Shoppers can’t pick up a product online, so your photos do the work of the shelf, the shop assistant, and the hands-on look. Clear, accurate images help people decide, help them trust what they’re buying, and set you apart when dozens of sellers list the same item.

This guide covers how to set up a simple studio, light and shoot your products, edit the results, and meet the image requirements of the platforms you sell on. You don’t need a professional camera or a big budget to get started.

• Setup: the equipment and space you need
• Lighting: soft light, reflection, and the three-point setup
• Shooting: camera settings, a standard shot list, and tips by category
• Editing and sizes: post-production, plus image requirements for Shopify, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce
• SEO and consistency: file names, alt text, and keeping images consistent across channels

Why ecommerce product photography matters

Photos are how shoppers judge size, color, material, and quality without touching the product. Accurate images also set expectations, and when a product looks different from its photos, the result is usually a return or a poor review.

On marketplaces, photography is also how you stand out. If you use the same manufacturer images as every other seller of a product, a shopper has little reason to choose you. Original images can show more detail, more angles, and the product in use. See our guide to selling on your own website vs. marketplaces.

What you need for a product photography setup

Item	What it does	Budget option
Camera	Captures the image. Look for manual controls, a sharp lens, and the ability to shoot RAW	A recent smartphone, or a used mirrorless or DSLR camera
Tripod	Keeps the camera steady so every shot is sharp and consistently framed	A basic tripod with a phone mount
Backdrop	A plain, continuous background that keeps attention on the product	White paper, fabric, or foam board curved up behind the product
Light source	Provides even, soft light	A large window, or continuous LED lights with softboxes
Bounce board or reflector	Reflects light back to fill shadows	White foam board
Light tent or light box	Diffuses light evenly around small products	A compact light box for small items
Shooting table	A stable surface at a comfortable height for styling and adjusting products	A sturdy table next to a window
Accessories	Tape, clamps, putty, and hooks to hold products and backdrops in place, plus a lint roller and microfiber cloth for cleaning	Whatever is on hand

Camera or smartphone?

Modern smartphones are good enough for many online stores, especially with good lighting. A mirrorless or DSLR camera gives you interchangeable lenses, more control, and better quality in difficult conditions. Choose on what you need: manual exposure and focus controls, RAW capture, tripod compatibility, and a lens that suits the size of your products (a macro lens for small items such as jewelry). The camera matters less than your lighting.

Choose a space

Use any space with good light and enough room to work, such as a spare room, a corner of the warehouse, or a garage. If you’re relying on window light, pick a room with a large window and shoot when the light is soft and even. Avoid mixing daylight with overhead bulbs, because the different color temperatures make colors harder to correct.

Lighting basics: diffusion, reflection, and soft vs. hard light

Lighting does more for product photos than the camera does. A phone with good light beats an expensive camera with poor light.

• Diffusion spreads light over a larger area to soften shadows. Place translucent fabric, paper, or a softbox between the light and the product.
• Reflection bounces light back to fill shadows. White reflectors give a neutral fill, while silver is stronger and cooler, and gold is warmer.
• Soft light has gradual transitions between light and shadow. It comes from large or diffused sources and is flattering for most products. Hard light comes from small, direct sources, creating sharp shadows and strong contrast. It can emphasize texture, but it’s easy to misuse.

The three-point lighting setup

A classic studio arrangement uses three lights:

• Key light. The main light, placed about 45 degrees to the side of the camera and slightly above the product. It sets the direction and mood of the lighting.
• Fill light. A softer light on the opposite side, or a reflector, that lightens the shadows left by the key light.
• Back light (rim light). A light behind the product that highlights its edges and separates it from the background.

You don’t need all three to get good results. A simple setup of one large window (the key light) and a white bounce board on the other side (the fill) works for many products. Add a back light when you need more separation from the background, for example with dark products on a white backdrop.

