Packshot photography | Create eye-catching product images

Packshot photography is a means of presenting products to realistically showcase all aspects of that item. You want customers to see everything they can expect to find once they’ve opened up the actual product packaging.

Packshots are typically images but can be delivered via video. And with new tools at your disposal, you can generate packshots in both a physical studio setting or a virtual studio.

What is packshot or product photography used for?

High-quality packshot photography has a number of applications. Here are a few of them:

• Digital marketing: Businesses in digital commerce need to keep their channels fresh and engaging and find ways to display their products in the most enticing way possible. High quality product photography prevents your social media feeds from being stale – and increases engagement with followers.

• Website: As your website is likely your primary means of selling your product, it’s crucial to present all your product photos in a way that properly reflects your brand’s image. Packshot photography can help you retain brand consistency, especially when scaling your production and launching new products and collections. 

• Print: Packshot photography for print ads requires super high resolution, especially when displayed on billboards and street furniture. This is a great opportunity to highlight product launches and campaigns. 

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Why do you need good packshot images?

Your packshot images are key to making sales. According to Slazzer, an automated background removal program, 90% of shoppers decide whether to buy based on product images, so it’s really important to get it right. Packshot photography remains the way to do that.

• You’ll make a good first impression: Quality packshots hook a buyer from the get go. “The importance of quality packshot images lies not only in showcasing the product's features but also in communicating its value and story,” says Guillame Drew, Founder of Or & Zon.

• You’ll stand out: Your product photography will be used across your channels. Fresh, eye-catching packshots help you stand out from your competitors, and Guillaume has found that “superior packshot photography can make a true difference in sales and overall brand perception.”

Our own Omi customers agree that product photos are key to making sales:

“What drives the purchase decision for us is the visual. 70% of my clients buy without ever having smelled the product, and 80% of my communication is done with Omi visuals! I use Omi everywhere: on my website, Instagram, Pinterest, and for my retailer site.” — Maison Black Honey

Types of packshot photography

There’s more to packshots than basic product photography. Here’s a list of different packshot photography styles.

Studio product packshot photography

This is considered the standard type of packshot photography – an image of a single product on a white or neutral background. Many marketplace platforms and websites prefer this style, as it shows off the details of the product without distractions. 

Think of Amazon’s guidelines on product photography, where the first image needs to be displayed on its own and in its entirety on a white background.

Endro Cosmétiques uses Omi to create polished images while maintaining the brand’s artisanal look and feel.

Group product packshots (aka Bundles)

If you sell products in sets, it’s important to take a group product photo. This is the crux of packshot photography – displaying all of the items potential customers will receive.

With a Virtual Photo Studio, you don’t need to take individual group shots – you can add as many products as you like to a single image and arrange it in a way that best shows off the items.

Panier des Sens creates compelling and unique group product packshots with Omi.

Close-up product packshots

Potential customers need to be able to perfectly picture what they’re considering buying. Close-up packshots are essential for showing all the fine details of your product and giving customers a feeling as close to touching the item as possible. 

This helps to increase conversions as viewers feel like they know exactly what they’ll be getting. This packshot of a massage gun may be described as a product demo, which provides a clear view of specific features.

Close-up images like this one give customers a better look at the details to help them feel more confident in their purchase.

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Keep your feed fresh and on brand, with dynamic product visuals – however you need them.
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3D 360-degree packshots

This "packshot" is really more like an interactive model. It lets the audience view a product from any angle as well as rotate, spin, and zoom however they want. This complete picture of a product/object lets the audience get to know it without holding it in their paws. To nobody's surprise, this tends to be an eCommerce solution because it helps people make an informed purchase decision that gets higher conversion rates and lower return rates. Omi's interactive 3D model is called a 3D Viewer.

As effective as they are, interactive 3D models are difficult to get right with traditional product photography. Creating one requires either a lot of bespoke work or the expertise of a highly specialized photography service. With a Virtual Studio like Omi's, however, the hand-crafted and AI-assisted model does all the hard work. You can rotate and zoom in on your interactive 3D Viewer however you want, making it easy to get 360-degree packshots in minutes and without the hefty price.

(We'll soon embed a 3D viewer right here. Sit tight.)

Lifestyle product photography

Lifestyle photography lets people imagine themselves using the product. It involves showing potential customers how the product is used and what it looks like in its environment. 

Let’s say you have a skincare brand, and you want to show what your facial serums actually look like. Packshot photography enables you to do this by, for example, showing your product in use.

Omi helps Panier des Sens generate images that help their customers imagine what it’s like to have these quality cosmetics in their own home.

Increase engagement by 32%
Keep your feed fresh and on brand, with dynamic product visuals – however you need them.
Try Omi for free

Features of quality packshot photography

Most packshot product photography follows a set formula, where the product is at the epicenter of the image, with minimal distractions around it. The purpose is to show all of the features of the product accurately.

