Starting an online shop can be an incredibly challenging task. You must worry about getting the products, marketing them, running the store, shipping them to customers, etc. However, there’s one aspect that can be incredibly exhausting, and that’s coming up with product images and choosing backgrounds for product photography.
Fortunately, this aspect can quickly be improved by learning more about it, which is why it’s the topic of today’s discussion. Stay with us to learn why backgrounds matter, why you should switch them up, and how to make the most creative backgrounds for product photography.
In this article
Why You Should Use Different Backgrounds for Product Photography
Although white backgrounds are often the norm and required by various e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, they might be too simplistic-looking for some products. Other e-commerce platforms, such as Shopify and Etsy, don’t have such requirements, and you can go all out and try different styles and backgrounds to create a visually appealing product photo that will grab the attention of store visitors.
Your product might benefit from a different background type or color, and you should try it and see how your products look in different environments. Such backgrounds will undoubtedly allow for more creativity, and you can create the exact product style you’re looking for, making your products stand out from the competition.
Elements of a Good Product Photography Background
Choosing the best background for product photography can be challenging, especially if you’re new to the industry. However, it can become effortless once you figure out which elements are vital, what goes where, and how to set everything up. So, let’s review the essentials of creative backgrounds for product photography.
1. Subtle Colors
Unless you have years of experience and know what you’re doing, it would be best to stick to subtle colors. Background colors matter a lot, and you should avoid using anything too vivid or warm.
Remember, the focus should be on the product, not the background, and the background should complement your product, not steal any attention from it, which is why subtle colors work best, making your product stand out.
2. The Subject Should Be Placed Correctly
When starting with product photography, the best idea is to keep your products in the center of an image and the product’s label facing the camera directly.
The same also goes for the distance of your product, where the industry standard is about a meter away from the background. However, it also depends on the product you’re selling.
Of course, as you gain experience and develop a personal style, you can try out different ideas and see what works best.
3. The Frame Should Be Filled With the Product
The best product images are the ones where the product fills the entire picture. Such photos ensure the product, or the subject of your photo, is the primary focus. Pictures like these can attract viewers and gain the most attention on e-commerce platforms.
It’s also why keeping your products centered is crucial for product photography. Doing that allows you to easily resize the image from all sides while keeping the image’s aesthetics and the entire product visible.
4. Blurred Backgrounds
As mentioned, products are the main focus in product photography, and the backgrounds are there to complement the product without stealing attention. That’s why blurring the background can work wonders and enhance the overall image by a significant margin.
Proper product placement and distance from the background are also helpful during this part of the product image creation. When done correctly, these two elements will help you easily blur the background without significant edits and push your product to the foreground.
5. Simple Elements
Simplicity and minimalism are stylish and attractive. Think of how Apple does marketing, for example. Their backgrounds are simple, clean, and elegant. The photos rarely involve anything else besides the product. It’s why Apple’s ads are so effective and make you want the product.
Therefore, you should keep things as simple as possible. There’s no need for anything extravagant, as such backgrounds will only steal the attention away from the product.
6. The Background Should Fit in With the Whole Composition
Although the background shouldn’t be the focus of your product images, it’s still a vital part of making great photos that attract the attention of online shop visitors. Thus, it should fit in with your product to create an aesthetically pleasing image.
Contrasting colors are a great fit, and such backgrounds can complement the product incredibly well, but they’re not your only option. Therefore, you should experiment with different colors and materials to find what works.
9 Best Background Options for Product Photography
Now that you know which elements are crucial for creating the most creative backgrounds for product photography, you may wonder which backgrounds are the most used in the industry. That’s why we’ve included a list of the top backgrounds to work with, which you can find below.
1. White Background
A white background is a safe choice, making it an option that most photographers and online shop owners use. It conveys minimalism and simplicity, can make your product’s details stand out, and requires minimal post-production edits.
White backgrounds are also often required by e-commerce platforms like Amazon, which is why they’re the most used ones in the product photography industry.
2. Gray Background
Similarly to a white background, a gray one is another popular choice. It gives out just enough contrast, making your white products appear much better while keeping simplicity, minimalism, and a neutral look.
Like with the white backgrounds, gray ones let users see the product in all its glory and light, shifting the focus entirely to the product. Such product images are also easy to edit and require minimal effort during the post-production cleanup part.
3. Vinyl Backdrop
Vinyl is another excellent material that has gained a lot of popularity recently. These backdrops are an excellent investment as they’re reliable and last a long time because they’re thick. Moreover, they’re also spillproof, which is fantastic for working with liquid products.
It’s also worth noting that vinyl backdrops can wash out if you’re not careful when washing them, which can be a significant disadvantage and an additional cost for your product-selling business.
4. Paper Background
If you’re creative, even the simplest items, such as a plain sheet of paper, can make an excellent background for all kinds of products. You can find paper of all colors and textures, and it’s incredibly cheap.
These backgrounds come with a few disadvantages, too. A paper might not be reusable, as it’s not a durable material, and you should be very careful when inspecting it, as the slightest tears or smudges can ruin your product image.
