Customers say the colour looks different in real life. How do I get accurate colour in product photos?
By Dan BartleyUpdated 4 minute read
The short answer
Colour goes wrong in three places: the light the photo was taken in, the screen it was edited on, and the format it was exported in. Shoot in one kind of light with a grey card in the first frame, edit on a calibrated screen beside the real product, and export in sRGB. Then describe the colour in words too, because every customer’s screen is different.
Why does my product look a different colour in photos?
Usually the light. Warm ceiling lights, cool daylight and a phone’s automatic white balance each push colour in a different direction, and phones also boost saturation to make photos look brighter than life.
| Cause | What it does | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Mixed light | Warm light on one side and cool on the other, so no setting is right for both | One light source, with the room lights off |
| Automatic white balance | The camera guesses, and guesses differently for each product | Set the white balance from a grey card and lock it |
| Phone processing | Extra saturation and contrast, so colours look richer than they are | Shoot in RAW if the phone allows it, or reduce saturation in the edit |
| An uncalibrated editing screen | You correct the photo to match a screen that is itself wrong | Calibrate the screen with a hardware calibrator |
| The wrong colour profile | Colours shift when the file is shown in a browser | Export in sRGB, the standard colour space for the web |
| Heavy compression | Subtle shades turn blotchy | Export at good quality and let the store resize the file |
How do I photograph colour accurately?
Control the light, give the camera a neutral reference, and keep the settings the same for every product.
- Use one kind of light: daylight from a window, or lights of one colour temperature
- Put a grey card or a colour chart in the first frame of every setup
- Set the white balance from the grey card, then lock it for the session
- Lock the exposure too, so a dark product and a light product are not brightened differently
- Photograph a physical swatch beside the product, to check against later
- Shoot the whole range in one session where you can, because the light changes from day to day
How do I check product colour before the photos go live?
Put the real product beside your screen in daylight and compare them. If they do not match on a calibrated screen, the photo is wrong.
- Calibrate the screen you edit on, and check it every few weeks
- Turn off night modes and automatic colour shifting, such as Night Shift and True Tone on Apple devices, while you compare
- Check the exported file on a phone as well as a computer, because many shoppers will see it on a phone
- Compare the edited photo with the swatch you photographed, not with your memory of the colour
Can I be held responsible if the colour in my photos is wrong?
Yes. In Australia and New Zealand, goods must match their description, and a colour that is clearly different from the listing can entitle the customer to a refund or replacement.
Consumer Affairs Victoria’s examples include a scarf ordered online as red that arrives hot pink, and a couch delivered in a different colour from its fabric sample. It treats both as major problems, so the buyer can choose a remedy such as a refund or a replacement.
In New Zealand, the Consumer Guarantees Act guarantees that the product a customer receives matches its description online, on packaging and on labels.
How do I reduce returns caused by colour?
Show the colour more than one way: a daylight photo, a close-up of the material, a photo beside something white, and a plain description of the shade and its undertone.
- Name the colour in words a buyer understands, such as warm grey with a green undertone
- Show it in daylight and in warm indoor light, so the buyer sees how it shifts
- Offer swatches for fabric, timber, paint and rugs
- Feature customer photos, which show the product in real homes and real light
There is more on returns in how to cut returns caused by not as pictured.
Will AI-made product photos get the colour right?
Only if someone checks them. AI tools can shift a colour or a finish without warning, so every frame has to be compared with the real product and corrected by hand.
Bartley Studio checks colour, proportion and materials in every frame against your phone photos, and finishes each one by hand. If a final image fails to match the real-world dimensions, colour profiles or physical materials of your actual product, Bartley Studio re-edits it until it matches, with no caps and no extra fees.
Other questions people ask about this
Why does the colour look different on every phone?
Screens differ in brightness, colour settings and night modes, and you cannot control them. You can control the file: photograph it accurately, export it in sRGB and describe the colour in words.
What is a grey card?
A card printed in a neutral grey that the camera can use as a reference. Photograph it once in the same light as the product, then set the white balance from it, so whites and greys come out neutral.
Should I offer colour swatches?
For fabric, timber, paint and rugs, yes. A physical swatch settles colour questions that no photo can, but keep the photos accurate as well, because not every buyer will order one.
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