So that you’ve determined to start out a web based retailer and also you’ve obtained a minimum of one product you’re excited to start out promoting. Your product may look nice sitting in your bed room or dwelling workplace, however how are you going to be sure that it actually stands out within the period of Instagram filters?
Don’t sweat it. You don’t must turn out to be knowledgeable photographer to take attention-grabbing photographs of your merchandise. On this article, you’ll be taught, step-by-step, learn how to do telephone product images utilizing some pure mild and product picture app.
6 steps to grasp telephone product images
- Use a room with good lighting
- Select your smartphone
- Get a mini tripod
- Arrange your backdrop
- Use white bounce boards
- Arrange a diffuser sheet if the solar is simply too shiny
Most ecommerce retailer house owners know the fundamentals of telephone product images: Discover a white background and a few pure mild, select the best high quality setting and backbone attainable in your telephone—and click on! You might have a product picture. It is a nice begin.
However there are a number of further instruments and equipment that may significantly improve your photographs and reveal the worth of your product to let customers envision it of their lives.
If you wish to turn out to be knowledgeable photographer together with your smartphone and take superb product pictures, right here’s learn how to construct your setup.
1. Use a room with good lighting
First, discover a room in your house with a well-lit window. The larger the window, the extra pure mild you’ll have for bringing your product to life.

Taking product photographs nearer to the window creates a softer mild with darker shadows. Being farther away from the sunshine supply provides you with lighter, shaper shadows.
2. Select your smartphone
Most smartphone cameras today make nice DSLR options for product images. The upper the megapixel rely, the higher your telephone product images will come out.
You should utilize any smartphone with digicam, however goal to get your palms on a more recent mannequin with a 12 megapixel digicam or extra.
3. Get a mini tripod
Mini tripods can vary from cheap to expensive, however the excellent news is, regardless of your price range, they’re funding with excessive payoff. A mini tripod will cut back digicam shake and assist standardize picture angles and magnificence in your product line.
If you need a easy mini tripod, think about the Manfrotto Pixi mini tripod package. It’s nice for rookies, it holds your telephone securely in place with a gripping clamp, and it may be positioned proper in your sweep to simply seize good, high-quality photographs of your merchandise.

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4. Arrange your backdrop
Place your white backdrop behind your product to offer your images a clear and constant look and to eradicate distractions. You can use a white paper sweep or purchase cheap poster board out of your native drug retailer or artwork store. You’ll additionally want a desk to put your backdrop on.
You should utilize tape or Sticky Tack to carry your backdrop down or stick your product to the backdrop.
All the time preserve your backdrop white. A white backdrop displays pure mild onto the product and provides you an evenly lit picture. It additionally makes the enhancing course of simpler if it is advisable take away the background. A cream or off-white colour will make enhancing and lighting troublesome. Additionally, attempt to place your backdrop not solely behind your product however beneath it as nicely.

5. Use white bounce boards
Controlling the lighting is vital when studying learn how to take product photographs with an iPhone or Android system. Bounce boards assist reduce robust shadows and create a extra balanced lighting surroundings to convey out the best particulars of your product. You should buy a white bounce board made of froth on Amazon.
6. Arrange a diffuser sheet if the solar is simply too shiny
When the lighting is simply too harsh, these sheets will soften the sunshine. You’ll find diffuser sheets on Amazon or make one at dwelling with parchment paper, a frosted bathe curtain, or printer paper.
Now that you simply’ve obtained your setup prepared, let’s speak about learn how to use pure mild when taking product photographs with a smartphone.
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Easy methods to use pure lighting for product images
Pictures lighting will be your greatest good friend or worst enemy when studying telephone product images. Get it proper and also you’ll have some superb product photographs in your palms. Get it fallacious and no picture retouching will assist save your picture.
There are three key suggestions which can be essential for getting the very best photographs out of your photoshoot.
1. Shoot in a well-lit room. Pure mild by a window is a good choice versus a photograph studio with synthetic mild. First, you in all probability have entry to a window (and it’s free). Second, it comes from a single route, which generates pure shadows and provides texture to your merchandise.
Think about the climate: Is it sunny or cloudy? To get the look you’re going for, you could choose just a little overcast versus full daylight. As you’ll see within the instance under, it may well make a giant distinction on the shadows and highlights in your picture.

2. Place your setup near the window. Goal for 90 levels to the correct or left of your setup. Plan to start out your photoshoot on the brightest time of day. If the solar is simply too shiny, you’ll be able to at all times use a diffuser sheet to melt the sunshine.

