AI Product Photography: Create Professional Product Photos With Your Phone

The safest way to use AI for product photos is to start with a real photo of your actual product and use AI only for the background, setting and lighting, rather than generating the product itself. Shoot the item on a plain background in daylight, remove or replace the background, then create lifestyle scenes (a kitchen counter, a beach, a festive table) around it. Fully AI-generated products can look slightly different from what customers receive, which leads to returns and complaints, so always keep colours, size and details true to the real item.

The candle seller with no studio

Picture Mitu, who makes scented soy candles in a small flat in Chattogram. Her candles are lovely, but her photos are taken on the bed with a ceiling light, and they look like it. A photographer quoted her more than a month’s profit for a shoot.

So she tries something else. She takes each candle to the window at 10 am, puts it on a white sheet of paper, and snaps a sharp photo. Then she uses AI to place the same candle on a bathroom shelf with eucalyptus, on a festive table with marigolds for a wedding gift post, and on a cosy bedside table for winter. Her product is real. Only the world around it is generated. Her page suddenly looks like a brand.

Step 1: Take a good base photo

1. Use daylightNear a window, no direct harsh sun, no mixed yellow ceiling lights.
2. Plain backgroundA sheet of white paper or card curved up behind the product.
3. Steady phoneLean it on books or use a cheap tripod. Turn off digital zoom.
4. Shoot several anglesFront, side, top, a detail close-up, and one with a hand for scale.
5. Check colourCompare the photo with the real product on screen. Adjust white balance if needed.

Step 2: Remove the background

Use a background remover in your phone’s photo app, a free online tool or an editing app. Save the cut-out as a PNG so the edges stay clean. Crop it with our image cropper.

Step 3: Create AI backgrounds and scenes

Generate an empty scene that matches the size and angle of your product, then place your cut-out product into it with any editing app that supports layers. Prompt examples:

Empty rustic wooden bathroom shelf with eucalyptus leaves and a folded towel, soft morning light from the left, photorealistic, shallow depth of field, space in the centre for a product.

Festive table top with marigold flowers and brass diyas, warm evening light, photorealistic, top-down view, empty space in the middle.

Minimal pastel pink studio backdrop with a round podium, soft shadows, photorealistic, product photography background.

Which images to use where

Some marketplaces have strict rules for main images, often requiring a plain white background and no added graphics. Check each platform’s image guidelines before uploading.

Honesty rules for AI product images

• Never change the product’s colour, size, material or features.
• Do not add accessories that are not included without saying so.
• Do not generate fake customer photos or reviews.
• Keep at least one unedited real photo in every listing.

Misleading images lead to returns, bad reviews and, on many platforms, listing removal.

Step 4: Optimise before upload

AI images can be large files. Resize them to the size your platform needs and compress them so your shop loads quickly on mobile data. Use the free image compressor, and convert to WebP for your website with the image converter. Always add descriptive alt text; see our alt text guide.

Start with one product

Pick your best-selling item, take five clean photos this week, and create three AI scenes around it with the free AI Image Generator. Compare engagement against your old photos. For more prompt ideas, see 30 AI image prompts that work.

Sources

• Google Search Central: Image SEO best practices
• Google Merchant Center Help: Image link requirements

Frequently asked questions