Second only to having a good product, product photography is hands down the most important part of increasing your sales on Etsy!
There are some truly helpful articles posted at The Storque on this subject and I’ll give you some links at the end of the post if you want to read more in depth. Here are a few tips I found especially interesting.
Good Etsy Product Photography
- Should attract people to your items – When your product shows up on the front page or in a showcase, people might only look at it for a flash. Your photograph needs to be powerful enough to cause them to linger a second longer. Then, if they’re interested, they’ll click.
- Should answer questions about the products – how big is it, what does it feel like, how does it look in its intended environment? You can answer these questions with good pictures!
- Should make your products “pop” – Good use of backgrounds, both color and texture, can make all the difference in focusing the attention on your product in a natural, pleasing, and impressive way!
- Should accurately represent colors – you can accomplish this either by adjusting the EV balance on your digital camera or using an editing software such as Photoshop Elements (which is very useful for an Etsy seller)
- Works with Etsy photograph parameters – Etsy will make your photographs 430 pixels wide, so be sure that they work at that size. You can resize photographs in your photo editing software or online at a site such as Photobucket.com. Also keep in mind that Etsy will crop a square image from the center of your image for use in thumbnails.
Use a Lightbox
While I’ve never tried this personally, there seems to be widespread agreement that a “lightbox” is a great tool for photographing small items, such as jewelry. There are quite a few of these available on the market for purchase. But it seems like anyone capable of making something to sell on Etsy would be capable of whipping one of these up home-made style. See this Storque article on how to make a lightbox.
Check Out This Video
This video was originally posted on The Storque at Etsy. It shows some great tips for photography of your merchandise.
Great Resources
Here are a couple of really helpful articles that can get you moving along in the right direction:
This is an area I really need help in. What background looks best when photographing clothing, plain white or plain black?
Etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6412221
Yasmeen’s last blog post..Sale Item — Nautical Pocket Dress
as an avid fan and shopper of etsy- I can’t agree more that a good picture is KEY!! They catch my, they are what cause me to follow the link in a subject search (ie red towels, etc) and they are the ones I feature on my blogs. Some people don’t even do something as easy as edit their photo- with a free and easy service like picasa- which has one butten editing – i’m feeling lucky. Focus on those pictures!!!! (pun intended. 😉 )
Thank you for this!
Great information, thanks! Photos are something I’m constantly trying to improve.
.-= Amber´s last blog ..New items! =-.
OMG, I’ve posted today on the same subject..nearly! With some great tips by Michael Garbutt!! 🙂
Great post! Good pictures are what makes your item ‘clickable.’
.-= Annabelle´s last blog ..Crochet Pattern: Fluffy Bath Puff =-.
great tips, Kim! Even though I’m also a photographer, I HATE photographing my jewelry… 🙂
.-= Kelly Warren´s last blog ..Mermaid’s and Mama’s and More =-.
It is so….. easy to make a light box, if I can do it anyone can and it really does make a difference with smaller items.
.-= Elizabeth Bailey´s last blog ..Monogram Pick Your Initial Pendant with Retro Floral on Lavender Background =-.
Wow Kim, good post. Even though I don’t have an Etsy shop, I learned so much from this video. You are so good at sharing what you find to help others!!
Good job!
Skipped the lightbox, went with white poster board paper outside on a sunny afternoon, me and robots in the shade:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mheld/sets/72157621691565808/
Adjustment in Photoshop or Pincik.com
.-= HerArtSheLoves´s last blog ..Custom Wedding Cake Toppers – Robot Bride, Groom, and Dog – RESERVED for Silverwings72 =-.
I agree!! Photos are SO important. When I search Etsy for my {color love} posts, it’s the photos that grab my eye and pull me in. Even if it’s technically the right color, if the picture isn’t great, I don’t use it! Thanks for posting these great tips and links. 🙂
.-= Jacky {The Sweetest Petunia}´s last blog ..Forget Me Not {a book review} =-.
good tips! we can’t agree more with how important pictures ARE!! pictures get you into treasuries, catch our eye when we are searching under keywords, and make it easy to feature you on our blog.
.-= crush.´s last blog ..for us, spring = sidewalk chalk =-.
Very good tips, will definitely improve my pics soon.
With two small children (4 and 7mths) I was not always able to get outside to photograph as I usually work at night when it is dark. I took a wall mount shelf, you know the ones you get for your bathroom with three shelves. It is all white with a white beadboard backing. I set up two clip on lights with daylight lightbulbs. It works perfectly for my wallets and I have it set up in the studio in a way that it works for organizing what needs to be photographed and what needs to be packaged. So much easier than lugging things outside or chasing the light around the house.
use scenery mode to bring out the beautiful picture and nateral colors its the best mode of all
Photos are so important, thanks for the tips on this video they will help in whatever you are working with. Also the information on getting traffic to your site. Informative blog post.
Hi there mates, how is everything, and what yoou want to say onn the topic oof this post, in mmy
view its genuinely amazin for me.
Taking good pictures is definitely very important. What I can’t seem to figure out is how come some shops with very not nice pictures and products are selling? Do people just have bad taste, or is etsy in decline? Just saying it as I see it 🙁
This is very helpful. I love these tips! Thank you!