Match the photo with the Website!

As I observed recently, the same photo can have different effect on the various Websites over Internet.

Selling on-line leaves us with no choice but to have great photos and promote!
.........promote!
................PROMOTE!

There are a lot of social media and galleries, that can be helpful, but the trouble is that the photo working miracles on Facebook won't work so good on ETSY or Deviantart.

How to match your item photos with your social media pages and galleries? 

Here's a few tips!

ETSY

There are 5 photos that can be used, and I am sure buyers look at all 5 :) But obviously, the first photo, that becomes your thumbnail, is the most important.
YES: The photos should be square or horizontal, with a neutral background (white, gray or delicate wood). The photo should be natural, without a watermark or your signature / icon.
NO: Compilation, photo manipulation, frames etc simply won't work.

My most popular ETSY item and photo, the 'Trees in Blue' silk scarf

DeviantArt

As I observed, my most popular pictures are the ones with a lot of details. Photo-manipulation works great! YES: DeviantArt is all about composition, colors and complicity.
NO: None of my close - ups or single item shots are as popular as my combined (GIMP edited) images.

 One of my most popular DeviantArt... but not on ETSY - the Pareo version of Trees in Blue.

Facebook

Facebook loves close - ups and details and add - ons like your avatar or signature on the picture... or even a quote from your positive ETSY feedback.
Oh, and a peek behind the curtains :) Show your workshop, your creative process, your sketches!
YES: Details or close - up, strong shading to be visible on your friends walls. Pictures while working.
NO: The picture itself should not be to big, because FB does not show the original size of the picture and small fonts may be unreadable.

Night Queen silk scarf while painting... worked well on FB but won't work on ETSY nor DeviantArt.

Let me know what are your experience! What do you think?

What about the Pinterest? 

What about a Blogpost? 

Good Photography for Etsy #2

Good pictures sell your products on Etsy

Yes, that is easy to say, but let's face it, we have limited resources while taking pictures. 

The camera (oh, why are they so expensive) the lighting (if I use the artificial light, colors won't be good) the location (oh such a small apartment)... and so on!

Silk scarf Hortensia the edited photo and the unedited version. 

On the right you can see a part of my bookshelf and how dark my apartment really is :O

What can we do to make the photos better? 

 Here's some good tips I've collected from Etsy Teams and various forums:

Use delicate, light background. 

Period. Your white wall is probably the safest option. 

Do not use your floor, it scares the customers off to see the item on the floor or in other unhygienic place! 

Do not use red or yellow or other strong colors as a background, they will change the perception of the item's colors.

A & D colors are the same. B & C are the same. Would you believe it? 

Use natural light 

So maybe a terrace or the balcony? Sometimes the window light is sufficient. If the camera is good, you can probably get more colors and make the picture brighter during computer editing... but beware, if the photo is dark, there could be some quality loss.

The Freesia silk scarf picture was too dark.

There is no way for me to make it more light without loosing quality and orange - coral colors. Meh, it was a dark, cloudy day :(

Take as many photos as you can

 

102 photos just to get 5 good for this Hortensia scarf on ETSY

It's easier to find a good photo in 200 than in 20 ;) 

I must confess there are times when I just don't feel like taking pictures and I am doing it without thinking. That's not so good neither. There can be 200 bad pictures, so put your work into it! Take a good aim! Take close-ups and shots for the entire item. Try something new!

***

The basic for Etsy photography are quite straightforward, I think. Well, the picture editing part is something REALLY interesting :) please stay tunned for my next blog post!

Good Photography for Etsy #1

Good pictures sell your products on Etsy

It is so simple, really. Good photography is the most important thing for your e-shop, it is literally the only thing that can persuade your potential customer to buy.

Photographing for Etsy is something that many sellers struggles with. I myself still have A LOT to learn... but there are some tips I can share with you! I hope you will find it helpful :)

Ready picture of silk scarf FLOWERS and it's unedited version.

So, here are the main things that need to be taken under consideration:
 
PHOTOGRAPHING

• staging (good presentation of the item, good background)
• lighting (can be fixed in GIMP)
• cropping

EDITING with GIMP or Photoshop

• cropping
• color balance and contrast
• editing small imperfections of the background

There will be more blog posts to come in few next weeks so stay tuned!

You can check my ETSY shop to see the pictures, some better, some not so much ;) but I hope there is visible progress :D  Please feel free to share you knowledge in the comment section!