Product Photos on a White Background: Shoot, Cut Out and Export for Online Shops

Know the marketplace's rules

Start with the requirements of the platform you sell on, because they decide the format before you take the first photo. Amazon, for example, requires a pure white background (RGB 255, 255, 255) for the main image of most products and asks for the product to fill most of the frame; other platforms recommend white or a plain neutral background and square images. Rules differ by category and change over time, so check the current image guidelines in your seller account.

Common points across platforms are: one product per main image, no text, logos or watermarks added on top, no props that could be mistaken for part of the product and enough resolution for the zoom function. Additional images may show the product in use or in a room setting.

Shooting for a clean cut-out

A background remover decides for every pixel whether it belongs to the product. It needs contrast to do that. Place the product in front of a plain background whose colour differs clearly from it: a white product in front of a mid-grey card, a dark product in front of white. Patterns, wood grain and clutter behind the item make the edges uncertain.

Light is the second factor. Diffuse daylight from a large window, without direct sun, gives soft shadows. A white card or sheet of paper on the side away from the window brightens the shadow side. Avoid the phone's flash; it creates hard shadows behind the product and glare on shiny surfaces.

Hold the camera at the height of the product's middle, not from above, so its proportions look natural, and leave space around it. Use the main camera rather than the wide-angle lens, which distorts objects close to it, and tap on the product to focus.

• Plain background in a contrasting colour
• Soft window light, white card as fill, no flash
• Camera at product height, main lens, space around the edges
• Several angles in one session with identical light

Removing the background

Drop the photo on Remove Background. The Universal model handles any kind of subject, products included; Portrait is tuned for people. The first run loads the model once, after which it stays in your browser's cache. The cut-out runs on your device, so unpublished products do not end up on someone else's server.

Check the edges at a high zoom. Typical problem areas are fine details such as cables, fringes and fur, transparent parts such as glass and plastic packaging, and shadows directly under the product that the model may read as part of it. Under Refine, Erase removes leftovers and Restore paints back parts that were cut away; a smaller brush helps in fine areas.

Transparent and reflective products remain the hardest case for any background remover, because the original background shines through them. For a glass bottle, a better photo against white is often easier than a perfect cut-out.

Pure white, square and with a shadow

Change Background builds on the same cut-out. The Marketplace 1:1 preset places the product on pure white (#FFFFFF) in a square image with even padding around it and saves it at up to 4096 pixels. White + shadow adds a soft floor shadow, which keeps the product from looking as if it floats in space.

If a thin outline of the old background remains around the product, move Shrink / grow slightly towards shrink and raise Feather for a softer transition. Match lighting tints the product slightly towards the new background, which helps when it was photographed in warm indoor light. For additional images you can also choose a colour, a gradient, your own room photo or a blurred version of the original surroundings.

Stay honest with the product itself. Removing the background, dust and a distracting cable is fine; changing the colour, shape or condition of the product misleads buyers and leads to returns and complaints.

Exporting the right file

For marketplace main images, JPG is the safe choice: a white background needs no transparency, and every platform accepts JPG. Save a PNG with transparency as well if you want to reuse the cut-out later on coloured backgrounds, in banners or in your own shop design. For your own website, WebP or AVIF keep transparency at a much smaller size.

Large exports are useful for the zoom function, but shop systems and page speed suffer from oversized files. Keep a large master file and run copies for the web through Compress Images; the guide Optimise Images for Your Website explains sizes and formats.

A consistent product range

A shop looks tidier when all products sit at a similar size and position in their frames. The Marketplace preset uses the same padding for every image, which helps. Photograph a series in one session with unchanged light and camera position, and process all images with the same settings. Batch Image Processor can then apply the same resize, compression and renaming steps to a whole folder in one go.

Fixing the most common problems

Most disappointing cut-outs go back to one of a handful of causes, and each has a simple fix, either in the photo or in the editor.

• Product edges blend into the background: shoot again against a background of a clearly different brightness.
• Shadow under the product is kept as part of it: erase it with the brush, then add a clean, even floor shadow with White + shadow.
• Grey or coloured fringe on the outline: shrink the edge slightly and add a little feather.
• Product looks too warm or too cold on white: switch on Match lighting, or correct the white balance before cutting out.
• Product appears small in the frame: shoot closer; the square preset adds even padding but cannot add detail.

The additional images

The main image is only the first of several. The others answer the questions a buyer would ask in a shop: what the back looks like, how large the item is, what is in the box, how it looks in use. Photograph details such as the material, the label and the connections, and add a picture with a familiar object or a hand for scale.

For pictures in use, Blur Background keeps the original scene but softens it, like a portrait lens, so the product stands out without the room around it distracting. Change Background can also place the cut-out in front of your own room photo; make sure light direction and size match, or the montage looks pasted in.

Give buyers enough resolution to zoom. Amazon, for example, enables zoom for images that are at least 1000 pixels on their longest side, and other platforms have similar recommendations. The Marketplace preset saves at up to 4096 pixels, which is plenty for any zoom function.

Frequently asked questions