Every product you sell online needs two kinds of photos. First, a clean main image: the product alone on a pure white background, sharp and filling most of the frame. Amazon requires this for the main image, and it makes a Shopify store look tidy. Second, a set of supporting images that answer the buyer's questions: other angles, the label up close, the size in a hand, the product in use, and everything that comes in the box. Shoot every product the same way so your whole catalog looks like one brand.
Here is what goes in that set, what the marketplaces expect, and what you can safely skip.
The main image: plain, white and honest
The main image is the one people see in search results and on collection pages, usually as a small square next to a dozen competitors. Its job is to show, instantly and clearly, exactly what they will receive.
- A pure white background on Amazon. Not off-white, not a light gray, not a shadowy studio sweep that photographs gray.
- Only the product being sold. No props, extra items or accessories that do not come with it.
- No added text, logos, badges, borders or watermarks on top of the photo.
- The whole product in the frame, sharp from front to back, and large enough that it fills most of the image.
- A real photo of the real product, not a drawing or a mockup of packaging you have not printed yet.
Shopify does not force a white background, so you can choose a soft color or texture that suits your brand. Whatever you choose, use the same one for every product so your collection pages line up neatly.
The supporting photos that answer questions
Online shoppers cannot pick the product up, so the rest of your images have to do it for them. Think about the questions a customer would ask in a store and give each one a photo.
- 01
Other angles
The back, the side and the top. For anything with a label, show the back clearly enough that people can read the ingredients or instructions.
- 02
Close-ups of the details
Texture, stitching, the cap or pump, the finish. For skincare, a swatch of the cream itself shows the texture better than any description.
- 03
Size and scale
The product in a hand or next to an everyday object. This one photo prevents a surprising number of returns.
- 04
In use
Someone using it, or the product where it lives: on a bathroom shelf, a desk, a kitchen counter. It helps people picture it in their own life.
- 05
What comes in the box, or the full range
Every piece laid out, or the whole product line together, so people can see what pairs with what.
Lifestyle photos: where your brand shows
The white main image is about information. The styled photos are about feeling. A jar on natural stone in warm light says something about the brand that a white background cannot. Use these on your Shopify homepage and banners, on social media and ads, and as secondary images on your listings.
Keep styling simple. Choose two or three props or surfaces that match your brand and reuse them across the range, so the photos feel like one family. Avoid anything that could confuse people about what is included in the purchase.
Keep the whole catalog consistent
- Same background, same lighting, same camera height for every main image.
- Same crop and shape. Square images are the safest choice for most stores and marketplaces.
- The product centered with a similar amount of space around it, so a grid of products lines up.
- Reshoot when packaging changes. An old label in the photo makes customers think they got the wrong item.
- Keep the original high-resolution files in one folder, named by product, so you can reuse them for ads and print later.
File size, names and alt text
Export large, sharp files so zoom works; both Amazon and Shopify let shoppers look closer, and a blurry zoom loses sales. Save as JPEG in standard color, so the colors look the same on a phone as they did on your screen. Name each file after the product, like "perl-cream-night-time-front.jpg", rather than a camera number. On Shopify, fill in the alt text for every image with a short, plain description of what it shows. It helps people using screen readers, and it helps search engines understand the page.
Every photo on a product page should answer a question a customer would otherwise have to ask.
Phone or professional?
If you have a handful of simple products, a recent phone, a big window and a white sheet of card can get you a usable start. Where it gets hard is a perfect white background without gray shadows, shiny or reflective packaging like gold lids and glass, and keeping dozens of products consistent. That is usually when a studio shoot pays for itself in time. We photographed the Perl range this way: clean catalog images for the store, plus styled shots for the brand. If you are weighing it up, our product photography page in Brooklyn shows what a shoot covers.
