An Image is Worth a Thousand Words (And Maybe a Thousand Sales!)
Accurate representation of your product is essential, customers need to be able to learn as much about your product as they possibly can before they can make a decision about whether or not to buy it.
The way you present your products online has a significant impact on sales. Taking great photographs of your jewellery is an essential skill when showcasing handmade designs for your online shop presence or entering competitions etc.
The main product or catalogue shots look better where possible with a white background and, optionally, the addition of a drop shadow (pay attention to shadows). If well lit, a subtle shadow can add depth and dimension to a shot.
Lighting
Avoid harsh backlighting and other setups that cast shadows on the surface of the object.
Keep the lights on the same side of the object as your camera, or slightly off to one side. Polished silver is notoriously difficult to photograph. The addition of a strategically placed piece of black card in your lightbox that shows as a reflection on the jewellery can be advantageous by adding depth.
They should also be clear with the product in focus, although it can help to draw attention to certain features of the product by making elements of the design out of focus.
Fingerprints or dust on your product produce poor quality results so cleanliness is important.
Be Creative
Showing multiple angles of your product is critical. It is a known fact that showing multiple views of your product will significantly improve your sales.
Additional images showing the products in various lifestyle situations or worn on a model help to sell them and give a sense of physical size.
Show your packaging so the customer can see what to expect when the product arrives.
Small pictures are simply not effective as a sales tool. Images should be square and ideally a minimum of 600 pixels x 600 pixels and a maximum of 1000 pixels x 1000 pixels @ 72dpi for online purposes.
After the Shot!
A little bit of ‘cleaning up’ editing is normal, background removal or exposure and levels settings can be undertaken easily with software programmes such as Photoshop or Corel (paid for). Or, as a free alternative, Gimp (downloadable) or Pixlr ( online editing; www.pixlr.com ).
Consistency – It’s very important that you crop and size all of your jewellery product images in the same way. Multiple crops and sizes will only confuse customers and lessen the professional look of your Odissa shop product range.
