Product Photography Tips for Online Sellers (Phone Only)

Good product photos don't need a studio. A phone, a window, a sheet of white paper and a few free tools get you most of the way: soft daylight, a plain background, several angles, the same square crop on every product, and files small enough to load fast. When the backdrop isn't clean enough, the Background Remover cuts the product out so you can put it on pure white. It's free on images up to 2 megapixels.

These product photography tips are written for small sellers listing on marketplaces, Instagram shops, WhatsApp catalogues or their own website.

1. Use window light, not the ceiling bulb

Put your table next to a large window during the day, with the product side-on to the light. Daylight from a window is soft and even. Overhead room lights add a yellow or green tint and hard shadows.

If the sun is shining straight in, tape a sheet of white paper or a thin white curtain over the window to soften it. On the side away from the window, prop up a white card or a sheet of thermocol to bounce light back into the shadows.

2. Build a simple white backdrop

Tape a large sheet of white chart paper to the wall and let it curve down onto the table, with no fold or crease. This "sweep" hides the line where wall meets table, so the product looks like it's floating on white. It also makes background removal easier later, because there's clear contrast between product and backdrop.

3. Turn off flash and steady the phone

Flash flattens shapes and puts glare on shiny packaging. Turn it off, lean the phone on a stack of books or use a cheap tripod, and tap the screen on the product to focus. A steady phone gives sharper photos in indoor light.

4. Shoot the angles buyers look for

For every product, take:

• Front, straight on: the main photo.
• Three-quarter angle, showing front and side.
• Back or label, with ingredients, size or care details readable.
• Close-up of texture, stitching, finish or the material.
• In use or with something for scale, such as a hand, a mug or a coin.

Online buyers can't pick the product up. These shots answer the questions they would otherwise message you about.

5. Keep colours true

A buyer who receives a different colour from the one in the photo is a likely return. Avoid heavy filters on product photos. If your shot is a bit dark, the free photo filters tool has Brightness and Contrast sliders; small nudges are fine, but leave Saturation, Warmth and Hue alone unless you're correcting a colour cast. Press and hold Hold to see the original to compare. Photo Filters refuses photos above about 16.7 megapixels (default 24 MP iPhone shots), so resize those first.

6. Put the main photo on pure white

Many marketplaces ask for the main product image on a plain white background; Amazon is a well-known example. Requirements differ between marketplaces and categories and change over time, so check your seller help pages for the current rules.

If your sweep left grey corners or shadows:

1. Run the photo through the Background Remover. You get a transparent PNG at the same size as your photo.
2. Convert it with the free PNG to JPG converter. JPG has no transparency, so the background becomes pure white.

Images up to 2 megapixels are free (Pro handles larger ones), so crop or resize a phone photo first; 1,600 × 1,200 is just under the limit. Each photo is uploaded for processing and deleted as soon as it's done. Our guide on removing a background from an image covers the details.

7. Crop every product the same way

A shop page looks professional when every thumbnail lines up. Use the free image cropper with Square 1:1 for most marketplaces and shop grids, or Portrait 4:5 for Instagram feed posts. iPhone HEIC photos aren't accepted by the cropper or compressor, so switch the camera to Most Compatible or convert them first. Leave a similar margin around each product, so a small pair of earrings and a big bag both fill the frame about the same amount. The guide to cropping shows how to type exact pixel sizes.

8. Make the files small

Phone photos are often 3-5 MB each. A shop page with twenty of those loads slowly on mobile data, and slow pages lose buyers. Resize to the size the platform actually displays (often 1,000-2,000 px on the long side; check your platform) and compress with the free image compressor at about 80% quality. It handles up to 20 photos at once and shows each new size before you download. For your own site, saving as WebP usually gives the smallest files; see compressing images for a website.

9. Remove location data before posting

Photos shot at home can carry the exact GPS location of your house in hidden EXIF data. Marketplaces often strip it, but your own website, email and file transfers may not. The free EXIF remover cleans up to 20 photos at once without changing the picture.

10. Name files for search

Rename files before uploading: handloom-cotton-saree-indigo-front.jpg instead of IMG_4821.jpg. It helps you keep track of variants, and on your own website it gives search engines a hint about the image.

Product photography tips as a quick routine

Step	Tool
Shoot by a window on a white sweep	Your phone
Clean up the main photo to white	Background Remover, then PNG to JPG
Same crop for every product	Image cropper
Shrink for fast loading	Image compressor
Strip location	EXIF remover

For general phone camera habits beyond products, see our tips for better phone photos.

Clean up your main photo

Shoot it well, then open the Background Remover to put your product on a clean background. Photos up to 2 megapixels are free, and the cropper, compressor and EXIF remover are free with no sign-up.