PRODUCT IMAGES FOR ECOMMERCE WEBSITES: BEST PRACTICES
In the age of easily accessible information, it becomes a legal necessity to know whether you can copy certain data. Retailers & brands often question themselves: Can I use product images on my website if I just googled the query and went on an Images result tab (without breaking product images copyright law, of course)?
Where to get both product and creative images, how to adapt these pictures to the most popular marketplaces and make them drive more sales. Read these and more in the following blog post.
Product images copyright: where to download pictures
Copyright is a tricky thing. And it’s harder to set the frames around a notion because of the popular misconception:
“A material is under copyright when it has © or a watermark of a company when it comes to product images copyright”.
Is it valid though? Basically, anything that has been created falls under copyright automatically. So how can you find out what images you can use on your website? We’ve gathered a few ideas in an infographic below.
There are a few other ways to get product images for retailers:
- Download from marketplaces.
- Take pictures yourself (get a decent camera, invest in a tripod and set up a lighting/or shoot outdoors).
- Hire a professional product image photographer.
- Find a product images database (product images free sources like royalty-free stock photos)
Tips for downloading product images from marketplaces.
Note. While selling on big marketplaces or on your own website: ask supplier’s (brand or distributor) permission to use their product images.
Already selling on Amazon/Shopify/Aliexpress etc.? If you’re looking to fill your website with standardized pictures (learn the requirements further in an article) — download product images from that marketplace. You’ll save time and money. That doesn’t mean this option is worse than optimizing each product picture. For some equipment, images are less important than technical specifications. So you’d better invest resources in getting high-quality product descriptions from content service providers (also known as content catalogs providers) and share them across your channels with product content syndicator.
Now, you might have wondered:
Can I use amazon product images?
As an existing retailer on Amazon you might have thought of this. It’s kind of controversial question. Yes: you can upload pictures leaving a reference to Amazon site (by placing a logo or a link on an image). And if you do not refer to the source — the answer is No. You should specify it, or, other way, delete an image. Note: pull directly from the Amazon API. Do not download pics yourself.
The basic requirements of the sales platforms
Every sales channel has its specifications. Product images for Amazon, for example, don’t allow much creativity but rather displaying close-to-reality product views.
Generally, you’ll find these basic requirements for product images:
- High resolution. 1500*1500 pixels. Customers could be misguided by blurry and low-quality pictures. Give a detailed image instead to let them properly examine the product. See more leads and fewer returns.
- Nothing extra. You are allowed to use a plain white background with no pattern, color, or special effects. Don’t capture anything that doesn’t go with the purchase.
- Cropping. Your product should fit and be centered within the whole image frame. Amazon, for example, allows no less than 85% or more of the image frame.
- Take another perspective. How does that coat look from inside? And from the back? Tip: make stress on unique parts. Do close-ups.
- Add infographics. Get into product parameter details.
Now, how you can maneuver product images on the sales channels like Magento, Shopify, Aliexpress, Woocommerce? Let’s refer to the main queries retailers have:
Shopify. How to export product images from Shopify? You can’t download images from Shopify directly. But, catch a tip: set a Chrome extension Tab Save. Then go to the products page on the admin page, select the products you need and export them to a CSV. Open file in Google Sheets (Excel or similar), and copy the image URLs. Then enter them to “Download links” in the extension and voila!
Aliexpress. One of the Aliexpress product images extension you can use to upload product images is AliSave. And, what is great, it’s free.
Woocommerce. If you need a whole product gallery images Woocommerce, here’s a complete code to use:
public function getAllProducts( $request ){ $products = new WP_Query([ ‘post_type’ => ‘post’//, //’show_product_on_only_premium’ => ‘yes’, ]); $args = array( ‘status’ => ‘publish’, ); $products = wc_get_products( $args ); $tempArr = []; foreach($products as $product){ $product_obj = json_decode($product-> __toString()); $product_obj->img_src = wp_get_attachment_image_src($product_obj->image_id)[0]; $images_ids = $product-> get_gallery_image_ids(); $images_arr = []; for($i = 0, $j = count($images_ids); $i < $j;$i++ ){ $image_query = wp_get_attachment_image_src($images_ids[$i]); $img = new StdClass; $img->src = $image_query[0]; array_push($images_arr, $img); } $product_obj->gallery = $images_arr; array_push($tempArr, $product_obj); } return $tempArr; }
Tip: to add more images within one product and enhance customer experience you can use Woocommerce product variation images plugin. P. S. Upload as many pictures as you need.
