product Pins, which indicates the product is a shoppable item. Therefore, the web builder dictates the image requirements for your Product Pins rather than Pinterest.

However, image standards are required when promoting Pins with ads or creating an individual Pin.

Building a Pin: Pinterest recommends using a 2:3 aspect ratio or the built-in crop feature to resize your image.

Create an ad: to produce ads images must have a 2:3 aspect ratio or 1000 x 1500 pixels. Pinterest will automatically trim the image if it exceeds the width-height ratio. So that means people will only see part of your Pin, not the whole thing.

Resizing your product photos

Resizing your product photos for each platform can be an overwhelming process. However, you have several photo-editing options that produce high-quality results.

If you're resizing the photos yourself, many of the platforms offer editing assistance and resources through their site help centers, so be sure to check those out as well.

Additional photo-editing for product photography

High-quality images lead to high conversion rates. So when tasked with photo-editing, ecommerce retailers need to address several key areas to produce the best image possible.

Whether you're looking to make simple or complex edits, you must decide to either edit the images yourself or outsource them to a professional. If you need fast and affordable photo-editing services, the experts at Path are here to help.
Find out how it works

Leigh is a freelance copywriter and marketing consultant based in Dallas, Texas. She has extensive marketing and content creation experience in the corporate, nonprofit, and academic sectors.

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Product Photo Size Requirements: How to Optimize Photos for Omnichannel Selling

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With the rise in ecommerce and evolving consumer behavior, omnichannel selling is increasingly important for retailers. Integrating several third-party marketplaces for your online store makes it easier to reach larger audiences and boost sales. With expected revenues of over $575 billion in the US by 2023, online retailers shouldn't miss the opportunity to maximize their profits.

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How to Edit Product Photos for White Background on a Budget

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How to Edit Product Photos for White Background on a Budget

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On a tight budget but need a white background image? Check out seven low-cost options to get the job done.

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How to Edit Product Photos for White Background on a Budget

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Understand your options when it comes to the most affordable ways to edit your product photography.

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How to Change the Direction of Someone's Gaze in Photoshop [2022 Tutorial]

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How to Change the Direction of Someone's Gaze in Photoshop [2022 Tutorial]

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Did you know? You can change the direction someone is looking in Photoshop. Find out how. 👀

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How to Change the Direction of Someone's Gaze in Photoshop [2022 Tutorial]

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How to Get the Most from User-Generated Content (+ UGC Examples)

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How to Get the Most from User-Generated Content (+ UGC Examples)

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Turn your customers into content creators.
#PathContent #UGC #SocialProof #HowTo

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How to Get the Most from User-Generated Content (+ UGC Examples)

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User-generated content can be a powerful marketing tool—as long as you know how to use it.

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Get Your Own Photo Editor with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

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Get Your Own Photo Editor with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

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Does developing a photo editor using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript interest you? If you'd want the codes, please feel free to check out my blog right now. It's simple and appealing in its simplicity.

Since I'm interested in photo editing and am just getting started, I decided I'd use what little coding knowledge I have to attempt to make my photo editor. This isn't a tutorial, but I'm going to share my code with you in the hope that you'll be able to figure out how to build a picture editor from it.

As you can see above, the user may upload a picture and alter its brightness, saturation, blur, hue, and grayscale. This will be a great project for a beginner to an intermediate web developer who wants to produce something fascinating.

Here are the steps:

Step 1 - Make sure you create an index.html file, copy all the HTML code, and paste it here.

Step 2 - Create a style.css file as you normally would, then paste all CSS codes into it.

Step 3 - Make a main.js file and paste all JS codes into it.

