Product photography for e-commerce: the frames every product needs
A product page sells with a set of photos, not a single one. This guide covers the five frames every product needs, what each one answers for a buyer, and how to keep a whole range looking like one brand.
By Dan BartleyUpdated 5 minute read
Key takeaways
- Plan the photos around the questions a buyer asks, not a shot count.
- Every product needs a hero, a scale frame, a detail, an in-use frame and a clean shot.
- Show size with something everyone knows the size of, in the first three images.
- Check colour and material against the real product, in daylight, before anything goes live.
- Keep light, crop and background the same across the range, and deliver files cropped and named.
Plan product photos around the questions buyers ask
Each photo in a gallery should answer one question a buyer has before they pay. Start with those questions and the shot list writes itself.
| Frame | The buyer asks | Where it is used |
|---|---|---|
| The hero | Will it suit my home or my style? | First image, collection page, ads |
| Scale | How big is it, really? | In the first three images |
| Detail | What is it made of, and is it well made? | Gallery, beside the material details |
| In use | How does it look when I use it? | Gallery, social, email |
| The clean shot | How does it compare with the others? | Gallery, marketplaces, Google Shopping |
Most products need five to eight frames to answer those questions. Large, technical or expensive products need more, because buyers have more doubts to settle before they spend.
More on numbers: how many product images does each product need?
Make the hero frame show the product where it belongs
The hero is the product in the place a buyer pictures it: the sofa in a living room, the throw on a bed, the lamp lit at dusk. It does the selling on the collection page and in ads, so it earns the most care.
- Light the product, not the room: it should be the brightest, sharpest thing in the frame
- Style the scene for the buyer you sell to, not for the photographer
- Leave space around the product so it still reads when cropped square for a collection page
Show the size of the product in the first three images
A buyer cannot hold the product, so the photos have to tell them how big it is. Put it beside something everyone knows the size of: a bed, a chair, a hand, a mug.
Baymard Institute’s product page research found that 42% of users try to judge a product’s size and scale from its images, and that 28% of the 60 large sites it reviewed had no image showing a product in scale. Adding one is among the simplest fixes a product page can get.
More on this: how do you show the size of a product so customers stop returning it?
Use detail frames to show the material, the finish and the colour
Close-ups answer what a buyer would learn by touching the product: the weave, the grain, the stitching, the glaze. They are also where colour has to be right, because a buyer compares the colour on arrival with this frame.
- Shoot or check colour in daylight, never under warm indoor bulbs
- Compare every frame with the real product side by side before it goes live
- Name each colourway the same way on the page as in the files
- Show hardware, seams and edges, where quality is judged
On colour: how do you get accurate colour in product photos?
Show the product in use, the way a buyer will use it
An in-use frame shows the product doing its job: a knit worn under a coat, a throw over a chair in a reading corner, a lamp lit at night. It helps a buyer picture owning it, which a still life cannot do.
Where movement is the point, such as how a fabric drapes or how clothing fits, a short product film does this job better than a still. The product video guide covers when to add one.
Keep a clean shot on a plain background for comparison
The clean shot is the product alone on a plain background. Buyers use it to compare options side by side, and marketplaces and shopping feeds often ask for it.
- Put it after the hero, not before it, unless you sell mainly through marketplaces
- Use the same background, angle and crop for every product in the range
- Keep the product the same size in the frame across the range, so the collection page lines up
Which converts better? Lifestyle photos or white background, and what Meta catalogues and Google Shopping need.
Keep one look across the range, and deliver files ready for the store
A collection page shows every product at once, so mismatched photos make a range look like five different shops. Decide the look once and apply it to every product, including the ones you add next year.
- One light direction and colour temperature across the range
- One aspect ratio for every gallery image, so the page does not jump
- One background and one crop for the clean shots
- Files named by product and frame, such as armchair-rust-hero
- A web-compressed set for the store and a full-resolution set for print and ads
- Alt text that describes what each image shows
More on this: how do you keep product photos consistent across a catalogue?
Choose how to get the photos: yourself, a photographer or made from phone photos
There are three ways to get a full set, and each suits a different stage. What matters is which one gets every product the five frames, in one look, at a cost the range can carry.
| Approach | What you manage | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Shoot it yourself | Gear, light, styling, editing and your time | A small range with simple products |
| Hire a photographer | Booking, shipping products, styling and a shoot day | Shots that need real people or a real place |
| Frames made from phone photos | A couple of photos of each product and feedback on a first look | A full range, new products and frequent refreshes |
More on the choice: should you hire a product photographer or do it yourself? and how much does product photography cost?
Questions people ask about this
How many photos does each product need?
Enough to answer every question a buyer has before they pay. For most products that is five to eight: a hero, a scale frame, a detail, an in-use frame and a clean shot, plus extra angles where the product needs them.
Read the full answerShould the first image be a lifestyle photo or a white background?
For most stores the first image should be the hero, the product where it belongs, because it sells the outcome and matches the ads and the collection page. The clean shot follows for comparison. Stores that sell mainly through marketplaces may need the clean shot first.
Read the full answerCan I use my supplier’s photos?
You can, but other stores selling the same product often use the same photos, so they do little to set your store apart, and they rarely match the rest of your range.
Read the full answerCan I get product photos before my stock arrives?
Yes, if you have a sample or a prototype. Bartley Studio can make the frames from phone photos of a sample, so the product page is ready before the stock lands.
Read the full answerStill have a question? Ask us