No matter you do, keep away from onerous mild in any respect prices, as it may well make colours look saturated and can spotlight the tiniest flaws in your product—issues individuals usually can’t see with the bare eye.
3. Management pure mild with foam boards and reflectors. Typically the solar will abruptly disappear behind the clouds mid-shoot. If that occurs, don’t fear, use your foam boards to bounce and intensify the sunshine to fill shadows.
In the event you’re utilizing a reflector, you’ll be able to manipulate the sunshine reflecting onto your product by shifting the reflector nearer or additional away. It will assist mirror pure mild from the solar again onto the product.
Bear in mind to check completely different angles with the reflector to seek out the correct steadiness between shadows and lighting.
Finest digicam angles for product images
In relation to taking product photographs in your ecommerce web site, some angles work higher than others. Providing completely different views of your product to a consumer may assist reply any questions they’ve that your product descriptions don’t clarify.
Give as many various viewpoints as attainable to focus on key options of your product. An all-around view is extra participating and might help customers envision themselves carrying or utilizing your product, which might result in extra gross sales in your retailer.
It’s additionally necessary to incorporate close-up pictures of your merchandise as nicely. Shut-ups allow you to seize options that showcase the standard of your product, together with print element, material, texture, or product utilization, and spotlight particular components of your product that customers would need to examine in a retail retailer.
Whether or not you’re capturing clothes images or footwear, there are the 5 digicam angles you must take a look at in your picture shoot:
- Eye degree. This view reveals the product as you’d see it trying straight on.
- Excessive angle.This view reveals the product as if you happen to’re trying down at it from an angle.
- Low angle. This view reveals the product as if you happen to’re trying up at it from the ground.
- Fowl’s eye. This view reveals the product as if you happen to’re standing over it.
- Slanted. This view reveals the product from one facet.

In the event you’re new to telephone product images, it’s beneficial you retain your smartphone and tripod in the identical spot through the shoot and rotate your product to alter the angle you need in your picture. Once you rotate the product versus the digicam, your remaining pictures will all be framed the identical, plus, you’ll guarantee consistency and cut back picture enhancing after the shoot.
Easy methods to shoot telephone product images
Now that you’ve all of your gear arrange and perceive the completely different digicam angles and lighting, it’s time to shoot some photographs.
Earlier than you begin, use the next guidelines to ensure your Android or iPhone digicam is able to shoot.
- Put together your telephone. Ensure your telephone is charged and you’ve got backup storage in your photographs.
- Arrange your white steadiness. To set the white steadiness in keeping with the sunshine temperature in your setup, contact the WB button, then contact the white background.
- Test your publicity. Faucet the round Publicity button, then contact your product so the digicam is aware of to reveal it.
- Hold all the things in focus. Contact the round Focus button, then contact your product so the digicam is aware of to correctly concentrate on the product.
- Ensure you lock your digicam settings. After you’re completed adjusting these settings, faucet every one once more to lock the settings in place. It will cease the digicam from mechanically adjusting the settings whilst you’re taking pictures.
When you lock your settings, you’re prepared to start out capturing!
After your first shot, check out your picture and see if you happen to suppose it must be brightened or darkened so as to obtain a correct publicity. In the event you suppose the publicity wants tweaking, contact the +/- button under the round Focus button and pull the slider up or down to alter the publicity.
Widespread errors with telephone product images
As a result of so many individuals have smartphones, taking product photographs with them is extra accessible than ever earlier than. That additionally means there are many widespread errors. Making your self conscious of those pitfalls might help you keep away from them.
Bear in mind to keep away from the next three widespread errors in telephone product images so you may get the very best pictures:
- Zooming in. Your telephone’s zoom operate isn’t really an ideal device to make use of for product pictures. It significantly reduces picture high quality. In the event you want a more in-depth shot, it’s higher to crop when enhancing.
- Utilizing the front-facing digicam. The front-facing “selfie digicam” sometimes isn’t pretty much as good because the again digicam. This may occasionally range relying in your telephone’s specs. However typically talking, the rear-facing digicam has extra megapixels, which results in larger picture high quality.
- Turning on the flash. Your telephone’s flash will overexpose the picture and mess up the colours. It’s higher to make use of pure lighting and think about the recommendation outlined above.
Cellphone product images traits
Ecommerce is continually evolving, and this impacts the best way you method product imagery. It’s good to remain apprised of present traits to know what prospects are searching for and what is smart in your model.
Listed below are three common product images traits to bear in mind as you shoot together with your smartphone:
- 360-degree photographs. Developments in know-how have enabled manufacturers to supply full 360-degree views of their merchandise. And, although these may seem to operate like movies, 360-degree pictures are literally a sequence of a number of nonetheless photographs.
- AI picture enhancing. AI has helped companies turn out to be extra environment friendly in lots of areas, together with product images. Whereas you need to use AI to take away backgrounds out of your telephone product pictures, it’s nonetheless necessary to fastidiously examine the standard, as these instruments can result in numerous imperfections.
- Product movies. Not essentially a brand new pattern, relatively one which continues to develop, extra manufacturers are utilizing product movies. In reality, 89% of individuals say watching a video has satisfied them to make a purchase order. Like 360-degree photographs, movies give customers a extra full view of the product. They will additionally see it in motion, fairly actually.
Easy methods to edit product photographs
The thought of enhancing photographs could sound intimidating, however it’s really very easy together with your smartphone.
- Select a product images app. Go to the app retailer in your telephone and obtain an enhancing app for product photographs. Some smartphone photographers choose cellular apps like Lightroom or Snapseed; others choose picture enhancing software program for his or her desktops.
- Open up your enhancing app. Select the picture you need to put together in your on-line retailer. Most photographs want just a little tweaking to really make them shine.
- Use the app to make a number of fundamental edits. These embrace brightness, distinction, sharpness, highlights/shadows, and white steadiness. Don’t be tempted by filters, borders, tints, and oversaturation. Your aim is to make your product look superb and make it stand out. Attempt to make it look as shut as attainable to what the product appears to be like like in actual life.
- Save presets. After you edit your first picture, save the settings as a preset so you’ll be able to apply the identical changes to different photographs out of your shoot. Whereas presets allow you to save time, be sure that to examine every picture after making use of the preset to see if there are any further tweaks so that you can make.
- Apply a white layer background. Take away any blemishes or creases out of your background by changing your background with a white layer. Because you took photographs on a white background, it’ll be simple to isolate the product and add a layer.
As soon as your product picture appears to be like clear, crisp, and delightful, add it to your Shopify retailer and put your onerous work to make use of!
5 greatest apps for product images
Selecting the best enhancing apps is a crucial a part of mastering product images with a smartphone. Many include an in-app editor, however there are many third-party apps that provide you with all the things it is advisable make your product stand out.
A number of the top-rated product picture app choices are:
1. Lightroom
Accessible for: iOS and Android.
Value: Requires Adobe Artistic Cloud subscription, beginning at $9.99/month.

