The B2B apparel industry is about more than glitz and glamor. It takes creativity, innovation, and a sharp eye to create online shopping experiences that persuade shoppers to become buyers. You have to take into account how your products will look on a variety of platforms to ensure that your brand is associated with quality wherever it appears. This is where photo editing for B2B apparel has special considerations. It’s all about bringing out the best in your images and branding them appropriately for your business.
In this blog post, we’ll take a look at the staples of editing for B2B brands and the tools you can use for a smooth editing experience, making it as easy as possible to promote your products across the web.
Photo Editing Essentials for Apparel Photography
1. File formats
Shooting your files in the basic RAW format is recommended for seamless editing down the line. RAW photos allow you more flexibility in editing compared to JPEG or PNG formats. RAW is a lossless format, meaning your files won’t be compressed after capturing the image. Because this format supports more information, you will have more leeway to make corrections if your initial images come out under or overexposed.
2. Editing guide
Are you still trying to find a visual voice for your B2B apparel website? If so, our in-house experts recommend choosing a single image and applying different sets of edits to it until you find a style that suits your brand. Minimalist photo editing allows for a much cleaner look, whereas heavy or stylized retouching can be very fashionable and unique. Whatever level of editing you choose, take the time to develop and tailor it until you find the perfect match. This will save you a lot of time in the long run since you won’t need to go back for multiple rounds of revisions on a large volume of photos.
3. White balance your images
Once a photo is sent for editing, you need to adjust the white balance to make the photo’s color match the light source. This is because apparel photography shoots require a lot of artificial light. You can’t bring out the character of your apparel unless you have the correct light settings. There’s no need to do it yourself—to save time, try using a trusty editing application to ensure your model and apparel is perfectly lit.
4. Global adjustments
Once you’ve fixed the exposure of your images, it’s time to move to the next stage of photo editing. Global adjustments refer to the changes required in the hues, saturation, luminance, skin, etc. Any RAW photo editing software will have these features.
Adding a little bit of clarity or saturation can enhance your photos, but pushing the sliders to the max usually looks amateurish and distracting. Always observe the histogram movement when you adjust hues, saturation, shadows, etc. Each time you make changes to the vibrance, modify the exposure to compensate for the difference.
When working with models, you will likely need to do some skin retouching as well to remove any blemishes, oil shine, or other small imperfections. However, tread carefully here. Overdone skin retouching looks unnatural, fake, and takes the highlight away from the products themselves. When adjusting the skin, make sure you use software that preserves a natural look.
5. Sharpness and luminance
Since most B2B brands showcase their products across social media and other channels, it’s best to boost the quality of the photos before uploading them. For example, you can raise the image’s saturation by +40 to +80 if you need to upload the pictures on Instagram, as the platform itself downgrades the image quality. This saturation adjustment will keep the photos from appearing muddy due to the lower image quality.
6. Consistency
When editing your photos, don’t just think about how individual products are presented—think about how they look when arranged together in a gallery view. Make sure you are working with consistent alignment, color correction, cropping, and backgrounds to ensure that your photos look great together as part of your storefront. Consistency is the key to professional branding and a distinct visual identity.
If you want to take your apparel photography to the next level, think about working with ghost mannequins. The ghost mannequin effect erases the model or mannequin from your apparel photos and showcases them in 3D, making it easy to create a consistent gallery that showcases the fit and character of your garments. The process of making ghost mannequins is usually challenging, but AI-powered solutions add convenience by automating the editing process.
Tips for Taking Great Apparel Photos
For seamless photo editing, it’s always easiest to take the best shots you can from the beginning. The following tips will minimize the amount of time you need to spend in Photoshop fixing issues with your photos later and let you focus on polishing them to perfection.
- Always iron your apparel to remove creases or wrinkles before photographing them. A steamer is the best option for this.
- Use pins and pegs to secure your garments if they are too big for the model or mannequin. Make sure that you’re happy with the fit and drape.
- If you need to fill the bust of a garment, use a padded bra.
- Use a fan in the studio to give your garments some natural movement.
- Use transparent tape to keep tags and labels out of the way.
Bottom Line
Apparel photography can be daunting for B2B business owners working with high volumes and multiple online retailers, but there’s no need to tear your hair out over it. These days, there are plenty of quick and simple solutions for business owners just like you. These photo editing essentials will help you retouch images to perfection and build a consistent and powerful brand image. With a little work, you’ll be well on your way to creating an irresistible storefront.