Style your product
Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2024 9:45 am
3.
Make your products look their best by prepping them before the shoot and styling each product between shots. Yes, photo editing plays a big part in getting the best product photography possible, but you can save yourself a lot of time and headaches by styling your products well during the shoot.
Remove any visible labels, stickers, or other tags. Look for any damage that may have occurred during transport; samples may travel many miles and experience a rough road. Repair any damage you find.
Everything counts to achieve the best product photography workflow.
Iron or steam your product on the day of your shoot to avoid unsightly wrinkles. Lint rollers can quickly remove dust, threads, and other unwanted elements.
Styling is much more than combining attractive wardrobe combinations or creative elements.
If you're photographing clothing on a model or mannequin, use clips, pins, and garment tape to create a flattering fit. Consider hiring a professional stylist - they'll come with their own kit and ideas, allowing you to manage more elevated aspects of the shoot.
Invisible mannequin.
The invisible mannequin or ghosting technique canadian cell phone number eliminates the distraction of mannequins in post-production.
If you don’t have the budget for a model and don’t want the distraction of mannequins in your product images, you can use a 3D post-production technique called “ ghosting ” or the “invisible mannequin.”
It's a classic product photography workflow.
If you want invisible mannequin images, you need to plan ahead so you get the right photos. Then, you can combine multiple images in post-production.
4. Capture your shot
The actual capture of your image should be fairly straightforward once you've completed the preparation and setup. Good preparation will allow you to enjoy the moment. We'll worry about how to optimize your images later.
Camera settings.
Take test shots with different camera settings. Document your final selections.
Spend some time taking test shots and adjusting your camera settings. If you're not familiar with aperture, ISO, white balance, and all the other icons and acronyms on your camera, take some time to review this DIY camera settings guide .
Use image capture software. Capture One Pro and Adobe Lightroom are two powerful and popular programs that can speed up your workflow while improving the quality of your images. Both connect directly to most cameras and allow you to review, catalog, and adjust your images instantly.
Capture One Pro's annual price of €300 is considerably more expensive than Adobe's €10-per-month Creative Cloud photography plan (which includes Photoshop and Lightroom), but both offer free 30-day trials so you can assess their value. Sony camera owners can take advantage of a lighter Capture One Express option for free for 30 days.
If you're shooting static or flat products, you may prefer to capture your shot directly from your computer with the press of a laptop's space bar rather than a camera button.
If you're photographing moving products, such as a model, you should get behind the camera to make sure you're truly seeing the moment. Take as many photos as you need to get a final image you're proud of.
5. Process your photographs
After you've captured your images, it's time to process them for the web. Your basic goal in post-production is to make navigation easier and increase conversion rates through high-quality, low-bandwidth images. You need your pages to load quickly , but without compromising on resolution.
Optimize photos.
Use consistent alignments, margins, backgrounds, shadows, and other elements in your product images.
Consistency means quality when it comes to product images. You should use the same background, the same margins, the same alignment, the same shadow, and other common properties in your images. Consistency keeps the customer’s focus on the products, rather than on irrelevant distractions like changing backgrounds. And consistency means attention to detail, because it increases your professionalism in the eyes of your customers.
Post-production can be broken down into two phases: batch processing and individual processing. Batch processing is when you adjust all of your images at once, and can often be done with your image capture software. You can make color adjustments in Lightroom for your images in bulk, avoiding repetitive, time-consuming edits.
While you can use free photo editing software , Adobe Photoshop allows you to do more sophisticated batch processing through the use of Photoshop Actions. Actions allow you to record a sequence of steps and turn it into an automated process that you can then apply to all similar images at once. It's great for adjustments like exposure, contrast, hue, and resizing.
The more you can streamline your photo editing process, the better. Editing several photos individually isn't a big deal, but if you have hundreds to edit, that's going to add up.
Some steps need to be done manually for each individual image. For example, you may want to remove the original background from your image and replace it with a pure white one.
A white background eliminates distractions and also reduces file size, because white backgrounds have less detail to save. Even the most skilled image editor can take a couple of minutes to remove the background from an image while maintaining professional quality.
Consider outsourcing post-production. Digital processes are some of the most advantageous to outsource because there is no physical delivery required, there is a global pool of skilled labor, and quick turnaround times are often available. The biggest challenges in outsourcing are management, communication, and ensuring your quality standards are met.
Outsourcing post-production can save you time and money if you find the right partner.
If you're looking for a partner for outsourced image editing, you should consider more than just price.
Check out reviews and past work to make sure they can deliver the quality you need. See if they are socially responsible, easy to communicate with (language, time zone, support hours, phone availability, etc.), and able to scale with your needs.
