Amber dropper bottle on a mossy stone in front of hemp leaves in golden backlightGreen cream dispenser with aloe vera leaves and a halved apricot in warm lightWhite product tin with lemons, fresh herbs and hemp leaves
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#ProductPhotography

Product Photography for Brands and Online Shops

Packshots, cut-outs and lifestyle images in colour-accurate quality, marketplace-compliant for Amazon and eBay. Nationwide across Germany, for brands, manufacturers and retailers.

Amber dropper bottle underwater, surrounded by rising air bubbles
Green cream dispenser in a night-time scene with macadamia nuts and aloe vera
White product tin with blackcurrants and hemp leaves
Amber dropper bottle on a mossy stone in front of hemp leaves in golden backlight
Green cream dispenser with aloe vera leaves and a halved apricot in warm light
White product tin with lemons, fresh herbs and hemp leaves

Online, a product image does what handling the item does in a shop: turn it, inspect it, judge its size, assess its colour. It is the first point of contact and the only evidence for what the description promises. Product photography is therefore less about taste than accuracy.

Why product images decide the purchase and the return

On a product page the eye goes to the images first, not to the text. And from the images customers try to work out what no spec sheet conveys as quickly: how big the item actually is. Where that sense of scale is missing, they guess, and then items that would have fitted get ruled out while unsuitable ones get ordered. That is experience from retail, not measurement.

Whatever the image leaves open gets settled at the unboxing, at the retailer’s expense. A representative Bitkom Research survey of 1,050 online shoppers aged 16 and over shows that 41 percent have at some point sent something back because the item did not match the picture or description online. The University of Bamberg’s Retourenmanagement research group puts the process cost per return at around 7.93 euros; smaller retailers sit above that.

The chain is unspectacular but sound: images are the first point of contact, inaccurate images demonstrably cause returns, every return costs money. A conversion percentage drawn from that would be invented.

Source: Bitkom Research 2023 (repräsentativ, n=1.050) · Uni Bamberg, Forschungsgruppe Retourenmanagement (bevh-Retourenkompendium)

Packshot, cut-out, lifestyle image: three types, three jobs

The three terms get used interchangeably and mean different things, with consequences for your shop template.

Packshot

The product shown factually and in full against a neutral, usually white background, without context or interpretation. Delivered as a JPEG, the white baked permanently into the file. The packshot is retail’s functional tool.

Cut-out (Freisteller)

The product is separated from its background and supplied as a PNG with transparency. That is the core difference from the packshot: a cut-out can be placed freely, on coloured surfaces, in banners, in any layout. The packshot cannot; its white is part of the file.

Lifestyle image

The product in use, in an environment, with people. A lifestyle image does not inform first and foremost, it creates feeling: it shows not what the item is but why you would want it, generating demand rather than serving it.

Colour accuracy: why your red has to be the same red everywhere

Camera, monitor and printing press each speak their own colour language. Without translation between them, any colour result is chance, and a colour that is off is spotted instantly at the unboxing.

Colour management orders that chain in three steps: calibration puts a device into a defined, repeatable state. Characterisation measures which colours it reproduces in that state. The result is stored as an ICC profile, a translation table telling other devices what a colour value concretely means. For the web, sRGB is the standard colour space.

The goal is trivial to state and demanding to produce: that a defined red is perceived as the same red in the shop, in the catalogue and on the marketplace and that the goods look like their image.

Light: reflective surfaces are the hardest discipline

With matte materials, light forgives a lot. With chrome, gloss and glass, nothing: every light source is visibly mirrored. At that point you photograph the room, not the product.

The underlying principle: the larger a light source relative to the product and the closer it stands, the softer the transition between light and shadow. Professionals therefore move large light modifiers to the centimetre until every reflection is under control.

That is where solid and premium part ways: solid diffuses reflections away until they stop being a nuisance. Premium shapes them: the reflection is what makes material, curvature and finish visible.

Marketplace-compliant: what the Amazon main image must meet

On marketplaces, image quality is a rulebook, not a matter of taste. The main image is the only image in the search results. Whether anyone opens the product page hangs on it.

The core requirements are undisputed: a pure white background, RGB 255, 255, 255. Not light grey, not a gradient. The product fills at least 85 percent of the frame. From 1,000 pixels on the longest side, the zoom function is unlocked. Text, logos, watermarks, borders and price tags are not permitted. And it has to be a real photograph: renderings and graphics are not allowed as the main image.

