How To Do Packshot Photography (for Amazon)
Are you selling goods online and want to boost your sales or maybe you run a photography business and want to add packshot photography to your portfolio? Here are our tips to start your packshot photography.
What is Packshot Photography?
Packshot photography, also known as packaging shot or product shot, is an image of a product that entails the labelling or packaging of the product. Packshots are used to relay the brand’s well-roundedness and commitment. A great packaging gives the right expectations and enhances the brand’s perceived value if executed correctly.
Product photography uses various techniques to display a product in a striking manner that will entice prospective consumers to make a purchase. From catalogues to brochures to billboards, product photography plays a significant role in both online and offline advertising. In this article, you will find out why pictures are critical when selling online.
Does Packshot Photography Increase Conversion Rates?
We belong in an era where visual information is important in every stage of life. Humans process visual data much faster and better than other forms of data. In marketing and advertisement, pictures are an important aspect in influencing a consumer’s decision-making process which in turn results in conversion and retention rates.
The quality of the photos reflects the brand’s image, and is an opportunity for creating a first impression to consumers. It is a great opportunity that sellers can use to their advantage by creating professional, polished and appealing pictures to get maximum engagement. Great photography of product can result in higher conversion rates. Wonder how? Here are some aspects to note:
- Quality pictures attracts people to buy.
The probability of product listings with poor quality generating revenue are lower than those with high quality. Since pictures relay the product’s perceived quality and value, they communicate directly to your intended audience: thus, making your product’s content and page more relatable.
- Images are a crucial element of branding.
Photography is the most effective way of strengthening a product’s branding. They grab attention, encourage trust, and encourage potential buyers to take a further look. Furthermore, pictures also create a strong web presence which helps give the brand its digital persona.
Product Photography Tips – Best Practices in Packshot Photography
People purchase with their eyes which means that they only buy something if they like it. Often the consumer’s decision to buy a particular product solely relies on whether the item is visually appealing. Taking pictures of a product serves the purpose of grabbing the buyer’s attention when looking for your product. The product listing needs to evoke affirmative emotions to increase the chances of converting shoppers to customers.
The first step in taking a packshot photo is to invest considerable time in taking several shots of the product to get the ideal shot in different angles. More so, you need to spend time selecting and editing the best images, with an objective to achieve consistency in each picture. So, how can you streamline the photography process?
1. Start with a consistent plan
Selling one product on Amazon (or any other e-commerce platform) is quite easy and takes less time as compared to selling an entire catalogue of products. Begin with branding. Plan how your product images will appear and they will relate to your online presence. From settings to logo to colour scheme, make sure that the product picture is appealing. Since prospective shoppers are scrolling through your listing, ensure that no picture look like it belongs to another website. The pictures need to be consistent.
2. Display on a white or neutral background
Most e-commerce websites display their products on a white or neutral, plain background. Do you know why? Here are some of the reasons:
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It eliminates unwanted distractions
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It gives a consistent feel
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It makes the item the centre of attraction
A white, plain background creates a professional and clean finish. Also, when you use a curved backdrop or a photography shooting tent, you remove shadows and cancel sharp angles that could make the photo look harsh.
3. Set the appropriate lighting
The appropriate light setting can turn even gloomy-looking products to their best form. Many products look more appealing when shot in natural light, more so a soft setting which is evenly distributed across the product. Take care of reflections. If its not possible to get natural soft light, you can employ artificial lighting with the aid of a (DIY) Lightbox or reflectors/umbrellas.
4. Take high resolution images
When taking shots of the product, use a camera that has a high-resolution lens. Each photo needs to be of incredibly high quality and never blurry. Each picture when viewed should convey the product details. Additionally, when shooting the product, the lighting should not be too dull or too bright.
5. Pay keen attention to product size
The size of the product should not appear too big or too small. When a product looks too small, there will be a huge white space surrounding it and some important details could be left out. When the product’s size is too big, some features will be out of focus. Thus, it is crucial to use Amazon’s image aspect ratios before going on a shoot.
6. Take different angles
It is a good idea to take a couple of pictures of a product. The reason for this is that there are potential buyers that may have not physically experienced the product yet. You need to provide them with plenty of shots in different angles. This will help the customer understand how the item will physically be when they buy it.
7. Use a steady surface or a tripod
An important tip when taking product shots is to remove even the slightest of camera shakes. To best avoid this, use a quality tripod, or any surface that offers a steady surface. Use the self timer or a remote shutter as well. This will help your product images look sharp and crisp.
How to Take Product Packshots for Amazon
The experience that a buyer gets when they visit a physical store cannot be brought to the virtual world. However, you can achieve an equivalent role when you present high-quality pictures of that product. You can achieve this by hiring the services of a professional photographer (which you can find here). With these items, you can accomplish this at home:
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A great camera and a memory card
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A quality tripod stand
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A white paper roll
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White foam boards
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A folding table
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Duct tape or clamps
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A window that emits natural light
Once you have all these tools ready, follow the following process:
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Position the table near the window.
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Spread the white paper roll from the bottom of the table to the wall in a way that it will create a smooth curve.
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Tape the white paper roll to the table and wall using the clamps or duct tape.
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Place the white foam board in such an angle that the natural light from your window will reflect on the product being shot.
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Set the tripod to an appropriate height and make sure that it is steady.
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Fix your camera on the tripod stand.
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Start taking shots and experimenting various angles and see which ones give the best results.
Product Image Optimization for Amazon
The product picture that you submit to Amazon needs to meet the following technical specifications:
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The file has to be in one of these formats: Gif (.gif), JPEG (.jpeg or .jpg), or TIFF (.tiff or .tif).
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The image dimension of each picture should either be 1000 pixels or higher in either height or width preferred.
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The image’s colour needs to be in either RGB or CMYK.
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Each file name needs to entail the product identifier (13-digit ISBN, EAN, Amazon ASIN, JAN, or UPC), which is followed by a period and file extension. For instance, 4556969420120.tif or D00010020.jpeg)
Note: Do not use special characters like spaces or dashes because they prevent the image file from being uploaded online.
In addition to taking high-quality images of a product, it is important to optimise them as well. When optimising your image, keep these things in your mind:
Use all the pictures when listing the product.
A photo gallery relays the worth or value of the product to shoppers. Submit as many pictures as possible in the available slots. Include different angles of the product to display its details, how it is used, and close-up views.
Ensure the quality of the image is high
The reason for this is to increase the conversion rate and allow people to zoom-in your images. Make sure that each picture is appealing, and the main image is on a white background.
Use a minimum of 1000 x 1000 pixels on your images
When submitting your images, ensure that the main image can be zoomed in. This will give buyers more reasons to learn about the product.
Conclusion
When advertising a product, it is crucial not to place unrealistic expectations for the consumers. The product needs to be presented as good as possible to avoid returns and customer disappointments. By following these guidelines, you can increase the consumer’s trust and increase sales and traffic on your website.
Are you into product photography?
What do you think? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments!
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