let upload_img_box = document.querySelector('.upload_img_box'); let selectedImage = document.querySelector('#selectedImage'); let choose_image = document.querySelector('.choose_image'); let image_holder = document.querySelector('.image_holder'); let image = document.querySelector('#image'); let slider = document.querySelectorAll('.slider'); let show_value = document.querySelectorAll('.show_value'); let list_options = document.querySelectorAll('ul li'); let options = document.querySelector('.options'); let option = document.querySelectorAll('.option'); let clearAll = document.querySelector('#clearAll'); let remove_img_btn = document.querySelector('#remove_img_btn'); let canvas = document.querySelector('#image_canvas'); const context = canvas.getContext('2d'); let File_Name; let Edited = false; upload_img_box.addEventListener("click", { selectedImage.click(); }); selectedImage.addEventListener("change", { const file = this.files[0]; if (file) { const reader = new FileReader(); File_Name = file.name; choose_image.style.display = "none"; image_holder.style.display = "block"; reader.addEventListener("load", { image.setAttribute("src", this.result); }); reader.readAsDataURL(file); remove_img_btn.style.display = "block"; } if (Edited = = false) { Edited = true; } }) for (let i = 0; i < = slider.length - 1; i+ +) { slider[i].addEventListener('input', editImage); } { let bright = document.querySelector('#brightness'); let blur = document.querySelector('#blur'); let grey = document.querySelector('#greyScale'); let hue = document.querySelector('#hue'); let saturation = document.querySelector('#saturation'); let brightValShow = document.querySelector('#brightVal'); let blurValShow = document.querySelector('#blurVal'); let greyValShow = document.querySelector('#greyVal'); let hueValShow = document.querySelector('#hueVal'); let saturationValShow = document.querySelector('#saturationVal'); let brightVal = bright.value; let greyVal = grey.value; let blurVal = blur.value; let hueVal = hue.value; let satuVal = saturation.value; brightValShow.innerHTML = brightVal; blurValShow.innerHTML = blurVal; greyValShow.innerHTML = greyVal; hueValShow.innerHTML = hueVal; saturationValShow.innerHTML = satuVal; image.style.filter = 'grayscale(' + greyVal + '%) hue-rotate(' + hueVal + 'deg) brightness(' + brightVal + '%) blur(' + blurVal + 'px) saturate(' + satuVal + ')'; context.filter = 'grayscale(' + greyVal + '%) hue-rotate(' + hueVal + 'deg) brightness(' + brightVal + '%) blur(' + blurVal + 'px) saturate(' + satuVal + ')'; clearAll.style.transform = 'translateY(0px)'; } list_options.forEach((list_option, index) = > { list_option.addEventListener('click', { if (image.getAttribute('src') = = "") { alert("Choose Image First"); } else { options.style.transform = 'translateY(0px)'; if (Edited = = true) { canvas.height = image.naturalHeight; canvas.width = image.naturalWidth; for (let i = 0; i < = 4; i+ +) { if (index ! = i) { list_options[i].classList.remove("active_option"); option[i].classList.remove("active_controller"); } else { this.classList.add("active_option"); option[i].classList.add("active_controller"); } } } else { alert("Edit Your Image First"); } } }) }) { if (image.getAttribute('src') ! = "") { if (Edited = = true) { context.drawImage(image, 0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height); var jpegUrl = canvas.toDataURL("image/jpg"); const link = document.createElement("a"); document.body.appendChild(link); link.setAttribute("href", jpegUrl); link.setAttribute("download", File_Name); link.click(); document.body.removeChild(link); } } } clearAll.addEventListener("click", { clearAllRangeValue(); }) function clearAllRangeValue() { image.style.filter = 'none'; context.filter = 'none'; for (let i = 0; i < = slider.length - 1; i+ +) { if (i = = 0) { slider[i].value = '100'; } else { slider[i].value = '0'; } } editImage(); clearAll.style.transform = 'translateY(150px)'; } remove_img_btn.addEventListener("click", { image.src = ""; this.style.display = "none"; choose_image.style.display = "block"; image_holder.style.display = "none"; options.style.transform = 'translateY(80px)'; clearAllRangeValue(); })
Check Live Preview
To show that you like it, give it a thumbs up. I hope you had a good time and picked up some useful information from it.

Note: While designing this photo editor, I came across the following helpful tutorial, and I want to give him two thumbs up. :)

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Photo Editor with the Help of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

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Does developing a photo editor using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript interest you? If you'd want the codes, please feel free to check out my blog right now. It's simple and appealing in its simplicity. Since I'm interested in photo editing and am just getting started, I decided I'd use what little coding knowledge I have to attempt to make my photo editor.

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As your business grows, it's easy to get overwhelmed with the workload.
Do what you do best and outsource the rest.
#Outsource #HowTo #ImageEditingService

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Check out 14 signs that you're better off delegating edits to a pro.

That's where outsourcing comes in. Delegating tasks to others gives you time to focus on more important areas of your business like booking clients or taking on new projects.

What is outsourcing in business?

Outsourcing is when you hire an external business or individual to provide services. These services can be the same, complementary, or supportive to your business's core offerings.

More businesses-photography included-are catching on to the benefits of outsourcing. In fact, the outsourcing market amounted to $92.5 billion in 2019. And as many as 80% of small businesses planned to outsource some aspect of their business in 2021.

