How to Make Product Photos with a White Background

Why white backgrounds sell

A plain white background puts all the attention on the product, makes listings look consistent in search results, and avoids distracting colors that misrepresent the item. Some marketplaces require it: Amazon's main-image rules ask for a pure white background, and many other platforms recommend it for the first photo.

Marketplace image rules at a glance

Rules are set by each marketplace and can change, so check the seller help pages before a big photo shoot. Additional images (lifestyle shots, scale shots, detail close-ups) usually don't need a white background.

Shooting the photo

• Light: place the product near a large window with indirect daylight, or use two soft lights at 45°. Put a white card or foam board on the opposite side to bounce light into the shadows.
• Background: a sheet of white paper curved from the wall onto the table (a "sweep") avoids a visible horizon line. Even if you'll remove the background later, a clean light backdrop makes the cutout easier.
• Camera: a modern phone is fine. Turn off the flash, tap to focus on the product, and use the main (1×) lens to avoid wide-angle distortion. A tripod or stack of books keeps every shot consistent.
• Framing: leave a little space around the product so nothing is cut off, and shoot straight-on plus a three-quarter angle.
• Prepare the product: dust, fingerprints and loose threads show up clearly on a white background.

Removing the background and making it white

1. Open the Background Remover and add your photo. It runs in your browser, so unreleased products stay private.
2. Click Remove Background, then zoom in and use Erase and Restore to tidy edges — especially around handles, straps, transparent packaging and reflections.
3. Download the transparent PNG. Keep it — it's useful for banners, ads and social posts later.
4. Open the PNG to JPG converter and export with a white fill. The transparent area becomes pure white.
5. Crop to a square with the Image Cropper so the product fills about 85% of the frame.
6. Resize to 1600–2000 px with the Image Resizer if needed, and compress with the Image Compressor to keep pages fast.

Should you keep a shadow?

A product floating on pure white can look slightly artificial. A soft natural shadow under the item helps it look grounded, and marketplaces generally allow subtle shadows. The trade-off is that background removal usually removes the shadow along with the background. If you want to keep it, shoot on a truly white sweep with bright, even lighting so the background is already near-white, and skip the cutout step.

Keep your catalogue consistent

• Use the same aspect ratio (square is safest) and the same product-to-frame proportion for every item.
• Shoot every product at the same distance and angle with the same light setup.
• Name files descriptively (for example blue-ceramic-mug-350ml-front.jpg) — it helps image search and keeps your library organised.
• Write descriptive alt text for each product image on your own store; it helps accessibility and search engines understand the image.

Frequently asked questions