Thumbnail editing

[Former_Member]

Hi

I've been playing around with the thumbnail editor when listing items. Being that my cards have a cream background, and all my photos have been taken on a dark wood background, I thought my chances of getting on the front page and having a more cohesive look might be better. As my cards are rectangle, and the thumbnails are square, all my thumbs were looking the same, with two dark side panels... so I started zooming them in, cutting off detail, but making a more finished look with the thumbnail.

Do you think zooming in and framing a new picture out of the whole image is a good idea? Do you think it has worked ok in my shop, specifically? I am unsure. I feel a bit awkward not being able to see all of the card.

Something that frames ok:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/112018765/christmas-reindeer-bauble-card-modern

Something that was harder to frame:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/109330943/thanks-for-being-you-thank-you-card

Sometimes I can cut the words off, or (as with the example above) make a love heart look like a giant bum.

When searching, would you look at a card if you couldn't actually tell that it was a card?

[Former_Member]

Well Chris, you want to sell and your potential customers need to see the products so they can make an educated decision to buy or not to buy. To my opinion, by compromising the image you compromise your chance to sell.

If you so concern about being on the front page what don't you design square shaped cards? I wish you good luck.

[ScrapendipityDesigns]

I personally like the 4th picture int he reindeer listing and think it would make a nice thumbnail, even with the dark wood on the sides. There is no guarantee that you will be on the front page and if you click on the artists that do make it to the front and check out their sales for that day, there doesn't seem to be a marked increase really, so though it is exciting, there doesn't seem to be a huge benefit to it. I wouldn't change the whole look of your shop just on the off chance that someone will feature one of your products in their treasury and that that particular treasury will be picked for the front page.

Good luck!
Rachel

[ForgedMettleJewelry]

(your second item reminds me of a Sir Mix-A Lot video) :)

Anyway, I actually like your 4th photos as being your main shot. I learned from having lots of long pendant in my shop that one of the nicest ways to get the ntire thing in the shot, as well as give it a pretty cool look, is to shhot it at an angle...

[Former_Member]

I was worried about not having the image front on in the thumbnail might also put people off. There are no absolutes (which is frustrating) so I'll have to go with my gut.

To be honest, my shopfront bores me with all the images being front on. I like my dark wood background, and I like my natural looking photos, and I like the depth my photos have (shadows and highlights), but to display that nice feeling means I lose focus on the actual image (or does that not matter? lol)

I've always been about bringing a nice feeling to my customers through my shop, and since editing my thumbs, I feel like I've lost that. But I wasn't sure if it was the thing to do for my customers or not. Something tells me I should change them all now to the photos I actually want to put up.

I feel dirty now..

[Former_Member]

Oh and Amy, it totally reminds me of the Baby Got Back video too! hahaha