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How to edit product photos for a white background in ONE minute

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How to Take Perfect Product Photos On A White Background

In the previous post, I showed you how you can take photos of your products on a white background.

It's a common misunderstanding that your photo backgrounds will appear perfectly white right out of the camera.

To complete the process, you'll need to edit your original photos in a photo editing software.

So in this two minute video, I'll show you how you can quickly and easily edit your photos for that white background.

You'll first need to download Gimp for free at http://www.gimp.org

For the next steps, watch the video below:

To save as JPG, PNG or GIF file:

Instead of “Save” or “Save As”, you'll want to “Export” or “Export As”. Doing this will save your photo as a PNG, JPG or GIF file that Etsy or your website will upload!

Questions, comments?

I'd love to see your before and after photos using this technique.

Or if you have any questions, please share them in the comments below.


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Comments

  1. kylie says

    February 11, 2015 at 4:16 pm

    wonderful.. thankyou soooooo much for posting this.. we really struggle with our pics.. these tips are very helpful xoxo

    Reply
    • Mei says

      February 12, 2015 at 12:28 am

      Great, I’m glad you found it helpful Kylie!

      Reply
  2. Ala says

    February 12, 2015 at 11:02 am

    Hi.
    I did download GIMP,but it doesn’t run on my computer(windows8).What is the problem?

    Reply
    • Mei says

      February 12, 2015 at 11:17 am

      Hey Ala,

      Gimp should work on Windows 8. Can you share more about what you’re experiencing with the install and how it’s not working?
      I found a thread on this but it may not be the exact reason yours isn’t working. Here’s the solution they found:

      Completely uninstalled and re-installed gimp, then ran compatibility pack for windows 7. Now everything seems to be working.

      Here’s the link for the conversation:
      http://gimpforums.com/thread-gimp-not-working-on-windows-8-1

      Reply
      • Ala says

        February 12, 2015 at 1:32 pm

        Thanks for quick reply.O don’t really understand how it should work”.It says set up is finished.The application may be launched by selecting installed icons.”
        But there are no icons on desktop .I tried to find in folders and sent to desktop as a shortcut,but then i pressed that icon it started to install again…..:-(

        Reply
        • Mei says

          February 12, 2015 at 7:02 pm

          The icons will only show on your desktop if it has been told to be put there. Sometimes this doesn’t happen, so it’s not the best way to open up the software!

          Do you know how to search for a program in Windows 8? Just search for “Gimp”.

          Reply
          • Ala says

            February 13, 2015 at 12:21 pm

            It works!!!!!!!!!
            Thanks!!!!

  3. D. says

    February 26, 2015 at 3:27 pm

    This is wonderful for my finger puppet patterns, but I’m having trouble with ones like my sheep, and puppy – who are largely white. They just blend into the background! Do you suggest photographing these on a coloured background? Thanks from all the way Down Under!

    Reply
    • Mei says

      March 1, 2015 at 11:38 pm

      Hey D., white/fair products tend to be more challenging. Use a backdrop that like blue or green (just like green screens in Hollywood) and you can use a variety of techniques to extract the product. Here are step-by-steps to try: http://www.diaryofatechiechick.com/2013/04/removing-green-screen-as-easy-as-1-2-3.html

      Reply
  4. Terina NIcole says

    May 8, 2015 at 7:25 pm

    This was amazing! I feel like you’ve given me back hours of my life cutting out the background of my “greyish” backgrounds. Thanks a mil!

    Reply
    • Mei says

      May 8, 2015 at 10:06 pm

      Glad to hear that Terina! The process is so easy… it’s just a matter of knowing something like this exists. By the way, I got your Band-Aid Your Biz questionnaire and will be getting back to you shortly!

      Reply
  5. Gem says

    July 7, 2015 at 4:16 am

    When I export my file it makes the image very yellowy! This happens when I export it to png or jpg. Does anyone know why? When I saved the file in the Gimp format (.xcf I think) it was fine and lovely and white.

