Is it really better to use a white background/?

[Former_Member]

In the beginning I was told to use a plain white background with natural light. So I did. Now on critiques some are saying this is boring and could be causing any overlook of my creations. what do you think? How should I tweak? I want to be one of those sellers that have slod hundreds even thousands lol. I know I have to get my inventory up but what can I do with my existing inventory photos. Thanks- Kim

[Former_Member]

I really prefer the white background and wish I would have done that in the beginning because now I'm stuck trying to find time to redo all my old pics. this is my favorite picture in your shop.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/88855913/birds-nest-earrings-with-pearls
I think there are a few reasons a white background is best. one reason is so your items stands out. another reason is, when people put your item in a treasury it will have a uniform look with the other items. if all the items have a white background the treasury looks better.
good luck!

[Former_Member]

I always find myself gravitating to clear pictures of items with a white background, or minimal prop usage. For me, I just want to see the beauty in the item, not a distracting background.

[Former_Member]

I've played around with diffrent backgrounds but white is best. If you want something more interesting, play around with using props, but don't let them take over the photo and still use a white background. I just took some photos using a broken blue willow plate, turned out amazing against the white background.

[Former_Member]

I am just curious how all of you are creating white background. Do you use white board, or white cloth? Do you perform a lot of editing after taking pic?

[Former_Member]

Your photo is greate. Just try to add live model in your photo.

[Former_Member]

In my previous shop I just used a sheet of white printer paper and shot in natural light. Minimal editing required, BUT I've been using a camera for about 8 years. Just angle your shots so you don't have to worry about shadows is the best thing I learned.

[RetroChalet]

There is a good article on handmadeology about how to do the photo set up with white background , out of a cardboard box. http://www.handmadeology.com/creating-a-white-background-inside-a-cardboard-box/

I have to admit I have tried and tried again and I give up only because I'm doing something wrong with my camera as I really don't know how to get the shadow out. I really have to bond more with my camera but I really believe vintage and handmade POP more on a soild white background.

[JamieSpinello]

I have been using white backgrounds with some of my items, but 90% of my sales are of item NOT on the white backgrounds. Even items I have listed twice in my shop/ one on white, the other on a neutral background....people still gravitate towards the old non-white bg. I don't know....I tnink white backgrounds increase your chances of being approached by people interested in purchasing your work wholesale or featuring you on a blog.

[Former_Member]

Nell is it easy. Use anything is white, use natural day light and then retouch your photo on photoshop or free program like gimp (is greate program).
Or easy one photofuze.com.
Happy sales!

[RetroChalet]

@dimitris....... Aha, I have heard of gimp, is anyone using it?

[Former_Member]

I use a large white board which I put on top of my bed for photos. Natural light is optimal, but I find that daylight bulbs (which produce a whiter, bluer light) also help if you don't get much light in your home.

I ALWAYS edit photos. I'm not the best photographer and it's difficult for me to get crisp bright photos on the first try. I typically use Picasa, and sometimes Picnik for editing.

It has gotten to the point where I see a friend's photo on Facebook, or I see a gray photo here on Etsy, I just can't help myself but to go and edit it just to see if I can make it better.

[Former_Member]

Cindy from RetroChalet says
@dimitris....... Aha, I have heard of gimp, is anyone using it?

I used Gimp for my banner and a couple other things here and there. It's a great tool to have, but I find that Picasa is typically enough to edit my photos. In Gimp, I have to open each photo individually to edit, which takes me more time.

[Former_Member]

Thanks all. I know i love the white backgrounds and how they make my items look. But I also love it when I come across that special creative person who took the cutest photo. I think I will stick to the white photos I have but I might play with a solid white textures background in the future. Just to break cycle.

[Former_Member]

I find it really hard to get a nice white background without over exposing my item at some point. My backgrounds always seem to have a bluish grey tinge. I used to use photoshop when I had it so I have found it really hard to convert to Gimp. I have just been using photomanager which is a very basic editing package, but I too need to learn to work with my camera, at the moment we are still fighting.
I do a lot of treasurys and I do like the white backgrounds but I will feature any item that looks great regardless of how it is photographed.

[Former_Member]

http://www.etsy.com/listing/84583806/feather-earrings-teal-and-black

I think this photo looks great, it shows the item really clearly and looks effective. I actually prefer a photo like this to one that has a background with a coloured tinge.

[Former_Member]

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62734788/versailles-copper-necklace-egyptian

I think this looks great too, its really striking and I doubt it would be as effective on a white background. It is all so subjective and I guess everyones opinion would be different.

Is there really just one best way?

[Former_Member]

what do you think is better a natural white background or one where the product has been cut out and placed on an artificial white background ?

[Former_Member]

I think you pictures are clear and striking.

[Former_Member]

i usually prefer white backgrounds. the clearer the better when you are looking at an item that you want to buy. I use a white background for most of my pics but also use a fill light option in a photo editor to also brighten photos.

[Former_Member]

Short story on a long journey. When I switched to white backgrounds my sales dramatically increased. I did not think it would matter. But, it did and does. OP your pictures are great and look good on white.

The proof of that is in your sales. You have been open for 3 months with two pages of inventory and have made 15 sales. That is a 25% turn in inventory. That is impressive. Very impressive. I think the next big leap/ goal you should try to make is to get to the magic 100 listings. Etsy lore says at that point you will also get a bump in sales. I believe this lore is also true. Best of luck.

[Former_Member]

Thanks for all of the wonderful advice. I will take that and definitely use it. I am going to get 100 items in my shop most definitely. Thank you again

[JannisBitsAndBobs]

@Aman There is a Gimp plugin when makes the interface work more like PhotoShop's. I use it all the time because I switched from PhotoShop to Gimp when I got my new computer.

I truly don't like white backgrounds, although I've seen them used to great effect. I prefer a softer cream, ivory or off-white which gives you all the benefits of white without some of the drawbacks, like glare. That being said, I really need to go back and reshoot a lot of my earlier photos, and I've discovered a setting on my camera which will brighten my photos as I take them so that I have to do less editing. Yay!

[Former_Member]

I have not been using white backgrounds and have been pretty decent since I opened up. My biggest difficulty with the white backgrounds is the shadows, especially with reflective material like the shiny side of white poster board. I tend to take photos on overcast days because it acts as a natural diffuser but I do agree that white makes things pop and may convert to that someday when I have A LOT of free time!

Someone told me my images looked flat because its not a white background and I don't totally agree because I have some pretty colorful stuff that pops out to me, but I could be wrong.

[DecorableDesigns]

I have that same question. Some people have told me that I should change my background to white. I feel like the pictures I do have with white backgrounds do not stand out as much though.