How to set up a simple product photography studio

1. Choose your space, next to a large window if you’re using natural light.
2. Set up the shooting table and curve a sheet of white paper or fabric up behind it so there’s no visible edge between the surface and the background.
3. Mount the camera on a tripod, level with the product or at the angle you want for the main shot.
4. Place the key light at about 45 degrees to the product, then add a bounce board or fill light on the opposite side.
5. Clean and style the product, removing dust, fingerprints, and creases.
6. Take a test shot, then check brightness, shadows, color, and sharpness on a larger screen.
7. Keep the setup fixed (camera position, distance, and lighting) so every product is shot the same way.

How to take product photos

Camera settings to start with

These settings suit a tripod setup with controlled light. Adjust them for your product and lighting.

• Aperture: f/8 to f/11 keeps more of the product in focus. Use a wider aperture for a deliberate soft background.
• ISO: keep it as low as possible (100 or 200) to reduce noise, and add light instead of raising ISO.
• Shutter speed: on a tripod you can use slower speeds, such as 1/100 or 1/200, without camera shake.
• White balance: set it to match your light source, or use a gray card, so colors are accurate.
• File format: shoot RAW if you can, for more flexibility when editing.

A standard shot list

Shoot more than you think you need, then choose the best. For most products, cover these views:

Shot	Why it helps
Main image on a plain background	A clear, consistent image for listings and search results. Marketplaces such as Amazon require a white background for the main image
Angles: front, back, sides, and top	Gives shoppers the closest thing to turning the product in their hands
Detail and close-up shots	Shows texture, materials, stitching, labels, and craftsmanship
Scale shots	Shows the product’s size next to a hand or a familiar object
In context (lifestyle)	Shows how the product looks and works in real life, and can build an emotional connection
What’s included and packaging	Sets expectations and reduces “not as described” returns
Variants	Shows each color, size, or style accurately

A 360-degree spin or a short video can add to these for products where shoppers want to see every side. Support varies by platform and theme, so check what yours handles.

Composition and consistency

Use the same framing, background, and lighting across your catalog, so products look like they belong together. Leave some space around the product so you can crop to different shapes later. Square images work well across devices and marketplaces. Try front and cropped shots, flat lays, and the rule of thirds for lifestyle images, and look at what leading sellers in your category are doing.

A note on shadows and color

Accurate color matters, because a product that looks different in person leads to returns and bad reviews. Light the product from several directions to avoid hard shadows that are difficult to edit out, and check colors against the real product on a calibrated screen when you can.

Product photography by category

Apparel and fashion

Clothing is photographed three main ways. On a model shows fit, drape, and how the garment moves. Flat lays show shape and detail from above, on a clean surface. Ghost mannequin images use a mannequin that’s edited out afterward, so the garment looks worn without a visible person. Add close-ups of fabric, trims, labels, and any details a shopper would check in a store. Steam or press every item, keep the lighting consistent from piece to piece, and show each color. If you sell on Amazon, check its apparel image rules for your category.

• Beauty and skincare: show the packaging clearly, with close-ups of texture and ingredients or swatches.
• Electronics: emphasize design, ports, controls, and scale. Control reflections on glossy surfaces.
• Home and kitchen: combine clean product shots with in-room images that show size and use.
• Jewelry and accessories: use macro shots, a light tent to control reflections, and clean, lint-free surfaces.
• Sports and fitness: include action shots and close-ups of materials and features.
• Toys and games: show scale, key features, and the product in use or in play.

Edit your product photos

Editing turns good photos into consistent, accurate ones. Use a full-size screen, not a phone, so you can see sharpness and detail as shoppers will on a desktop or tablet.

• Choose the best shots and crop them to a consistent aspect ratio.
• Correct color and white balance so the product matches real life.
• Brighten and sharpen lightly, and remove dust, marks, and blemishes.
• Clean up the background, using a background removal tool if needed, or make the background pure white where a marketplace requires it.
• Apply the same style to every image in a set, so your catalog looks cohesive.
• Export in sRGB and in sizes that suit each channel, and keep an unedited master file.

Popular editors include Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, Affinity Photo, Photopea (browser-based), and Canva for simpler jobs.

Product image sizes and requirements by platform

Each platform has its own requirements, and they change, so check the source before bulk-uploading. These are the current rules from each platform’s own documentation. As a general rule, upload large, sharp originals: platforms can shrink them, but they can’t add detail, and zoom features need a larger image.