On maximum resolution the figures in circulation contradict each other, which is why no number appears here. What is binding is not this page anyway but the current style guide for the relevant category in Seller Central; that is precisely where second-hand overviews give false certainty.

How it works

It starts with the shot list: which items, which image types and angles per item, which image carries the sense of scale. Plus the destinations (shop, marketplace, catalogue, advertising). They determine format, colour space and file type, not the other way round.

The goods are delivered, handled carefully and sent back after the shoot. Delivery comes in the crops and colour spaces each channel needs: JPEG in sRGB for shop and marketplace, PNG with transparency for anything placed freely. The scope of usage rights is fixed in writing beforehand.

Frequently asked questions about product photography

What is the difference between a packshot, a cut-out and a lifestyle image?

The packshot shows the product factually and in full against a neutral, usually white background and is delivered as a JPEG: the white is baked permanently into the file. The cut-out is separated from its background and supplied as a PNG with transparency, so it can be placed freely over any layout; that is the core difference. The lifestyle image shows the product in use and creates feeling rather than merely informing. Most shops need all three, in different places.

Are the images suitable for Amazon and eBay?

Yes, provided that is agreed beforehand. Marketplace images are produced against the requirements, not cropped to fit afterwards. For the Amazon main image that means: pure white background (RGB 255, 255, 255), the product filling at least 85 percent of the frame, at least 1,000 pixels on the longest side for the zoom function, no text, no logo, no watermark, no border, no price tag. The binding reference is always the current style guide for the relevant category in Seller Central.

Who owns the photos, and what usage rights do we receive?

Copyright remains with the photographer. That is how German law works and it cannot be transferred. What is granted are usage rights, in the scope agreed beforehand: which channels, for how long, in which territory. For an online shop, a sensible arrangement covers all of your own channels plus the marketplaces your items are listed on. That belongs in writing before the shoot, not negotiated afterwards.

Can we still sell the goods as new after the shoot?

As a rule, yes. That is the normal case, not the exception. The goods are handled cleanly, unpacked only as far as necessary, and sent back after the shoot. Where something has to be opened, assembled or filled in order to be shown at all, we discuss that in advance. Please let us know beforehand if items have to stay in their original packaging or are particularly delicate.

How many images does an item need?

That depends on the product: items that need explaining need more views than self-explanatory ones. One image should be there in every case, though: one that establishes scale. Customers work out how big an item is mainly from the images rather than from the measurements in the spec sheet; where that reference is missing they guess, and guesses turn into wrong purchases and returns. As a rule, a combination of packshot, detail shots and at least one situation of use makes sense.

Do we need to prepare the items?

Please send them in clean, ready-to-sell condition. Fingerprints, dust and scratches are clearly visible on glossy surfaces in the image and cost more in retouching than a cloth before shipping. Labels should sit straight and packaging should be undamaged. With several colour variants, clear labelling helps so the assignment in the shop is right later on.

Can we attend the shoot?

Yes. For items where a particular view, the way a material reads, or correct handling matters, it is even advisable: decisions made on set can only be corrected later with renewed effort. If travelling is not practical, coordination runs through a selection gallery before retouching begins.

Is AI image generation worth it instead of real product photography?

For the marketplace main image the question is already settled: under the style guide in Seller Central, Amazon requires a real photograph there, and renderings and graphics are not allowed as the main image. That removes exactly the image that decides the click in search results. Behind it sits the real problem: a generated image does not show your product but a plausible approximation, and the discrepancy between image and delivered goods is the reason people send things back.

How does shipping the goods work?

The items are delivered before the appointment, together with a note on which item is to get which images. After the shoot the goods go back. Delicate or high-value items should be packed accordingly and shipped insured. For very large, perishable or hard-to-transport products we photograph on site instead of having them sent in.

What does product photography cost?

It depends on scope, and scope comes down to a few factors: the number of items and images per item; the image types, since packshot, cut-out and lifestyle image differ considerably in effort; the material, because reflective surfaces need far more time on set than matte ones; whether models, props or a built set are required; the depth of retouching; and the agreed scope of usage rights. We clarify these points in an initial conversation and you receive a quote that reflects your specific case.