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Guide to Ghost Mannequin Photography

Automate Your Ghost Mannequin Photography

Back in 2019, we began developing a way to fully automate the ghost mannequin editing process for our clients and began by focusing on pants and shorts. Now, we are excited to announce that our model has expanded to work with all clothing items inclusive of tops, outerwear, dresses, and even underwear! Perfecting ghost mannequin photography shoots no longer has to be a tedious process. In fact, our AI-driven ghost mannequin workflow has the ability to level up hundreds of images in an instant and can be exported as PSD Adobe Photoshop files. Creating a complementary autoRetouch workflow can enhance your ghost mannequin imagery and export into PSD layered files as needed.

A ghost mannequin (aka neck-joint, invisible mannequin, or hollow-man) is the name for an image editing technique that creates the illusion of a human body filling clothes. Until now, it’s been a purely manual, time-consuming, multi-step, and costly editing process. Listed below, we highlight how to create beautifully edited, seller marketplace-ready, fashion images in a fraction of the time.

Ghost Mannequin Product Photography Workflow

  1. Background is removed in product and inlay image
  2. Product and inlay images are manually combined
  3. Inlay seam is warped to add 3D effect
  4. Image depth is added with shadow effect

Turnkey Ghost Mannequin Photography Service Best Practices

  1. Start with a white or grey background to avoid color distractions
  2. Ensure that garment is free of wrinkles
  3. Ghost mannequin or model should be directly facing the camera
  4. Natural light streaming in at a right angle is great. Complement with ample flash and use white photography umbrellas as necessary to create even lighting throughout the image
  5. Style ghost mannequin or model as you would for any photoshoot ensuring that buttons are enclasped, collars are turned, and laces fall naturally
  6. Garment should be symmetrical as model or ghost mannequin should be standing evenly
  7. Make sure nothing is touching the featured garment’s fabric
  8. Capture the portion of the garment that was obscured by the mannequin such as inside collars, sleeves, in seam, etc.
    • Shoot in lay images by holding the clothing piece taut and straight
    • Only one piece of fabric should be visible, no overlapping
    • Enough fabric should be included to fill the fabric image

It is imperative to combine the two images in post-production in order to remove the mannequin and show more of the beautifully styled garment while maintaining its natural structure. Artificial intelligence can now be used to create a ghost mannequin image retouching workflow that is quick and affordable. Without the need of expensive talent model hiring, fashion photographers can use platforms like autoRetouch to expedite their fashion photography workflow and level up their product photography imagery.

With autoRetouch, you can try the ghost mannequin workflow for free today. Our flexible pricing options enable you to pay as you go and only pay for what you need. In addition, autoRetouch has the ability to export PSD layered files to complement your current workflow. The time to automate basic background removal and optimize your fashion photography workflow for more sales is now.

Are you ready to cut your image editing time in half? Learn more about AI-driven image background removal.