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Shop Makeover Series: Photographing for Success


Story by contrary, EtsyStore Published on January 9, 2008 in How-To	Photo by sugarElf

As part of our Shop Makeover series, here we focus on photography.

The absolute best way to give your Etsy shop a makeover is to take the best possible photographs of your products, no question.

Why is it such a big deal? Photographs are the number one visual description you can give to a shopper when browsing on Etsy: they are the first step in attracting people to your items. Think about it: when you shop in a store, you like to look at an item, maybe pick it up, feel its weight and texture. These are all ways of shopping and making decisions during the shopping process, so you want to be on top of your game since you can’t physically hand your products to your shopper. You need to show them, through your photographs, what your product is at its best, what is feels like, how big it is, all sides of it, and how it might function in their world. The best part is, you don’t have to be a professional photographer to capture professional looking photographs of your products.

Questions to ask yourself when taking photos:

• What type of environment does my product live in?

Creating or “staging” an environment for your photo is a great way to market your items to shoppers; it gives them a sense of the function and also creates a feeling or mood that might be desirable to your shopper. To find creative staging ideas, flip through your favorite product or clothing catalogues and check out the different ways you can group items together to maximize the usability of your products.

Hot tip: Does your product function outside or inside? Photographing an item outside (that doesn’t belong in an outside environment) can throw your shopper off. You can photograph your items inside with great natural light next to a windowsill!

• What type of background works best for my products?

Photographing with backgrounds suited to your products is key. Backgrounds can be tricky, and if they aren’t done well, can distract your buyer from looking at your item. You can never go wrong using a solid colored background, at least to start out with. Make your products “pop” and stand out to the eye by using a lighter colored background for dark colored items, and vice versa. If you have a muted item, use a dark background. Experiment with different backgrounds until you find what works best with your products.

Hot tip: Hard cover books, cardstock, ironed flat fabric, wood, and scrapbooking paper are all great backgrounds to play around with. Stay away from using your floor, bedspread, carpet, grass, sidewalk, or other everyday items as backgrounds: they make your photos look less professional.

• What type of lighting works best for my products?

In most cases, natural lighting is the best type to highlight your products. You can achieve the look of natural lighting by setting your products near a windowsill and taking angled shots. Don’t forget to take advantage of using the" macro" setting on your digital camera to pick out those fine details. Also, set your EV white balance to enhance the brightness of your photos.

Don’t have windows where you live? Take your items outside, either in the morning or afternoon when the sun is not directly overhead, and set your products down on a solid background that you can crop. If you can’t work with natural lighting or it doesn’t maximize the look of your products, try making and using a light box with this simple tutorial.

Hot tip: Never use the flash on your camera for product shots. It washes out natural coloring and details in your products.

• Am I editing my photographs to maximize my sales on Etsy?

Believe it or not, you can edit your photos in a way to help your products stand out. When editing your photos, crop them the way you want them to appear in a square; this is how they will appear in your shop. Crop your images in a way that focuses directly on the image without too much background or space remaining to distract your viewer.

Cropping detailed shots of your images is an effective way to show off your product and make your shopper feel like they can see it up close (almost as if they are picking it up themselves). Photoshop and Gimp are both well known and effective photo editing programs. If you don’t already have a photo editing program on your computer or just don’t understand how your current program works, download Picasa. Picasa is a free downloadable photo editing program made by Google that is super user friendly; it allows you to crop, change color, adjust lighting, sharpen, and many other editing tools!

Hot tip: Scroll through the Time Machine 2 sold items or the Gift Guides and click on the pictures that jump out most to you. Take a look at the cropping and editing of these photos and use them as your inspiration.

Things you can do immediately to give your shop an instant photo makeover:

• Take all of your new product listing photos in natural light, next to a windowsill on some sort of a solid background, with no flash on your camera.
• Take several different angled shots of the item from close and far away.
• Once you have the photos loaded on your computer, you can edit them to your liking and delete all but the five you will use for your listing.
• Look over the items currently listed in your shop and take the time to re-shoot them using your new photography skills. Trust me, it will pay off in the end.

Still need some help? Watch this little video we made to help you along with the photographing process.

Now go retake your photos and see what a difference it makes in the way your shop looks!

Tags	Etsy Labs, How-To, HOW-TO, photographing, photography, Seller Handbook, selling, Shop Makeover Series, videos, Your Shop 101

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62 comments Login to add your own!

Jan. 9, 2008 at 11:09 a.m.

ColibriDreams

Thanks for the article! I checked few of my first photos, and I'm definitely going to shoot them again... Maybe I even relist them.

Jan. 9, 2008 at 11:41 a.m.

yumiyumi

This is such a great article :) I've been thinking about photographing my art to give my customers a better idea of what they look like in person and I really appreciate the tips!