• Minimalist background: product photography backgrounds are often plain white (or single color) and free of distractions. With our Virtual Studio, you have endless flexibility to modify your background and choose different colors or settings.

• Accurate product representation: you want to display the product exactly as the customer will receive it. 

• High-quality product photos: the images are more than just smartphone pictures; they should be professional quality with high possible resolution. 

• Clutter free: there might be a few additional elements that compliment the product (such as accessories that demonstrate size or set the tone), but generally, there isn’t a lot of clutter in product photography.

“Quality packshot images should be high-resolution, well-lit, and taken from multiple angles to show the full product. The background needs to be neutral so that the product stands out and the focus stays on its features. Additionally, inclusion of careful close-ups that highlight intricate details can dramatically enhance the perception of the product’s intrinsic value.” — Guillame Drew, Founder of Or & Zon

Omi helped Endo Cosmétiques create images with a simple, clutter-free background to showcase their products.

Guide to creating high-quality packshot photography in a virtual studio

“High-quality packshot images not only elevate the buyer's perception of a product but also mirror the quality we strive to offer our customers,” says Mark Agnew, Founder & CEO of Eyeglasses.com. “Our products' online engagement has notably increased after employing quality packshot images, translating to higher click-through rates and increased sales conversion.”

To increase online sales and customer engagement, follow our tips for creating modern packshot photos virtually. This will not only give you high-quality images, but you’ll also get more creative freedom, efficiency, and control over your brand, as opposed to a conventional photoshoot.

Lighting

With Omi’s Virtual Studio, you can play around with lights, reflections, and shadows to customize every packshot precisely the way you want to and create appealing images that convert. Cosmetic product photography tends to excel in that area.

If you use our Video Maker (which is a popular subscription add-on), you can also animate lighting. For example, fine jewelry with lights and shadows moving over it, or the product can spin around and have the lighting on it change, in order to highlight brilliance and scintillation. And it all looks natural – no fake shadows that are too deep or light that’s not bright enough.

Backgrounds

Our Virtual Studio uses AI to help you get the background that’s going to best show off your product. We also have a range of preset backgrounds for you to choose from, and you can edit these by adding or removing elements as you see fit. In addition, you can create a plain white or monochrome background.

White background product photography is standard practice for eCommerce images, as it emphasizes important product details. Colorful backgrounds are often used to spice up social media images because of the visually striking look for posts and ads that makes people stop scrolling. If you’re launching a new product, an AI-generated or preset background can create intrigue. Another great way of creating intrigue — and generate leads — for a launch is to create a 'teaser' campaign before the full reveal.

Angles

Angles are crucial in packshot photography. Eye-level angles create a sense of familiarity, used to make products look like exactly what they are. These are most often used in eCommerce, because they show what the potential customer can expect to receive. 

Low angles bring a sense of power to a product, as this makes them look larger and more dominant. High angles are good for making products seem smaller, giving the viewer a sense of control over the item.

There are several types of angles you can choose from, such as:

• Angled shots (25 - 75 degrees)

• Hero shots (low angle)

• Flat lay (overhead angle)

• Dutch angle/dutch tilt (oblique angle)

• Macro (close-up)

• Bird’s eye view (extreme high angle)

• Front angle (straight on)

• Profile angle (side of product)

With traditional photography, you’d be required to physically take photos from every angle. But with our 3D product modeling, we render your product in 3D, which you then adjust in the Virtual Studio as you make your packshot (or other types of product visualization). This allows you to create countless unique images from one product rendering. In other words, we do all the hard work for you, while you can play around with what works best for your brand.

(We'll show you a 3D shoe here soon. It's under construction)

Post production

Omi simplifies post production, meaning no more overtime hours spent resizing or obsessing over effects. We make it simple to get the exact packshot images you’re after with just a few clicks of a button.

We have a wide range of post-production features which allow you to create and size images for website banners, social media, eCommerce product photos, billboards, and much more. In fact, you export your images to the format you want straight from the studio!

Check out some of our case studies to see how real brands have used Omi to elevate their packshot photography. We recommend reading Panier des Sens and Endro Cosmétiques.

With Omi, you can create both packshots and interactive models for your site to give customers a better, more realistic feel for your product.

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Increase conversion rates by 19% with Omi 3D packshots
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Create captivating 3D images with Omi and convert up to 19% more

Omi helps you sell more for two reasons. First, we help you capture your product like no other product photography tool can. The unmatched photorealism and creativity we offer allow you to put your product's best features forward every time. And second, the ease of production Omi offers means you can experiment with new images and methods without a serious time or financial investment. 

In addition, you don’t need to rely on someone else to make sure you get every possible angle of your product. With a 3D model in our Virtual Studio, you can generate a packshot from any (and every) angle! This would be impossible with 2D tools or ‘background removers’. Simply send us your product, and we’ll create the model and give you access to the studio. 

If you want to engage and convert customers like never before, give Omi a try today.

Generate unlimited packshots
Develop eye-catching packshots, bundles, and banners – in mere minutes.
Try Omi for free