Product photos can make or break a customer's desire to purchase your product.  Steer clear of these common pitfalls and get your customers one step closer to making that purchase.

Poor quality images

Manufacturers spend billions of dollars on product packaging and product image.  As an online retailer, product photos are your make-or-break chance to sell the product by visual appeal.  All too often we see photos like this one. [caption id="attachment_108" align="alignright" width="112" caption="Poor Quality Image Example"][/caption] To woo customers with the beauty of your products keep these tips in mind:

1. Don’t resample! Don’t make a small image larger with Photoshop – there is no quicker way to reduce an image’s quality. An image that is 100px by 100px was never meant to be 200px x 200px.  If you want a product photo that is larger than the image you currently have, you’ll need to get a new photo.
2. Say no to distortion! When reducing the size of an image, be sure to do it proportionally (hold down the shift key in most graphics programs) by the width and height.
3. Web resolution settings are key. Keep photos for the web at 72dpi and photos for print at 300+ dpi.  Currently monitors can’t display more than 72dpi and higher resolutions significantly increase the page load time.
4. No Photoshop Evidence!Good Photoshop work should not be visible.  If a customer sees any image retouch work they will likely assume the entire photograph was retouched and that the product may not measure up to the photograph.
5. If you are taking your own product photos keep these things in mind:
   • Use quality lighting when taking product photos (this is, perhaps, the single most important product photography lesson!)
   • Use a quality camera and tripod when taking product photos – It doesn’t have to be a fancy 12 megapixel dSLR, but it should give you the ability to control the flash, zoom, and focus.  You can't match a tripod's stability when hand-holding a camera and it shows!

Inconsistent photography

[caption id="attachment_112" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Poor Image Consistency Example"][/caption] You want your store to look and feel as professional as possible – that’s a big part of how you encourage shoppers to become purchasers. You have to keep this in mind as you add graphic elements to your site.  As images are taken or chosen for a store, achieving consistency should be one of the main goals.  Image sizes, quality, layout, tone, and background color should all be relatively consistent throughout the store, regardless of the category, product, or section. Take a look at the image to the right.  It doesn't look professional - in fact it looks like this online retailer might just be reselling these items with little or no expertise because it is very obvious that the photography was not done by or for this particular company.

Product size too small or too large in the image

Help your customers find, and purchase, what they are looking for by offering images that have the correct product size and a good zoom capability. [caption id="attachment_109" align="alignright" width="270" caption="Poor Product Sizing Example"][/caption] This photo is an example of poor product sizing within a product image.  Can you get a good sense of the product from this photograph? Here are some tips for good product sizing within a product photo:

• For the “whole product” photo, the product should take up most of the frame while still allowing at least a small border on all sides to allow for any possible cropping that happens in the upload or resizing process.   This also lets the customer see the ‘whole’ product, not wondering what terrible thing has been cropped out.
• The main focus should be the product, not its surroundings.  Make sure the product is large and the main focus for any product photo.

Single View where multiple views are appropriate

Remember the last time you were shopping online and you were on a product page looking at the image of the product and wished that you “could just see the back of it.”  That feeling is a barrier to purchase; remove it and you increase your chance of making the sale. [caption id="attachment_110" align="alignright" width="210" caption="Lack of Multiple Product Views Example"][/caption] Take a look at this image of a dress.  Do you know what the back looks like?  How does it look in red?  With the single provided image (clicking on red doesn't change the image), you can’t answer these questions. Be sure to include multiple product views when:

• The ‘back’ of the object is significantly different than the ‘front’ – think of a car with a custom paint job that is different on the driver’s side vs. the passenger’s side.
• A ‘special feature’ that sets it apart is not visible in the primary photograph – think of the notebook computer retailers that show close-up photos of the available ports the computer offers.
• The product can be very different from one to the next or is offered in multiple colors, lengths, etc.  – think of the dress above, how many possible types of backs could it have?  Too many to count!

If there’s a chance that a customer will want to see other angles or features, give them what they are looking for and provide those images.

Are those images really yours?

The internet gives everyone virtually limitless access to millions of beautiful images: photographs, illustrations and more.  There is a catch, however.  Most of the images out there are subject to copyright. There are only three ways to ensure that you have the right to use an image:

1. You took the photograph, created the illustration or paid someone to take the photograph or create the illustration for you.
2. You paid for the image either directly to the artist or through a stock gallery.
3. The image has been expressly identified as part of the public domain or you have been given express written permission to use it.  Owner rights can be identified by a specific licenses such as a Creative Commons License (be sure which one applies!).  Be aware that most Creative Commons Licenses are for non-commercial use only.

One of the best and most affordable ways to avoid a situation where you are using an image illegally is to purchase stock photography.  Stock photography galleries provide useful websites with excellent search capabilities.  Here are three of the most commonly used:

1. iStockPhoto.com – my absolute favorite with great image quality, a huge selection and good prices.  A small web photo goes for a couple of dollars and the prices go up from there.
2. Shutterstock.com – great selection of photos and illustrations with a cost that is a bit higher.  Prices start at $5 for a small web-quality photo.
3. GettyImages.com – a source for excellent quality images with significantly higher price points.  A web-quality photo runs $49 and up.

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Tags: ADNSF image management, ecommerce design, image management, photos, product photography, product photos, tips, whitepaper

This entry was posted on Friday, December 19th, 2008 at 11:29 am and is filed under Design, General E-commerce, Graphics & Images. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.