Product Photo Flow for an E-commerce Catalogue

Catalogue photography is a flow, not a mood

Product photography for an e-commerce catalogue is not a single pretty frame. It is a repeatable process. Every SKU must get the same angle set, the same light and the same retouch limit. Media7 locks the flow in the brief: list, angles, background, crop, name. Short answer: SKU table first, then studio light, then retouch rule, then marketplace size. Break that order and colour and frame height change listing by listing until the buyer stops trusting the shop.

SKU list and angles

The table holds code, colour, size, must-have angles and forbidden angles. Media7 usually agrees front, 45 degrees, back, detail and a scale or in-use frame. Categories differ: a shoe wants the sole, cosmetics want texture, electronics want ports and screen. Without the list, set day starts with “one more angle” and the catalogue breaks. The client numbers samples; a mixed box slows the line.

Studio light and background

White or neutral is the catalogue default. Light is soft, repeatable, with controlled shadow. Media7 keeps the same scheme through the series so products on a page live in one world. Glass and metal reflections are solved on set before masking. Lifestyle is a separate block; it does not replace the packshot. On photography day, moving to lifestyle before packshots are done breaks the schedule.

Packshot versus lifestyle

A packshot is a cut-out, comparable frame that follows marketplace rules. Lifestyle shows the product in use and mood: a hand, an interior, a campaign. Media7 can shoot both on one day, but time is written when light and background change. Lifestyle locks to brand colour; the packshot stays colour-accurate. Packshot on the product card, lifestyle in the ad; the brief does not swap those roles.

Retouch limits

Retouch removes dust, hairs, small scuffs and cleans the cut-out. “Improving” shape, colour or text can break an advertising claim. Media7 writes the limit in the brief. If the colour reference is the physical product or a Pantone, monitor and output lock to it. A different filter per SKU wrecks the catalogue. An AI background is used only if the brief agrees it and the product stays real.

Filename, size, delivery

Name: SKU, angle, colour, size. Folders may split marketplace, site and social. Media7 locks long-side size and colour profile in the brief. Crop rules (how much of the frame the product fills) go in the table so a designer does not recrop later. Revision rounds arrive with a SKU list, not a vague “make it all warmer”. Archive masters and compressed web files stay separate.

Baku logistics and samples

Arrival, return and a note for damaged packs sit in the brief. Media7 keeps a studio intake list. On a high-SKU day there is a pause-and-check block so cards and shot counts do not drift. A version number stops old frames mixing with new ones of the same product. Extra day buffer for samples coming from a regional warehouse is agreed separately.

Catalogue flow checklist

SKU table and angle set.

Background, light scheme, lifestyle split.

Retouch limit and colour reference.

Filename and size rules.

Intake, return, version.

Without this flow, product photos can look fine one by one and messy on the shelf.

Colour and scale in the buyer’s eye

If the same shirt exists in three colours, light and white balance must not drift or the buyer says the colour arrived wrong. Media7 shoots a colour family in sequence and does not insert another category in the middle. A scale frame agrees a hand, a ruler or a familiar object in the brief — not a random glass. A detail frame shows stitch, button and texture; it does not repeat the beauty wide. If those rows are empty in the table, set day turns into an argument and the SKU hour overruns.

Marketplace rules stick to the brief

Some shopfronts want a white field and a centred product; others allow shadow. Media7 copies the rule of the channel the client actually sells on into the table, not from memory. Crops can come from one master if the fill percentage is written first. A vertical story frame is not a catalogue packshot; it belongs in the social column. A mixed folder slows the designer and the marketplace manager. A version number stops last season’s frame being uploaded again.

How to start

Send the SKU table, marketplace rules and 3–5 reference frames. Media7 turns the flow into a written proposal. For price use the price calculator or contact. A catalogue builds buyer trust frame by frame; the flow exists for that trust.