    Reply
    • Mei says

      July 8, 2015 at 8:54 am

      Hey Gem! What file format are you exporting it to? Would you be able to send me a screenshot of the export window you’re on right before you click save? Might be something in the settings. [email protected]

      Reply
  6. Wendy says

    August 13, 2015 at 4:17 am

    How do you set the Colour-levels to white? as it is showing Red/Green/Blue?

    Reply
    • Mei says

      August 13, 2015 at 9:47 am

      Hey Wendy, when you open the levels window, can you check that “Channel” is set to value? See if that works? If you can send me a screenshot that would help me figure out what might be the problem!

      Reply
  7. Jessica says

    October 28, 2015 at 11:40 am

    Hi Mei,
    This is a great tutorial! I tried it and for some reason it makes the whole picture white, even my product. I have spent all morning playing around with it, and no matter what I do it makes the entire picture white. Any ideas? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Mei says

      October 29, 2015 at 9:14 am

      Hey Jessica, what color is your product? Did you check over the video tutorial to see if your settings matched mine from the video?

      Reply
  8. Christine says

    November 23, 2015 at 9:22 pm

    This is great but how do you get it out of gimp format into a jpeg format? Maybe I’m just brain dead this evening!

    Reply
    • Christine says

      November 23, 2015 at 9:38 pm

      Never mind – I figured it out. Like I said I’m brain dead tonight. This was the best photo tip I have had in eons! Thank you so very much for this information. You have made my life a better place!

      Reply
  9. Caroline James says

    January 2, 2016 at 5:37 pm

    Hi,
    Thank you for your fab tutorial.
    I have one problem though. When I am trying to make the background white it makes my whole photograph white.
    Any advice would be gratefully appreciated
    Caroline

    Reply
    • Mei says

      January 3, 2016 at 9:48 am

      Hey Caroline, is the product that you’re photographing a light colored or silver item?

      Reply
      • Caroline James says

        January 4, 2016 at 6:39 am

        Hi,
        Thanks for your reply. Yes it cream with coloured letters stitched on. Does that make a diference? x

        Reply
        • Caroline James says

          January 4, 2016 at 4:44 pm

          I have just tried it on a pink cushion and it just makes the whole photograph brighter not just the background xx

          Reply
          • Mei says

            January 4, 2016 at 11:58 pm

            Hey Caroline,

            If you have lighter colored products and you’re trying to achieve that perfectly white background, I’d recommend using a green screen/background. Then using the photo editing software, follow this video tutorial to cut out the green background: http://www.photoshop.com/tutorials/605

            You can basically use any background color in this case, just make sure it is one single color and that the product doesn’t have this color.

          • Caroline James says

            January 5, 2016 at 7:07 pm

            Thank you, I think I am going to bit the bullet and buy a light box tomorrow.

  10. Ashley says

    January 11, 2016 at 12:50 pm

    Thank you so much for this! I have been struggling with this since I started using my light box. Everything I did to brighten the background would skew the colors of the item, which is no good. This is perfect and so easy! My to-do list tonight is taking some new photos and editing them, and I can’t wait to try this trick!

    Reply
  11. Petit says

    March 9, 2016 at 12:38 pm

    Hi Mei,

    Thank you so much for your tutorial. Now I finally can adjust all the pictures on my website. Really helpfull. So many tutorials make things so complicated just to have a white background. At least, yours is simple and straitforward. Thanks a lot

    Reply
  12. Lori says

    March 22, 2016 at 1:01 pm

    I tried to download for Windows, but got an error that said signature was corrupt or invalid. I also tried to download on Android phone, but their platform does is not supported on Android. Any suggestions? Or are there any other programs that are compatible?

    Reply
    • Mei says

      March 31, 2016 at 1:21 pm

      Most other programs that let you change the Levels for the photo should work!

      Reply
  13. Terra says

    April 29, 2016 at 10:23 am

    Absolutely life-changing! Can’t believe I never learned this trick before. Works the same in Photoshop, just find the white eyedropper under Levels. Thank you!

