My product photos look cheap. How do I make them look professional?
By Dan BartleyUpdated 4 minute read
The short answer
Product photos look cheap for a handful of fixable reasons: harsh or mixed light, a busy background, colours that are off, small or blurry files, and a set where every photo looks different. Fix the light first, then the background, then the consistency. If the product looks good in person and the photos still disappoint, the cause is the setup.
What makes a product photo look cheap?
Usually the light. Photos taken under ceiling lights, or with ceiling light and window light mixed, come out yellow or blue with hard shadows and dull colour, and that alone makes a good product look like a budget one.
| What you see | What causes it | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| A yellow or blue tint | Two kinds of light at once, such as a ceiling light and a window | Turn the room lights off and use one light source |
| Hard, dark shadows | A small, direct light such as a phone flash or midday sun | A large, soft light: a window out of direct sun, or a lamp behind thin white fabric |
| A busy background | The kitchen bench, the carpet, the corner of the garage | A plain sheet of paper or card that curves up behind the product |
| A soft, blurry photo | Camera shake, low light or digital zoom | A tripod, more light, and moving closer instead of zooming |
| A stretched or bent shape | A wide lens held close to the product | Step back and use the phone’s 2x or 3x lens if it has one |
| Every photo looks different | A new setup for each product | The same spot, light, camera height and crop every time |
| A grainy, pixelated image on the store | A small or heavily compressed file | Upload large files and let the store resize them |
How do I take better product photos on my phone?
Use daylight from a large window, a plain background, a tripod and a steady routine. A recent phone in good light is enough for most small products.
- Turn off the ceiling lights and set up beside a window, out of direct sun
- Hold a sheet of white card opposite the window to soften the shadows
- Curve a sheet of paper or card behind and under the product, so there is no line where the wall meets the table
- Clean the product first, because dust and fingerprints show at full size
- Put the phone on a tripod, step back and use the 2x lens if your phone has one
- Tap the product to focus, and lower the brightness if the white areas lose their detail
- Keep the phone at the same height and distance for every product
For the file itself, Shopify says 2048 x 2048 pixels usually displays best for square product images. Export at that size or larger, and keep every main image the same shape.
Which photos make a product page look professional?
More than one view of each product: a clean main image, the product in use or in a room, a close-up of the material and a photo that shows its size. One good photo on its own still leaves a buyer guessing.
Shoppers rely on these images. Baymard Institute’s product page research found that 56% of users began exploring the product images as soon as they arrived on a product page, and that 25% of e-commerce sites had images too low in resolution, or with too little zoom, for shoppers to judge the product.
- The main image: the whole product, on a plain light background
- Other angles: the side, the back, the inside if it opens
- A close-up: the fabric, the grain, the stitching, the label
- A size photo: in a hand, on a person or beside furniture
- In use or in a room: where it goes and what it does
Can editing fix cheap-looking product photos?
Editing fixes brightness, colour and a messy background, but it cannot add light that was never there or detail the camera did not capture. Start with a better photo and edit lightly.
Background removal is built into many phone photo apps and store platforms now. Keep a soft shadow under the product when you use it, because a cut-out with no shadow looks pasted onto the page.
Check the colour against the real product before you publish. An edit that makes the product look brighter than it is turns into a return marked not as pictured.
When should I stop doing product photos myself?
When the photos are holding the store back and your time is worth more elsewhere. The signs are products that look better in person than on screen, room scenes you cannot stage, and a catalogue too big to photograph well.
A product photographer is the right call for clothing on models, food, jewellery and campaign shoots. For room scenes, close-ups and clean shots of products you already have, Bartley Studio makes a full set from a couple of phone photos of each product, made with AI and finished by hand. The smallest order is one product with six images for $350 plus GST.
Other questions people ask about this
Do I need an expensive camera for product photos?
No. For most small products, a recent phone in good light gives a better result than an expensive camera in bad light. The light, the background and a steady camera matter far more than the camera itself.
Should product photos have a white background?
The main image usually works best on white or a plain light background, because it keeps the store clean and consistent. Add photos of the product in use or in a room so buyers can picture it at home.
Read the full answerWhy do my photos look fine on my phone but bad on my store?
Usually the file or the shape. A phone shows photos small and bright, while the store shows them larger, so a small or heavily compressed file looks soft, and photos of different shapes sit unevenly on the collection page.
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