Course 2 of 6 · Seller track

Photograph products that sell.

Your photos are your shoppers' hands. Real items, honest light, no tricks — plus what Arya may and may never do with your pictures.

Online shoppers can't touch your product. Your photos are their hands. Good photos don't need a studio — they need honesty and decent light.

The non-negotiable rules

Photograph the actual item you will ship — not a sample, not a cousin of it, not a manufacturer's glossy render.
Never list torn, broken, or damaged goods as new or "like new." If an item has a flaw and you're selling it anyway, photograph the flaw and say so in the description. Honest flaw disclosure builds more trust than perfect photos.
Never misrepresent: what arrives must match what was pictured. If it doesn't, that's a refund and a lost customer.

Use daylight. Put the product near a window during the day. Daylight is free and beats most lamps. Avoid harsh direct sun — a bright but shaded spot is ideal.
Keep the background plain. A clean table, a plain wall, a sheet of paper. The product is the subject; everything else is noise.
Shoot every angle. Front, back, sides, details, and the product in use or to scale (next to a hand, a coin, a ruler). Surprises on delivery are the enemy.
Show true color. Don't use filters that change how the item looks. If the red is brick-red, the photo should be brick-red.
Steady and sharp. Rest your phone on something solid. One sharp photo beats five blurry ones.

Arya, the LEVELLER commerce assistant, can help you prepare your product photography. Coming at launch

Change what the item looks like — no reshaping, recoloring, or "improving" the product itself.
Invent a product that doesn't exist, or fabricate claims about it.
Publish anything without your review and approval. You approve every draft.

Remember: Arya organizes, cleans, and improves photos of your real product. It never invents, never disguises, never publishes on its own.