Professional product photographers regularly outsource work to virtual assistants, accountants, and second shooters, so why should outsourcing photo editing be any different? Hiring photo editing help is one of the smartest things a photographer can do to help their business. Outsourcing means more bandwidth, optimized business processes, reduced costs, and potentially even new specialities or lines of revenue.

So how do you know you're ready to start outsourcing photo editing? Here are a few indications.

14 signs it's time to outsource photo edits

1. You can't keep up with demand

2. You've maxed out your photographer's bandwidth

3. Your photographer is too expensive but you don't want to sacrifice the quality

4. You have to meet a tight deadline

5. You're too stressed

6. You're stuck creatively

7. You're working a lot of overtime

8. You spend hours doing repetitive edits

9. You're expanding to more commerce channels

10. You have seasonal fluctuations

11. You want to shorten turnaround time

12. You're outside of your expertise

13. You want to focus on growth

14. Your competitive landscape is getting tougher

You can't keep up with demand

Whether you're working for yourself, in-house, or both, there might come a point in time when you can't keep up with the workload. Clients and colleagues are pulling you in different directions, all with urgent requests. More than a quarter of small businesses that outsource do so in order to become more efficient and save time.

That's what happened when Jim Palmer, product photographer at Toysmith, was responsible for keeping up with 100 product launches each week. So, he relied on outsourced photo edits to help him get it all done. In these situations, outsourcing work can be a blessing. You can streamline your workflow by offloading post-processing work to an editing professional.

Simon Woodcock, business owner and photographer of Man With A Camera Photography, also uses outsourcing to increase his freelance bandwidth. "I started outsourcing my retouching and editing work when my event photography work was really busy," he says. "It freed me up to deal with the event clients who often needed images quickly."

You've maxed out your photographer's bandwidth

If you outsource product photography and editing already, you might find that your photographer has a limit in terms of workload. Alee Mills, director of operations at Ice Cream Castles, can relate. Their talented product photographer had a max of 50 edited photos per batch, so Mills started outsourcing extra edits to Path. Doing so helped them shorten their workflow from one week to just one day.

Outsourcing can be a smart move to protect your photographer from burnout. It also helps keep your production schedule on track. A win-win.

Your photographer expensive but you don't want to sacrifice the quality

More than half of those who outsource do so to reduce costs. In fact, 59% of respondents to one survey say their company uses outsourcing services because it's a cost-cutting tool.

In many cases, outsourcing your photo editing gives you the best of both worlds: savings and quality. All you have to do is find an outsource partner who can maintain your level of quality at the right price. For example, Path's image editing services start at just 39¢ per image.

You have to meet a tight deadline

Last-minute product launch? On the way to a trade show? A sudden influx of client work? Concerned about how to outsource photo edits quickly? Whatever your deadline is, it's usually possible for outsourcing teams to meet it.

At Path, for example, the rush fee is just 1.25 times extra if you want your images back in 6 hours (compared to the normal 24-hour turnaround time).

You're too stressed

It's probably no surprise that work is a major source of stress. In fact, worker stress reached a record high in 2020, according to Gallup's Global Workplace 2021 Report. Workload, financial stress, and economic uncertainty all played a part in increased anxiety.

It's easy to fall into the routine and feel like stress at work is normal. It's not. Stress can be bad for your physical and mental health, and if work is too stressful for you, it's time to make a change.

Outsourcing photo edits is a great way to ease some of the burden and delegate part of your workload to someone else.

You're stuck creatively

Employee burnout not only threatens personal health but also productivity and professional success. And unfortunately, almost half of workers reported feeling burned out, and experts believe that the most burned out people have already quit. Workers are putting more value on flexibility and a better work/life balance (both of which outsourcing can help).

If you're feeling burned out or unmotivated, consider outsourcing the photo edits you dread doing or the ones that take the longest to complete. Then you can use that time to work on projects and tasks that are more inspiring-or, use that extra time to rest.

You're working a lot of overtime

Many people get into photography because they're chasing work-life balance: a fulfilling career that lets you pursue your creative passions, with plenty of free time to spend with friends and family and on hobbies.

But many Americans regularly work overtime. According to a study by ADP Research Institute, one in 10 people say they work at least 20 hours a week for free. Although many people felt they had more flexibility working from home, remote work blurred the lines between work and home life.

These are not numbers we like to see. But thankfully, outsourcing can address these workplace challenges and improve satisfaction. You can spend less time editing and more time enjoying your life outside of work.