Platform	What to know	Source
Shopify	Images up to 5000 × 5000 px (25 megapixels) and under 20 MB. For square product images, 2048 × 2048 px usually displays best. PNG is the best file type for most images, followed by JPEG, and other types including WebP are accepted. Use a consistent aspect ratio for featured images so collection pages line up	Shopify Help Center
Amazon	Main image: pure white background (RGB 255, 255, 255), product only, filling most of the frame (about 85%), with no text, logos, or badges. At least 1,000 px on the longest side to enable zoom, with 1,600 px or more recommended. Rules vary by category, for example apparel	Amazon Seller Central
eBay	At least 500 px on the longest side. eBay recommends aiming higher, with 1,600 px to optimize for mobile. Don’t overlay text such as “Free postage” or add seller logos. See our eBay image guide	eBay Help
Etsy	At least 2000 px wide and tall recommended, with the first photo at least 635 px. The first photo should be landscape or square. Use sRGB. File types: JPG, GIF, PNG, SVG, or HEIC	Etsy Help Centre
BigCommerce	A 1280 × 1280 px square is a commonly recommended size for product images, in JPEG or PNG. Check BigCommerce’s current guidance for your theme. See our BigCommerce SEO guide	BigCommerce Help Center
WooCommerce	No fixed requirement. Your theme sets the display sizes (800 × 800 px in the Storefront theme, for example), configurable under Appearance, Customize, WooCommerce, Product Images in classic themes. Upload images larger than the largest size your theme displays, with extra room for zoom	WooCommerce documentation
Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source	Image sizes are set by your theme’s configuration, so check your theme’s documentation	Your theme or developer

For marketplace listings in general, see our guides to creating product listings and optimizing Amazon listings.

Optimize your images for SEO and speed

Good images can bring traffic from image search as well as speed up your pages. Follow Google’s image guidelines, and focus on these:

• Descriptive file names. Use blue-ceramic-mug.jpg, not IMG_4021.jpg.
• Useful alt text. Describe what’s in the image for people who can’t see it. Search engines also use alt text, along with the image itself and the text around it, to understand what’s shown. Keep it short and natural, and don’t stuff keywords.
• Compress images. Large files slow your pages. A common rule of thumb is to keep standard product images small (around 200 KB where quality allows), but don’t compress so far that zoomed images look soft.
• Use modern formats where your platform supports them, such as WebP. Some platforms, including Shopify, serve the best format to each visitor automatically.
• Add structured data. Include image URLs in your product markup so search engines can connect images to products.
• Use consistent aspect ratios, so layouts don’t shift while pages load.

Advanced techniques

• Macro photography captures small products or details at close range, which suits jewelry, watches, and textures.
• Focus stacking combines several shots taken at different focus distances, so the whole product is sharp. It’s useful for close-ups where depth of field is shallow.
• Creative angles, such as from above, below, or at a diagonal, give variety in secondary images.
• 360 spins and short videos show every side of a product.

DIY or hire a professional?

You can get good results yourself with a simple setup, particularly for straightforward products. Hiring a professional makes sense if you have a large catalog and little time, if your products are hard to photograph (glass, jewelry, highly reflective items), if you need on-model or lifestyle shoots, or for your top products.

• Types of help: freelance photographers, local studios, and product photography services that handle shooting and editing.
• Questions to ask: what the price includes (shots per product, retouching, styling, models), turnaround time, file formats, usage rights, and how consistent the style will be across your catalog.
• Cost drivers: the number of products and shots, product complexity, retouching, and any props or models.

Keep your images consistent across channels

If you sell on several channels, each one has its own rules, so the same product often needs different image versions: a white-background main image for a marketplace, a lifestyle image for your webstore, and the right sizes for each. Name files by SKU, keep an unedited master, and export channel-specific versions from it. Keeping listing content consistent across channels also matters, and Linnworks listings management helps you create and update listings across marketplaces. See also our guide to the best multichannel listing software.

Product photography FAQs