    Reply
    • sanetra says

      February 25, 2017 at 3:03 pm

      How did you do it using Photoshop?

      Reply
      • Mei says

        March 2, 2017 at 10:59 pm

        Hi Sanetra! You use the same levels tool. Ctrl + L is the shortcut I know for it, but a quick Google search should show you where it’s at!

        Reply
  14. Rachel says

    November 15, 2016 at 3:40 am

    Hello Mei,

    Thanks for the wonderful article

    However when i tried , it did give me a clean white background, but i faced issues with the colour of my product that drastically changed :(

    Could you please help me know where am i going wrong?

    Appreciate your help

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Mei says

      November 15, 2016 at 11:24 pm

      Hey Rachel, did you make sure to follow the steps from Part 1 of this tutorial? https://creativehiveco.com/how-to-get-perfect-photos-on-white-background/

      Reply
  15. Madrell says

    January 5, 2017 at 1:13 am

    I am surprised and so glad to know you that I am very happy after read this post. Actually very helpful tutorial. Before seeing the tutorial I tried too much time, but I did not do it, but now I can eat. Whatever some time it shows not supported. How can I download it? Any suggestion? Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  16. Sussane Clarke says

    January 6, 2017 at 1:31 pm

    Thank you so much!

    Reply
  17. Janice says

    January 11, 2017 at 5:52 pm

    Thanks so much for posting this tutorial as well as the others on your site. They have been so helpful to me especially with my photographs.

    Reply
    • Mei says

      January 11, 2017 at 6:41 pm

      I’m glad to hear that, Janice!

      Reply
  18. Nicole says

    January 15, 2017 at 7:35 pm

    Hi! I have the new Macbook Pro and it won’t let me open Gimp because it isn’t a Mac program? I went to my system preferences and clicked Allow download apps from “anywhere” but it still won’t let me open it. Any suggestions?

    Reply
    • Mei says

      January 15, 2017 at 7:46 pm

      Hey Nicole! There’s a Gimp for Mac/Apple users you need to download! Did you try that?

      Reply
  19. Wendy Bellino says

    January 29, 2017 at 9:25 am

    Yay! I figured out how to do it in Photoshop Elements too! Thanks so much, this has been a thorn in my side for years!

    Reply
    • Mei says

      January 31, 2017 at 3:52 pm

      Awesome!! :)

      Reply
  20. Diana Rollins says

    February 6, 2017 at 11:36 am

    Yay! You just made my day. I just bought a photo booth & tripod & was going nuts with the grey background still. Such an easy fix. Need to play a little so I don’t lose the vibrant colors. I’m in the process of shooting new images for all of my products.

    Reply
  21. Jenn | Unit 25 Creative + Consulting says

    June 10, 2017 at 5:28 pm

    Love this! I use GIMP for all of my blog images, and I somehow missed this technique. Thanks so much for sharing!

    Reply
  22. Niki says

    January 27, 2018 at 11:54 am

    You just saved me a massive amount of time and frustration! Thank you so much!

    Reply
  23. Jamie says

    March 7, 2018 at 8:46 pm

    Worked beautifully! Thank you for showing us this.

    Reply
  24. Belinda says

    March 13, 2018 at 7:30 am

    Love the tutorial on Gimp! Do you do anything to enhance the product color or the silver chain? I’ve been struggling to take photos of beach glass jewellery I make. I have a lot of pieces but haven’t posted them anywhere because I struggle with my Nikon 3400 settings. I made a light box and still have problems. You are making things clearer for me.

    Reply
  25. Vibula says

    May 16, 2018 at 1:03 pm

    Hi, thank you so much for this. This is very helpful and works perfect. But when I edit the pictures of the earrings which have a silver tone in them, the silver portion is not properly visible after editing. Why is this happening and what am I missing? Can you please help me out? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Jeni says

      November 9, 2019 at 3:35 pm

      Do have any suggestions for white or clear products?