You spend hours doing repetitive edits

Detailed photo edits like background removal and drop shadow require a lot of concentration and time, and the work can be tedious.

We ran a survey to find out how long it takes to edit each product photo, on average. We found that nearly 24% of professionals spend less than 5 minutes on each shot, but 20% spend more than a half hour. That's 16 images in a single day if you're not working on anything else.

Now imagine what else you could fit into your schedule if you outsourced those edits. Another product shoot? A new client?

Find out the cheapest way to put products on a white background

You're expanding to more commerce channels

Today's retailers can't survive with limited commerce channels. The social commerce industry alone, for example, is expected to grow three times as fast as traditional ecommerce (from $492 billion in 2021 to $1.2 trillion by 2025) according to a recent Accenture report. And third-party marketplaces are starting to outperform traditional ecommerce benchmarks. Website sales, wholesale possibilities, and voice commerce add even more options for customers.

More touchpoints hopefully means more customers and more sales, but it also means more work. Each channel has its own image requirements. That means you not only need to familiarize yourself with each channel's guidelines, but also spend extra time sizing and editing each product photo accordingly. But pro photo editors are familiar with all of these requirements and can execute quickly.

You have seasonal fluctuations

The holiday season is a busy period for any brand. The winter holiday months are responsible for driving a huge number of sales. 2021 holiday sales increased by 14.1% from the year before. With those numbers, retailers need to prep their collateral well in advance. That means lots of photo editing.

Holidays aren't the only busy seasons. Fashion brands have sales fluctuations based on the winter, spring, summer, and fall. Bathing suits, for example, are popular in the spring, as consumers prepare for summer vacation-while warm clothes are in high demand during autumn.

Trade show season and regular product launches can also create a surge in demand for photo editing, making it an ideal time to outsource.

Pro tip: Don't wait until you're in the midst of your busy season to start outsourcing. Find a reliable outsourcing partner beforehand, so you can become acquainted with one another and hit the ground running when it's time.

You want to shorten turnaround time

Looking to improve your turnaround time to impress clients and stakeholders? Or are you hoping to streamline your current workflow? Whatever the reason, outsourcing can help with turnaround time.

For example, a batch of 50 photos that would otherwise take you a full day to complete now takes significantly less when the job is outsourced to a team of editors who can work together to finish the edits.

With outsourcing comes more time to focus on other things, all while ensuring your edits are handled quickly and efficiently.

You're outside of your expertise

Not everyone excels in Photoshop. While powerful, it takes time and practice to learn.

It's okay if Photoshop isn't in your skillset. Learning Photoshop takes hours upon hours-time you could be spending on more valuable and impactful business tasks.

Nisa Zulkifli, co-founder of conscious skincare brand Speak, tried learning Photoshop herself at first. She and her co-founder were running a lean operation, so it made sense to keep everything in-house. They even took a photography course in addition to learning Photoshop. Eventually, they realized that outsourcing to a skilled editor made more sense for business growth.

You want to focus on growth

Whatever "growth" means to you-more clients, more sales, more customers, a promotion, more money, management or new skills-outsourcing will free you up to focus on it. Deloitte conducted a survey on outsourcing and found that many companies use the practice to give themselves a competitive edge. And as many as 19% of small businesses in another survey say their primary motivation for outsourcing is to grow the business. The key to success is to outsource strategically.

Delegating tasks allows you to focus on impactful business functions or projects while keeping overhead costs low. Outsourcing gives you flexibility with staffing, professional access and workload so you have more time to chip away at your larger goals.

Your competitive landscape is getting tougher

Depending on the size and stage of your business, outsourcing can be a fantastic strategy to stay competitive in a crowded industry. More than a quarter of small businesses that outsource do so because they want to work with specialized experts.

Outsourcing tasks such as photo editing increases the efficiency of your business and can level the playing field, especially for smaller or younger brands. Contracting expert help is much more affordable than hiring another full-time staff member.

Outsource smartly: choose a proven partner

There are so many fantastic reasons to outsource your photo edits: more time, more growth, and less stress. If you're unsure where to start, it's worth getting to know the Path team.

Path is well-versed in professional-quality photo editing. Brands all over the world trust the team to provide beautiful images on time.
Find out more about how photo editing works with Path >

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14 Reasons to Start Outsourcing Photo Edits

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Check out 14 signs that you're better off delegating edits to a pro. That's where outsourcing comes in. Delegating tasks to others gives you time to focus on more important areas of your business like booking clients or taking on new projects. Outsourcing is when you hire an external business or individual to provide services.