Jan. 9, 2008 at 12:01 p.m.

spugmeistress

Just to add to the image-editing options, for people who might not be able to download programs to their computer or want something quick and easy, websites like http://www.phixr.com or http://www.pxn8.com might be the answer. also flickr has in built photo-editing now too.

Jan. 9, 2008 at 12:08 p.m.

tashamck

http://www.picnik.com is another online photo editing option and it works great alongside flickr.

Jan. 9, 2008 at 1:04 p.m.

threemusesart

Wonderful article... I had to learn most of this through asking a million questions and taking a million product photos. Thanks for putting this together!

Jan. 9, 2008 at 1:20 p.m.

EtsyStore

I'm so glad you like it and are getting some good information from the article! Thanks so much for all the tips and links! Keep them coming.

http://webresizer.com is also a great photo editor that we use here in the Labs!

Mary

Jan. 9, 2008 at 2:29 p.m.

MayaBella

AH!!! I have had the worst time getting my pictures right. I am going to go work on it more using these tips. I swear im going to lose all my hair by the time I get good pics!

Jan. 9, 2008 at 2:35 p.m.

MayaBella

I think a problem I have is that the light coming in the window is different from day to day. So my pics are not consistent. It is so frustrating! I have a lot of confidence in my product but I dont think my pictures do them justice! :(

Jan. 9, 2008 at 4:32 p.m.

hippiehempstress

i followed most of the advice on this page, and boy did it make a difference!
here are some of my old pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14557330...

here's my shop with the NEW photos:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=...

I've been getting lots more views and hearts, just in the last 2 or 3 hours since i changed them! i wish i had taken a screen shot of my shop before... it was horrid. *L*

My friend who's a web designer is working on a new banner and avatar for me. When that's done i'll be good to go!

Jan. 9, 2008 at 5:28 p.m.

bluevalentinepress

Thanks so much for a great article. I've been following the whole series and finding it very helpful. Today I took the time to re-do most of my photos using many of your tips. Thanks!

Beth

Jan. 9, 2008 at 5:28 p.m.

quirkybags

There are some great suggestions here.

I would love to see an article specifically about photographing large items. For example, large totes, blankets, quilts, furniture and similar items.

Jan. 9, 2008 at 7:27 p.m.

PrettyPennyPlastics

A++ Would watch again!

Jan. 10, 2008 at 4:48 p.m.

makemesmile

Great makeover, hippiehempstress!

(I'm still trying to find my perfect photo setting.)=^x^=

Jan. 12, 2008 at 1:26 a.m.

GracefulBabies

thank thank I love the part about the models. I sell childrens clothing but I wasnt sure if I should continue having models or use a body form. I am going to keep the models and just a use a consitant background. Thank you!

Jan. 18, 2008 at 3:49 a.m.

suella

Thanks a load. I'm still playing with the camera and lighting but I edited some previous items with new pictures and I think it's made such a huge difference. Definitely worth taking the time to mess around.

Jan. 23, 2008 at 8:04 p.m.

ArtFlair

I decided to try some new photo's of my artwork. (Encouraged by fellow forum goers.) I started looking at my "subjects" as though they were a 3D object and re-shot most of my work. Fingers crossed- hope it pays off.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22904158...

Jan. 26, 2008 at 1:03 a.m.

HelloHobbies

great article and amazing video :D

May 22, 2008 at 3:36 p.m.

theflashbulb

thanks for the great tips (and it looks like you guys had a lot of fun making the video)

May 22, 2008 at 6:03 p.m.

BlackStarDesigns

Great info in this video!

June 25, 2008 at 5:30 a.m.

tonyaomps

First thing in the morning I am going to take new pictures of my items for sale using the tips from the video! Thanks again!

Aug. 14, 2008 at 11:14 p.m.

LynnsBeadsNThings

Some great tips here! I have revamped once but think I need to give it another go!
Thanks

Aug. 15, 2008 at 2:20 a.m.

SugarPopKreations

can I ask the default size for pics, no matter how I crop-resize them my pics always seem to get cut off. I use paint shop pro and even tried a screenshot to get the size with no luck. Thanks for the great article.

Aug. 15, 2008 at 1:25 p.m.

daniellexo

Make sure your default size is at least 430x430 pixels square!

Sept. 20, 2008 at 2:26 p.m.

CoolSunshine

i have a ways to go, but i am having fun with props and background.

Oct. 26, 2008 at 5:06 p.m.

snowfaerie

Great ideas for re doing photos! I'll be sure to try some of these! Thank you.

Dec. 1, 2008 at 1:38 p.m.

twistedsisterarts

I wish I would have seen this sooner. I'm gonna get busy.

Dec. 23, 2008 at 10:59 p.m.

