How to take great product photos with your phone

Shoot near a big window in daylight, on a plain white or light background, with the phone held steady at the product's height. Take a front shot, a back or side shot, a close-up of the detail and one photo of the product in use. Keep every photo the same shape (square works best for most stores), crop tight, and correct only brightness and white balance.

What you need

• A phone with a decent camera. Any recent mid-range phone is enough.
• A window with soft daylight. Direct, harsh sun is too strong.
• A white sheet, chart paper or foam board for the background.
• A second white board or sheet to bounce light into the shadows.
• A small tripod or a stack of books to keep the phone steady.

Step 1: get the light right

Light matters more than the camera. Put your table next to a window so the light comes from the side. If the sun shines straight in, hang a thin white curtain or sheet over the window to soften it. Place the white board on the other side of the product to lighten the shadows, and switch off the room lights, because yellow bulbs mixed with daylight give odd colours.

Step 2: use a clean background

Curve a white sheet from the wall down onto the table (a "sweep") so there is no visible line behind the product. With a plain background, people look at the product, and every photo in your store looks consistent.

Step 3: camera settings that help

• Clean the lens. A fingerprint makes everything look hazy.
• Don't use the flash. It creates hard reflections.
• Don't zoom digitally. Move closer instead, or use the phone's 2x lens if it has one.
• Tap to focus on the product, then slide the brightness down a little if the white background looks blown out.
• Use the timer or a remote so the phone doesn't shake when you press the button.
• Turn on the grid to keep the product straight and centred.

Step 4: the shots every product needs

Shot	Why
Front, straight on	Your main photo for listings and search results
Back and sides	Shows what the buyer cannot touch
Close-up of detail	Fabric, stitching, texture, labels, ports
Scale or in use	Shows size, fit or how it is used
Packaging or what is in the box	Sets expectations, cuts returns

For clothing, add a photo on a person or a mannequin, and show each colour separately. For food, show the product out of the pack as well as the pack itself.

Step 5: edit lightly

1. Crop every product to the same shape. Square (1:1) suits most store layouts.
2. Straighten the horizon.
3. Adjust brightness and white balance so whites look white.
4. Leave the product's colour alone. If a red kurta looks orange in the photo, buyers will return it.

If you use AI tools to edit or create images, be honest: the photo must show the real product the buyer will receive. Some marketplaces and ad platforms have rules for labelling AI-generated images, so check their policies before you use such images there.

Step 6: size and file type

Very large files slow your pages down, and very small ones look blurry on big screens. A square image of around 1,600 × 1,600 pixels is plenty for a store. JPG works for photos, and WebP gives smaller files at the same quality.

Add a short video

A vertical clip of 10 to 20 seconds showing the product being handled, worn or used often answers questions a photo can't. Shoot it in the same light, keep it steady and silent, and add it next to your photos.

A one-hour photo routine for 20 products

1. Prepare (10 minutes): iron or clean the products, remove tags you don't want to show, and set up the background and reflector by the window.
2. Shoot (35 minutes): photograph every product with the same angles in the same order, front, back, side, detail and scale. Keep the phone in the same position so all the photos match.
3. Check (5 minutes): zoom in on a few photos to make sure they are sharp, and reshoot any blurry ones while the setup is still in place.
4. Edit and name (10 minutes): apply the same light edit to all the photos, crop them to square, and rename the files with the product name.

Shooting in batches is much faster than photographing each product as it arrives, and your store looks consistent.

Common photo mistakes

• Yellow or blue colour casts from room lights.
• Busy backgrounds, such as patterned bedsheets, that pull attention away from the product.
• Different crops and backgrounds for every product, which make category pages look messy.
• Photos that are too dark on the shadow side. A white reflector fixes this.
• Watermarks across the product, which make it hard to see.
• Using the supplier's catalogue photos for products that look different in reality.

Lifestyle photos on a budget

Once the plain-background photos are done, add one or two lifestyle shots per product, like a mug on a breakfast table, a bag on a shoulder or a kurta worn outdoors. Use natural light, keep the scene simple, and make sure the product is still the main thing in the frame.

Photographing tricky products

• Jewellery and small items: get close, use a plain matte background, and shoot several angles to show the sparkle without glare.
• Shiny or glass products: move the light until the reflections are soft and even. A white sheet around the product helps.
• Dark products: lift the shadows with a reflector and expose for the product, not the background.
• Food: shoot in daylight, show the texture up close, and show the portion size clearly.

Photos in a CartWhizz store

The CartWhizz product editor gives the same advice. Square (1:1) images fit the gallery, 1,600 × 1,600 px is plenty, and anything wider than 2,000 px is scaled down so pages stay fast. It accepts JPG, PNG, WebP and AVIF files up to 50 MB. You can drag photos into order, choose the main picture, and add product videos or showcase clips. Try it free for 7 days at cartwhizz.com/start.

Frequently asked questions

Can I take professional product photos with a phone?

Yes. Soft window light, a plain background, a steady phone and light editing give results that are good enough for most online stores.

What is the best background for product photos?

Plain white or light grey for the main photo, so every product looks consistent. Use lifestyle backgrounds for the extra photos.

What size should product images be?

Square images of around 1,600 × 1,600 pixels are plenty for most stores. Keep every product the same shape.

How many photos should a product have?

At least four: front, back or side, a close-up of the detail, and one showing size or use.