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Clipping path and image masking: One Photoshop technique is better than the other when things get ... hairy.
#Photoshop #PhotoEditing #ClippingPath

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Clipping path and image masking both accomplish similar results-but the way to get them is different.

Clipping path and image masking are both useful image editing techniques to help you isolate a subject from a background. The main difference for clipping path vs. masking is how you isolate the subject.

Let's take a look at the breakdown for clipping path vs. masking and which tasks each photo editing technique is best suited for.

In this article

What is a clipping path?

Like image masking, clipping path is an image editing technique that allows you to remove the background from an image. You can create a clipping path using the pen tool in Photoshop and then selecting paths that form a closed vector shape to separate a part of the image. Everything inside the path will be selected, and anything outside of the path will be left over.

Clipping path is generally used when the subject of the image has straightforward edges-think boxes, simple accessories, ornaments, etc.

Clipping paths require an experienced, accurate hand. A poorly drawn clipping path can result in images that don't look real or natural, and consumers easily notice even the smallest mistakes. Sloppy images don't make a great impression, and that's typically reflected in sales.

You want your product photos to stand out-in a good way-so you definitely want to consider working with a professional for these types of edits. To give you an idea of the level of detail involved, we zoom into images sometimes as much as 200% so we can get as close to the edge as possible.
Path hand-drawn clipping paths start at 39¢ per image >
Types of clipping paths

Clipping paths don't sound too complicated, but there are a few different types of clipping paths:

Single-layer clipping path

A single-layer clipping path is a simple path created on one layer with the Pen Tool in Photoshop. This is useful when you need to remove or change the background.

Multilayer clipping path

Multilayer clipping paths are created with the Pen Tool to extract multiple parts of an image. This is an advanced type of clipping path used to separate each part of a photo and is especially useful for retouchers, especially if you need to color correct portions of the image.

Illustrator clipping path

Adobe Photoshop isn't the only software you can use to create clipping masks. Adobe Illustrator also has its own path and mask tools. Referred to as "Clipping Masks" in Illustrator, this tool allows you to cut out portions of an image into a specific shape.

What is image masking?

Image masking is another method of image background removal. This technique involves a variety of tools in Photoshop, such as Background Eraser Tool, Magic Eraser Tool, and color separation technique.

Masking is a non-destructive way to adjust a part of your image while leaving the rest untouched. For photo editors, that means more control over where and how the image adjustments take place. It's typically used for images that contain more complex lines, like hair, fur, etc.

Clipping path vs. masking

As we mentioned earlier, the difference between clipping path and image masking is the technique you use to remove the background from an image.

More complex images require image masking. It's technically possible to remove the background from complicated images with clipping path, but the result isn't as appealing as it would've been with image masking. As you can tell in the image above, the photo edited with clipping path looks unnatural.

It's likely that Sigil Scent used a clipping path to achieve the desired result for this image: two stand-out, clean-cut perfume bottles.

And to get the natural-but not messy-outline, the photo editor probably used image masking to remove the background of this Crown Affair scrunchie photo. (Note the use of drop shadow as well.

You can use both techniques in a single image: clipping path for straight, hard edges and masking for the softer or more complex areas. If a photo calls for both image editing techniques, your best bet is to use a clipping path first and then follow up with masking.

For example, this play gym from Lovevery was likely edited with both a clipping path and masking.

The stronger lines of the toy's frame could easily be edited with clipping paths, but masking would be more appropriate for the softer material bottom and baby's hair.

The bottom line on clipping path vs. masking

When it comes to background removal, neither method is superior in a clipping path vs. masking comparison. Both clipping path and masking edits have their place in photo retouching, especially for the wide variety of images needed for ecommerce photos. And both require a practiced hand to execute well.

Interested in professional, affordable photo edits? The Path team does all edits by hand and offers 24/7 support.

Get your quote.

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Clipping Path vs. Masking: What's the Difference?

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Clipping path and image masking both accomplish similar results-but the way to get them is different. Clipping path and image masking are both useful image editing techniques to help you isolate a subject from a background. The main difference for clipping path vs. masking is how you isolate the subject.

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"""Oooh, it has pockets!""

""Love the color ... and that fit!""

*Adds to cart.

That's what showcasing your product can do for your sales. It's like surround sound ... but for your eyes."

#motiongraphics #ecommercesales #pathcontent

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360-Degree Product Photography: Go Full Circle to Drive More Sales

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Showing customers every angle of your product can help you drive more conversions.