Product Photos for a Catalogue Website: A Practical Guide

On a catalogue website, product photos are often the first thing prospective buyers look at, even before they read the product name or specifications. Clear, tidy photos help buyers understand a product quickly and give the impression that your company takes its work seriously. Dark, blurry or inconsistent photos, on the other hand, make a catalogue look careless, however good the products are. For what else a product page needs besides photos, read product pages for Google and for buyers.

You don't always need an expensive studio to get decent photos. Consistency and planning matter more. This article covers the practical points to keep in mind when photographing products for your website.

Start with a photo list for each product

Before you start shooting, decide which photos each product needs. Using the same list for every product makes the catalogue look uniform and makes it easier for your team to add new products.

A list commonly used for B2B products:

1. Main photo from the front: the photo shown in product listings and search results.
2. A photo from the side or at a 45-degree angle: shows the product's shape and depth.
3. Detail photos: the material's texture, joins, caps or the parts that set the product apart.
4. A size or comparison photo: the product next to a familiar object or a ruler, so its scale is easy to grasp.
5. Variant photos: the colours, sizes or finishes available.
6. In-use or packaging photos: the product in use or packed for shipping, where relevant.

Not every product needs all six. But the main photo should always be there, and it should be taken the same way for every product.

A consistent background

A plain white or light grey background is the safest choice for a catalogue. The product becomes the main focus, and the product listing pages look tidy because every photo has the same background. You can use a large sheet of paper, plain fabric or a white board as the backdrop.

For white or transparent products, a light grey background usually helps keep the product's edges visible. Whatever you choose, use the same background across the whole catalogue.

Angles and composition

Set the same camera position and distance for every product's main photo. Place the product in the centre of the frame with a little empty space around it, so the photo still looks good when the website crops it to a square or rectangle.

Use a tripod if you can. As well as preventing blurry photos, a tripod helps you keep the same angle from one product to the next.

Lighting

Soft, even light makes a product's colours look more accurate. A few tips:

• Use natural light from a large window, but avoid direct sunlight, which casts harsh shadows.
• If you use lamps, choose lamps with the same colour of light so the product's colours don't vary.
• Use a white board or reflector on the opposite side to reduce shadows.
• Switch off room lights whose colour differs from your main lights.

For shiny products such as metal, glass or glossy plastic, reflections are often a problem. Light diffused through thin white fabric or a light box usually helps.

File size and compression

Photos from modern cameras are very large and don't need to be uploaded as they are. Files that are too large make catalogue pages slow to open, especially on phones.

• Keep the original high-resolution files as an archive.
• For the website, use a size large enough for the biggest display, for example an image zoom feature.
• Compress photos before uploading, or use a CMS that compresses images and creates several sizes automatically.
• WebP and AVIF generally produce smaller files than JPEG at similar quality.

Speed also depends on where your website is hosted. Read also: what web hosting is and how to choose it.

File names and alt text

A file name such as IMG_4821.jpg says nothing at all. Use a name that describes what is in the photo, for example pet-bottle-500ml-screw-cap.jpg. Clear names make it easier for your team to find files and also help search engines understand what an image shows.

Alternative text (alt text) is a short description of an image that screen readers read out for people with visual impairments, and that search engines also read. Describe specifically what can be seen, for example "Clear 500 ml PET bottle with a white screw cap", rather than just "product" or "photo 1".

Learn more about how to get your company website on Google.

Common mistakes

• Different backgrounds and angles: the catalogue looks untidy even if each photo is good.
• Over-editing colours: the product buyers receive looks different from the photo.
• Only one photo per product: buyers have to ask about details that could have been shown.
• Using someone else's photos: this risks copyright problems and doesn't show your actual product.
• Uploading original files straight from the camera: catalogue pages become heavy and slow.

Frequently asked questions

Are photos from a phone good enough?

For many products, a modern phone can take decent photos, as long as the lighting is good, the phone is on a tripod and the background is tidy. For very small or shiny products, or those that need a lot of detail, a professional product photographer may be the better choice.

Should the background be removed and replaced with pure white?

It isn't essential. A consistent plain background during the shoot is usually enough. Removing the background digitally can make everything look more uniform, but do it carefully so the product's edges still look natural.

What if our products change often?

Write a simple photography guide covering the background, angle, distance and photo list. With this guide, anyone on your team can photograph new products with consistent results and then upload them themselves through the CMS.

Good product photos don't have to be lavish, but they do have to be clear, honest and consistent across the whole catalogue.

See also our product catalogue website service, or read the essential pages for a factory website.