Make your products look their best by prepping them before the shoot and styling each product between shots. Yes, photo editing plays a big part in getting the best product photography possible, but you can save yourself a lot of time and headaches by styling your products well during the shoot.
Remove any visible labels, stickers, or other tags. Look for any damage that may have occurred during transport; samples may travel many miles and experience a rough road. Repair any damage you find.
Everything counts to achieve the best product photography workflow.
Iron or steam your product on the day of your shoot to avoid unsightly wrinkles. Lint rollers can quickly remove dust, threads, and other unwanted elements.
Styling is much more than combining attractive wardrobe combinations or creative elements.
If you're photographing clothing on a model or mannequin, use clips, pins, and garment tape to create a flattering fit. Consider hiring a professional stylist - they'll come with their own kit and ideas, allowing you to manage more elevated aspects of the shoot.
Invisible mannequin.
The invisible mannequin or ghosting technique canadian cell phone number eliminates the distraction of mannequins in post-production.
If you don’t have the budget for a model and don’t want the distraction of mannequins in your product images, you can use a 3D post-production technique called “ ghosting ” or the “invisible mannequin.”
It's a classic product photography workflow.
If you want invisible mannequin images, you need to plan ahead so you get the right photos. Then, you can combine multiple images in post-production.
4. Capture your shot
The actual capture of your image should be fairly straightforward once you've completed the preparation and setup. Good preparation will allow you to enjoy the moment. We'll worry about how to optimize your images later.
Camera settings.
Take test shots with different camera settings. Document your final selections.
Spend some time taking test shots and adjusting your camera settings. If you're not familiar with aperture, ISO, white balance, and all the other icons and acronyms on your camera, take some time to review this DIY camera settings guide .
Use image capture software. Capture One Pro and Adobe Lightroom are two powerful and popular programs that can speed up your workflow while improving the quality of your images. Both connect directly to most cameras and allow you to review, catalog, and adjust your images instantly.
Capture One Pro's annual price of €300 is considerably more expensive than Adobe's €10-per-month Creative Cloud photography plan (which includes Photoshop and Lightroom), but both offer free 30-day trials so you can assess their value. Sony camera owners can take advantage of a lighter Capture One Express option for free for 30 days.
If you're shooting static or flat products, you may prefer to capture your shot directly from your computer with the press of a laptop's space bar rather than a camera button.
If you're photographing moving products, such as a model, you should get behind the camera to make sure you're truly seeing the moment. Take as many photos as you need to get a final image you're proud of.
5. Process your photographs
After you've captured your images, it's time to process them for the web. Your basic goal in post-production is to make navigation easier and increase conversion rates through high-quality, low-bandwidth images. You need your pages to load quickly , but without compromising on resolution.
Optimize photos.
Use consistent alignments, margins, backgrounds, shadows, and other elements in your product images.
Consistency means quality when it comes to product images. You should use the same background, the same margins, the same alignment, the same shadow, and other common properties in your images. Consistency keeps the customer’s focus on the products, rather than on irrelevant distractions like changing backgrounds. And consistency means attention to detail, because it increases your professionalism in the eyes of your customers.
Post-production can be broken down into two phases: batch processing and individual processing. Batch processing is when you adjust all of your images at once, and can often be done with your image capture software. You can make color adjustments in Lightroom for your images in bulk, avoiding repetitive, time-consuming edits.
While you can use free photo editing software , Adobe Photoshop allows you to do more sophisticated batch processing through the use of Photoshop Actions. Actions allow you to record a sequence of steps and turn it into an automated process that you can then apply to all similar images at once. It's great for adjustments like exposure, contrast, hue, and resizing.
The more you can streamline your photo editing process, the better. Editing several photos individually isn't a big deal, but if you have hundreds to edit, that's going to add up.
Some steps need to be done manually for each individual image. For example, you may want to remove the original background from your image and replace it with a pure white one.
A white background eliminates distractions and also reduces file size, because white backgrounds have less detail to save. Even the most skilled image editor can take a couple of minutes to remove the background from an image while maintaining professional quality.
Consider outsourcing post-production. Digital processes are some of the most advantageous to outsource because there is no physical delivery required, there is a global pool of skilled labor, and quick turnaround times are often available. The biggest challenges in outsourcing are management, communication, and ensuring your quality standards are met.
Outsourcing post-production can save you time and money if you find the right partner.
If you're looking for a partner for outsourced image editing, you should consider more than just price.
Check out reviews and past work to make sure they can deliver the quality you need. See if they are socially responsible, easy to communicate with (language, time zone, support hours, phone availability, etc.), and able to scale with your needs.