      Reply
  26. Dianne Emerson says

    August 3, 2018 at 4:44 am

    That’s good. Now I can easily edit product photos for white background in one minute. Thanks for sharing with us.

    Reply
  27. Emily says

    August 17, 2018 at 11:30 pm

    I searched for product editing tutorial on Google for weeks and came across this. This has been one of the best tutorials I have come across in a long time. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  28. Mike Jackson says

    September 6, 2018 at 11:04 pm

    Fantastic post, edit product photo is really so important. I am going try this method. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  29. John W Layton says

    September 7, 2018 at 8:36 pm

    How do you handle objects that are white? This technique does not work.

    Reply
  30. Kaye Flavell says

    October 27, 2018 at 4:51 pm

    Thank you so much..that is brilliant..i have spent weeks on trying to adjust my camera settings etc to no avail..but this works perfectly

    Reply
  31. Sebastian Bedoya says

    December 3, 2018 at 4:12 pm

    WOW. amazing short and simple video. you really nailed it. spent hours looking for proper guidance on changing my background and this video was the most helpful. thank you!

    Reply
  32. Cynthia Allen says

    February 12, 2019 at 9:33 am

    I want to SINCERELY thank you for this video! I have literally spent dozens of hours for what now just took about two seconds to accomplish!

    Reply
  33. Simon says

    April 3, 2019 at 5:02 pm

    Amazing. I’ve been struggling with this for years and have even resorted to hand painting in the white background! You have changed my life! Thank you so much.
    PS. Doesn’t work perfectly with white pearls because it tends to leave them looking over-exposed but if you darken them up first, it is better. For other stuff this is brilliant.

    Reply
  34. Michelle says

    April 9, 2019 at 1:56 pm

    Hi I just viewed your Video and downloaded Gimp and tried it. It washed out the subject in the photo as well. I would appreciate any suggestion.
    Thanks so much.

    Reply
  35. Hala Abdelaziz says

    May 31, 2019 at 6:53 am

    Thank you so much that’s very useful, easy and quick! Is there a way to remove the shadow of the object as well?

    Reply
  36. E says

    March 18, 2020 at 3:55 pm

    Hi Mei,

    Thank you so much for sharing these tips. I used the same method on Photoshop (Image > Adjustments > Levels) or CMD+L for the Mac, and it has worked wonders for my shop. You have saved me so much time and I can’t thank you enough!

    All the best,
    E

    Reply
  37. Heresy says

    August 2, 2020 at 11:21 am

    Thanks a ton for this! Shooting my wife at home on a white background before she delivers our first baby and this came as a life saver during this time. Cheers!

    Reply
  38. Maria says

    August 7, 2020 at 12:00 pm

    Hello and thanks for a great article.
    I sell handmade wine glass charms online. Photographs on my listings always show a crystal wine glass with a wine charm attached to the stem of the glass. I need to get a crisp white background for my listings, but when I use your software technique, not only is the background white but the wine glass looks very overexposed and partially whitened too. The “eyedropper” does not let me whiten parts of my image only. I want the wine glass and the wine charm to stand out against the white background.
    Any suggestions are welcome.

    Reply
  39. amanda thompson says

    January 22, 2021 at 10:53 pm

    Great tutorial. I had no idea about this feature and have been trying different methods like changing the exposure and lightness. That seems to wash out my product though. I tried what you suggested and it changed the color of my jewelry when it made the background white. Is there another setting that will prevent it from changing the colors?

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 7 Product Photography Tips To Help You Rock Your Biz says:
    March 19, 2015 at 6:01 pm

    […] of the camera. You’ve got to edit those things, babe. This awesome video tutorial shows you how to quickly edit your photos using the free online software Gimp. You’re one step away from perfect product […]

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I'm Mei ('may') from Minneapolis. I want to help you build a sustainable, profitable handmade business that makes you consistent income and sales. I only ever teach or recommend marketing, social media, pricing, production and branding tips that I've personally used in my own handmade business and that I know work.
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