Selling on Magento? Wondered where does Magento store product images? Follow the route: media -> catalog -> product -> image. Also, you can import product images Magento 2 in two ways:
- Import from a local server;
- Import from an external server.
Magento CSV import image example:
Source:https://docs.magento.com/m2/ce/user_guide/system/data-import-product-images.html
Where to find creative images to enhance your catalogs
Using standard product images white background might still sound like a nice plan, though these product images are for illustrative purposes only. What about other options? How could modern-day retailers strike a selling background for product images, for example? And why you should be bothered by enhancing product images at all? Let’s figure this out.
You can let yourself be more creative with product images, when doing product banner images for your catalogs, newsletters, social media (Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, etc.) and other advertising channels. And you can always customize your store with your own product images.
Images free sources:
Above mentioned sources share royalty-free images. This means you can be relaxed — they are free to use.
If you want to get access to a bigger range of stock images, consider referring to a paid ones:
If you’re operating a big number of products (let’s say, more than 1000) — integrate a content syndicator. A platform is already connected to a CSP (Catalog Service Provider), which serves as a database for product images, descriptions, video and other product-related content. And don’t be bothered figuring out if you’re keeping up with copyright law.
How to take product images for website?
How to retouch (product image photoshop) and make them attractive? Catch some tips.
Background. Product background images could vary. Pay attention to the difference inof colors of the product itself and background. They shouldn’t blend. The background should rather be an “intensifier” for a product. Give preference to a neutral background, unless you have some fancy concept you sure will strike to your audience, like this:
Dimensions. Add shades to make it look real and 3 dimensional. Experiment with different kinds of shades to make it feel alive. Or even make it move! See how Estee Lauder created its product image in gif format.
Colors. Fancy trying something outstanding? Experiment with bright colors, patterns, and structures.
Layout. Flatlay is another trend in product photography you couldn’t have missed. Especially, if your target persona is a Millenial or a Gen Z individual — sitting on social networks and scrolling feed in a hope to find aesthetically pleasant content.
Reflect all benefits and peculiarities of a product. From different angles. Add zoom in/zoom out option. This allows better seeing the structure of a product’s material, certain tiny parts, etc.
Use 2 main types of product images: plain white background ones and a lifestyle picture. P.S. If it’s clothing, for example, go ahead and do a combined image: lifestyle on white background.
Stick to one style in all of your products. Make them work together, not compete. A nice example of a brand is Apple. Make the geometry work together. Generally, apple product images high-resolution standard is an example to follow. P.S. See the next passage to learn where you can upload these types of product images for your website.
Tip: don’t forget to use ALT tags to improve SEO results.
Why invest time in product images
If you still consider spending time on enhancing your product images, consider the list below:
- Drawing attention: it’s the first thing that the buyer would see.
Do you often find yourself jumping to the bar “Images” in Google search? Looking first through pictures seems an easier way to get a general sense of a query. Especially when it comes to product pictures.
Fact: The brain processes visual information 60,000 faster than text. — 3M Corporation, 2001
- Showcasing products in close-to-life perspectives.
Online world is tricky and, as a retailer/brand, you have a challenging task: to provide a near-brick-n-mortar shop experience using internet tools.
- Overcoming competition.
There would be dozens of similar products to yours. But if you’ll upgrade your product images, bam, you won. Bear with me and learn how to take product images (what background to use, how to choose colors and dimensions, etc.) and how to edit the existing ones further in an article.
- Building brand image.
Fact: People can remember the content of 2500 pictures with over 90 percent accuracy 72 hours after looking at them for only 10 seconds. — Crockett, 2010
Make sure you make imagery play in your favor. Read further passages of the article to learn how to make product pictures work for you.
- Generating more sales, accepting fewer returns.
The more precise you’ll get — the better sales and less frustrated angry buyers.
- Going viral on social media.
Luckily, social media sales channels allow more creativity, than the basic sales platforms like Google Shopping, eBay, Amazon, and similar. Make people talk and share your content.
Generally, it’s up to you to decide how to allocate your business efforts. If you already know you’ll be operating large numbers of inventory — Gepard Syndicator team would deliver the best quality product content to every sales channel needed. Hope you extracted some useful ideas from this article. Let us know if you have any further queries.