5. Fabric Background
Perfumes, watches, jewelry, and similar products do incredibly well when paired with a fabric background. These backgrounds can create a 3D effect, adding to the illusion of depth.
Whether we’re talking about silk shirts and bedsheets or wool jumpers, photographers love fabric backgrounds, as they’re easy to store, wash, and reuse.
However, they can also get quite wrinkly, and such photos won’t do any good in representing your product in the best light.
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6. Rug Background
Rugs are another excellent material to use, and they can be a perfect choice for footwear products. They can convey the feeling of how a specific product will look in the real world and enhance the 3D effect of your products.
They don’t have to be used exclusively with footwear products, as they pair well with other product types, such as makeup, but they’re undoubtedly one of the most popular choices for shoes, sandals, heels, and other footwear.
7. Wooden Background
Wooden elements like floorboards, furniture, and walls can be excellent backgrounds for your products, especially if you want your products to give away a rustic or vintage vibe.
A wooden background might not be an all-purpose backdrop like an entirely white environment, but it’s helpful in various situations. That’s why photographers love it against an all-white or an all-black product.
8. Sand or Stone Background
Sand and stone might seem rough, but they make excellent backgrounds for e-commerce product images. The texture of rock and sand can create a fantastic effect that will make your foreground product stand out.
That’s why many photographers and photo editors use these as backgrounds, especially when dealing with images of furniture and other house items, as such environments can convey the product’s details much better.
9. Foam Board
When money is tight and you’re on a strict budget, foam boards can be an excellent replacement for walls, paper backgrounds, or a sweep. They’re much cheaper, yet they’re capable of recreating a superb backdrop for product photography.
Of course, you can also get foam boards in other colors and use them to create stunning backgrounds for your online store’s products, even on a tight budget.
How To Create Creative Product Backgrounds With AI
Purchasing an entire assortment of tools required for creating good product photos, investing in various product photography background types, or finding venues with stone walls can be incredibly expensive. However, you don’t necessarily need all of this to create excellent product photos.
Instead, you can use AI to do this for you – you only need to give it directions about what you want. These include the product you want it to generate, the background you wish to use to increase the visual appeal of your product, and a few additional settings to customize your product photo.
Since the boom of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, AI product photography tools have decreased the work needed for great product photos. Some of the most well-known ones include Adobe’s Sensei, Google’s Product Studio, Pixelcut, Vue.ai, Zeg.ai, Zmo.ai, etc. However, one tool undoubtedly stands above all others because of its excellent features and ease of use, and that’s Wondershare VirtuLook.
Using Wondershare VirtuLook to Generate Unique Product Photos & Backgrounds
Wondershare VirtuLook is an incredible new AI-powered tool that can take your backgrounds for product photography to a whole other level, and yet, it’s effortless to use and only requires a few steps. Here’s how you can use Wondershare VirtuLook to create stunning backgrounds for product photography:
- Step 1: Go to the Wondershare VirtuLook website, click the Get Started button, and log in.
- Step 2: On the left side of the screen, select Product photo generation and hit the Step 1: Click to upload button to add your product image.
- Step 3: Choose the best images of your product and click OK when you have done uploading.
- Step 4: Change the style and background by selecting the different template. This option will change the areas of the picture that you don't want to keep to your preferred background.
Alternatively, if the template does not currently have the scene you need, you can try using the Custom Editing feature to generate your own customized photo.
That’s all it takes to create stunning product images. Wondershare VirtuLook will take a few seconds to generate four pictures of your product in your chosen setting, making the entire process effortless and swift.
What would take hours to set up, hundreds or thousands of dollars to purchase everything necessary, and tons of work in post-production now only takes a few minutes. Try the tool for free and see how it can speed up and reduce the work needed for astonishing product photography.
Zmo.ai Lets You Generate New Backgrounds
Another great AI tool for generating backgrounds is Zmo.ai, which you can use to remove a background you dislike or create a new one for your product. Whether you’re into e-commerce fashion photos and need well-made product images for your online shop or want to use AI for your Instagram posts, Zmo.ai can be a great choice.
The tool also features a background remover option and an AI Designer, AI Models, ImgEditor, and ImgCreator. When combined, these tools will let you create photo-realistic backgrounds, remove unwanted photobombs for your social media posts, create anime art, logos, and illustrations, try out your products on different models, etc.
Conclusion
Product photography can be one of the most challenging parts of running an online store. However, it must be improved as it’s responsible for grabbing the store’s visitors’ attention.
Fortunately, once you learn the essentials, such as using subtle colors, proper subject placement, image composition, and tricks like blurry backgrounds, things become much more manageable and straightforward. We’ve also included some of the most popular backgrounds for product photography to help you get started.
However, if these aspects of product image creation seem too complicated, other ways exist to achieve perfect product photos. Namely, various AI tools, such as Wondershare VirtuLook, can help you generate fantastic product images and backgrounds and take your online store business to the next level.