Product photography can do wonders for your ETSY shop. According to an Etsy buyer’s survey, 90% of the buyers say that the quality and feel of product pictures are the most crucial factor in their purchase decision. Highlighting your product’s features through awesome pictures is essential for a thriving online store. Many new sellers struggle to take high-quality pictures for their products. This article aims to help you in improving product photography for your Etsy store.
Checklist for product photography:
Pre-shoot requirements:
✓ Etsy allows you to upload ten pictures for every product listing. Make sure that you’re making good use of every picture. From a simple background picture to lifestyle images, from detailed shots to your packaging photo, you should try to cover all aspects of your product.
✓ Choose a seamless background for your product pictures. As Ansel Adams said, “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” You need to be very careful in your background selection. Outdoor backgrounds are also a good option for lifestyle pictures. Try to experiment with different kinds of backgrounds in your surrounding to see what works best for you.
✓ You should try to invest in a DIY product photography box because it’ll help you a lot in lighting and setting up your products. Whether you’re able to invest in it or not, natural light is also a good option. Lighting is the most critical factor in taking good product pictures, and you need to focus on it.
✓ You should be using props for your product pictures as they give a professional look to your store, but your image’s main focus should be your product.
During shoot:
✓ Your products should be in focus for a detailed and clear view. Take sharp shots to avoid any blurry surfaces in your product pictures.
✓ Make sure that your store has a cohesive brand look. Be consistent in your use of visual elements to style your ETSY shop.
✓ The more you invest your time and money in it, the better your product pictures will be. A good camera will definitely help you bring your product pictures to life, but it’ll also cost you a lot. You can also take good product pictures using your mobile phone.
✓ To place your products in the frame, use the “rule of thirds,” which states that you should frame your products on the intersecting lines of a 3×3 grid instead of the dead center.
Post-shoot:
✓ If you’re selling handmade or different craft supplies, adding behind-the-scene pictures can help you stand out from competitors. It will help establish trust and authenticity for your Etsy shop. The buyers will get an idea about the amount of effort you put in to create a product.
✓ Analyze your product pictures like a potential customer. Ask yourself questions like: Are these pictures enough for you to make a purchase decision? Are you getting an idea about the product’s size, material, and quality through these pictures?
Editing tips and tricks:
Editing product pictures may seem a hassle, but this little effort can help you go a long way. You need to use some tools to give a unique look to your photos. For your mobile phone, you can use free apps like SnapSeed or the free version of Lightroom. For your desktop, you can explore different free online tools like PicMonkey, and PixLr or use paid software like adobe photoshop for exceptional results. You should learn and have a strong grip on at least one of these tools.
Focus on the exposure of your photos and try to adjust it with the tools mentioned above. If your photos lack clarity, you can use these tools to sharpen your images and increase the contrast. There is much more you can do with these tools but make sure that you don’t overuse them. It may result in misleading images, which will result in dissatisfied customers. You should also be cropping your images to match the ETSY image requirements, which are at least 2000 px for the shortest side of the image. Your thumbnail image should be in landscape or 5:4 to get the eye-catching cropped view and maintain the center focal point of the product image.
To learn more about how to successfully run your Etsy shop, you can enroll in our detailed course that will help you in every step of your journey.
Avoid these common mistakes in your product pictures:
It sometimes seems overwhelming, and many sellers tend to make some grievous mistakes in their product photography. One of the most common mistakes made by Etsy sellers is not paying enough attention to the lighting of your setup. Some may compensate for their low lighting by using the in-built flash of their cameras, resulting in distorted images. You can solve these problems by taking pictures in sunlight or a lightbox. Using props is a good idea, but sometimes sellers use a lot of these such that buyers get confused about the actual product. You should avoid this clutter situation by having a minimalistic setup. Another common mistake is not showing the scale of your product in your pictures resulting in misconceptions. Use your product pictures to convey the size of your product and try to shoot your product from multiple angles.
It would help if you benchmarked your competitors and the top-sellers in your niche. You can take inspiration from their work and try to improve your product pictures accordingly. In the end, product photography is a continuous process, and you’ll keep learning and improving with time. You should keep practicing and trying out different ideas, and you’ll start seeing the results.