Some would say Adobe Lightroom is the very best app for product images in the marketplace. It options easy-to-use instruments like sliders and presets to create photographs that look precisely the way you need them. Lightroom can be choice if you happen to plan to edit photographs in your pc. You can begin on cellular, net, or desktop, and once you make edits, they are going to be mechanically utilized throughout units.
If you wish to get probably the most out of Lightroom, you’ll be able to join the Adobe Artistic Cloud Pictures plan, which incorporates the picture enhancing app for desktop, cellular, and net, plus the newest model of Photoshop for $9.99 monthly.
2. Photoshop Specific
Accessible for: iOS, Android, and Home windows.
Value: Requires Adobe Artistic Cloud subscription, beginning at $9.99/month.

You’ve in all probability heard of Adobe Photoshop and what it may well do. With Photoshop Specific, you get all of its nice picture enhancing options proper in your smartphone. You should utilize product photographs out of your telephone or take them contained in the app. Then simply alter the hue, brightness, publicity, and distinction to create superb photographs in your retailer.
3. Snapseed
Accessible for: iOS and Android.
Value: Free.

Snapseed is a free images enhancing software program owned by Google. The app brings the ability of knowledgeable pc editor to your telephone, with many options to edit photographs in methods you’ll often solely discover in costly software program. Newbie photographers even have extra utility with Snapseed utilizing Stacks, which helps you to revert your edits to an earlier model and makes it simple to save lots of settings and apply them.
4. VSCO
Accessible for: iOS and Android.
Value: Free model obtainable; annual paid plans are $29.99 or $59.99.

VSCO has all the fundamental enhancing instruments similar to publicity, contract, colour steadiness, and extra, letting you create unimaginable photographs on the go. It’s an ideal product picture app to boost photographs and doubles as an efficient Instagram device with its big library of filters and infinite choices to customise your photographs.
5. Photon
Accessible for: iOS.
Value: Free,

Photon is a good choice for each skilled and newbie smartphone photographers. You should utilize Photon not solely as an editor but additionally as a digicam in your product shoots. The product images app permits you to set publicity and focus and features a stabilizer, timer, and extra so it feels such as you’re capturing with a high-quality DSLR digicam lens.
In the event you choose to edit photographs in your pc, you need to use Photon to seize product photographs in RAW. This makes positive no data or knowledge will get compressed and you’ll produce larger high quality product photographs.
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Getting probably the most out of your product images
Studying learn how to take photographs on an iPhone or Android appears onerous at first, however after a number of instances behind the digicam, you’ll be a professional. With all the above data, you’re nicely in your strategy to mastering product images and promoting extra photographs in your retailer. In some unspecified time in the future, you may even think about promoting your images on-line.
Have you ever come throughout any apps for product photographs or telephone product images suggestions along with these ways? Share them within the feedback under.
Cellphone product images FAQ
How can I take skilled photos at dwelling with my iPhone?
- Select an iPhone 8 or newer.
- Check third-party digicam apps.
- Use a white background in your setup.
- Place your setup close to a window with pure mild.
- Maintain down the viewfinder to lock focus.
- Keep away from zooming in on photographs.
- Attempt completely different digicam angles.
- Use a photograph enhancing app.
How do I take high quality product photographs?
- Use a smartphone digicam with 12 megapixels or extra.
- Shoot from a tripod to scale back digicam shake.
- Use pure mild from a window.
- Bounce mild utilizing a foam board to melt shadows.
- Use a sweep or close-up pictures to focus on product options.
- Shoot a wide range of angles and picture sizes.