PDXfabricdeli

Good advise, I have yet to master the realy "good" close up. Thanks

Jan. 12, 2009 at 10:59 p.m.

inkets

tHAnk yOU, vEry HeLpfUl!!!
sOoOoOoOo mAnY gReAt phOtOs oN EtSy it'S cLEar iT rEaLly mAkEs aLL tHe dIfFerEnCE!!!!!

Jan. 13, 2009 at 10:17 p.m.

jemily

Thank you so much for the informative information on photos!

I have revamped my shop!

Old photos:
http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction....
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?...

New photos:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?...
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?...

What a difference!

Jan. 22, 2009 at 11:13 a.m.

RockOnAccessories

awesome article, thanks for all the tips....I'm off to re-photograph!

Feb. 15, 2009 at 4:54 p.m.

SweetMelissaDesigns

Great tips! Thank you!

Feb. 20, 2009 at 12:28 p.m.

sosustainable

this article is super helpful! thanks.

Feb. 23, 2009 at 12:16 p.m.

rosalee2

Thanks for all the tips,very helpful.

March 3, 2009 at 1 p.m.

belladonnabaubles

thanks for the great advice! i spent hours photographing my items and then when i went to upload all of them, it said my pixel size was too large. i was stumped! is this what the "macro" setting does?

March 3, 2009 at 5:24 p.m.

kellee11

Thanks so much for this visual article. My picture taking is beginner at best, but the info in this article was very helpful. Makes me want to re-take most of my pics. Thanks again!

March 4, 2009 at 12:39 p.m.

2007Mommy

Oh Thanks so much! Now I'm on the hunt for supplies so I can improve my shots! Thanks so much!

March 29, 2009 at 12:46 p.m.

grandmasjewelry777

Thanks so much GMJ

April 13, 2009 at 6:16 a.m.

SarikArt

I have been giving a lot of time to my photo's and have been very happy with all the positice feedback I have had from friends and family. I use a leaf as the background for my jewerlly and it has really worked for my items.
Great video, thank you for allways getting so much great info to us all etsy Sellers!

May 12, 2009 at 8:11 p.m.

snipandtuckdesigns

Thanks so much for the help I need it my photos just don't POP hopefully now they will. I'm going out now to give it a go.

June 11, 2009 at 7:21 p.m.

ChateauDesigns

Oh boy, I think I'm going to have to re-take my pictures. Hope I have better results this time. Thanks for all the tips.

June 11, 2009 at 7:58 p.m.

PrudenceOctavia

the right picture does make all the difference - great tips, thanks

June 11, 2009 at 11:30 p.m.

CandiedBeauty

awesome thanks!

June 12, 2009 at 9:31 a.m.

LilLizaJane

I have the same problem as Belladonnabaubles! I've taken LOADS of photos in preparation for listing for the first time and they've taken me AGES and now I find the file size is too large for your site. Spent a lot on a new camera to do the job too! I'm not a happy bunny. Can any of these editing sites reduce the file size?

June 12, 2009 at 9:59 a.m.

SewManyFreckles

Great tips! I can't wait to try them out.

June 25, 2009 at 3:54 p.m.

steampunkjunq

Very good information! Thanks! :)

June 25, 2009 at 4:12 p.m.

usnavyretiredvet

Great article!

You mentioned that Etsy crops listing photos to 430 pixels wide. When I joined Etsy just over 2 years ago, the instructions stated they need to be 1,000 by 1,000 pixels. Has that requirement been changed? All of my listing photos are 1000 by 1000 pixels, and they all show within the frame edges. Am I missing something?

June 26, 2009 at 12:09 p.m.

animalartista

great article! Thanks for the tips!

June 27, 2009 at 11:46 p.m.

littlemoandfriends

always a good read when i want to tidy up my shop sometimes and photograph my stationery and art! cheers!

July 1, 2009 at 11:43 p.m.

LaComtesseDeTalaru

Oh goody. I just bought a light fold up box today and was wondering how to improve my pics as I am not entirely happy with them. I hope to update most of the shots this weekend.

July 13, 2009 at 11:05 p.m.

suwanneesongdesigns

Thanks much for the info. As a newbie, it was quite helpful. I'll be taking some new photos tomorrow, for sure!!!

July 14, 2009 at 5:50 p.m.

kinaloon

I'm taking new photos tonight, thanks for the tips.

July 31, 2009 at 10:53 a.m.

Tina669

Great info in this video!

Aug. 8, 2009 at 2:26 a.m.

Pearlk2

Thanks for the tips!

Aug. 10, 2009 at 6:18 a.m.

Lindstar

Now if only I had a camera that worked. :( Mine gave up the ghost last time I took product shots. It was old. Didn't seem to be happy with all the zooming I was doing.

Sept. 6, 2009 at 1:09 a.m.