Guide to Catalog Photography

Create eye-catching, professional photographs that encourage customers to print your designs.

Create eye-catching, professional photographs that encourage customers to print your designs.

Catalog photos for fun & profit

Take beautiful photos to help your designs do well. Follow our guide to set yourself (and your designs!) up for success. Taking great photos lorem ipsum etc et all. Catalog sucess, photos on white etc.

Photography Requirements

We require one Catalog shot on a white background.

  • Provide a square (1:1 aspect ratio) photograph of your assembled design, printed on Proofgrade® materials, shot on a white background.
  • Take Optional Shots: All other photos are optional, and should also be square (1:1 aspect ratio).
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Optional Shots

Catalog photos for fun & profit

Take beautiful photos to help your designs do well. Follow our guide to set yourself (and your designs!) up for success. Taking great photos lorem ipsum etc et all. Catalog sucess, photos on white etc.

Photography Requirements

We require one Catalog shot on a white background.

  • Provide a square (1:1 aspect ratio) photograph of your assembled design, printed on Proofgrade® materials, shot on a white background.
  • Take Optional Shots: All other photos are optional, and should also be square (1:1 aspect ratio).

Optional Shots

Required shot: on-white

You can edit the contents of this example!

How to take your Catalog shot:

  • Print your design on Proofgrade material and fully assemble it.

  • Make sure your item is clean and photo-ready.

  • Put on a white background — it should be the only thing in the shot.

  • Think about how to best represent your design: most prints will look best from a high angle, up and to one side, but some look great seen from straight above.

  • Frame it in the center of the image, with plenty of space around the edges, as shown.

  • Crop your image into a square (1:1 aspect ratio).

Required shot: on-white

You can edit the contents of this example!

How to take your Catalog shot:

  • Print your design on Proofgrade material and fully assemble it.

  • Make sure your item is clean and photo-ready.

  • Put on a white background — it should be the only thing in the shot.

  • Think about how to best represent your design: most prints will look best from a high angle, up and to one side, but some look great seen from straight above.

  • Frame it in the center of the image, with plenty of space around the edges, as shown.

  • Crop your image into a square (1:1 aspect ratio).

Tips for great product photography

We want the photos of your prints to be as incredible as your creations themselves. Here are some of our favorite tips for great product photography (hint, it's all about the light!)

Soft light

Shoot with soft, diffused light. (Harsh direct light results in heavy shadows.) Natural light, outside or by a window, on an overcast day are all great options.

Bounce cards

Use bounce cards made from white pieces of paper or Proofgrade material covered in tinfoil to help remove shadows and better display your design.

Box lights

Use box lights to provide soft, even lighting when shooting indoors; a lightbox works for smaller prints.

Consistent lighting

Use the same style of lighting for all product photos to ensure consistency. (For example, avoid combining the warm light of a tungsten lamp with the harsh blue-green light of an overhead fluorescent bulb.

Hold steady

Hold your camera steady (or use a tripod), make sure everything is in focus, and take your shot.

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Tips for great product photography

We want the photos of your prints to be as incredible as your creations themselves. Here are some of our favorite tips for great product photography (hint, it's all about the light!)

We want the photos of your prints to be as incredible as your creations themselves. Here are some of our favorite tips for great product photography (hint, it's all about the light!)

Ready to submit? Check it!

After you’ve taken a few shots, double-check that they are in focus. Adjust the brightness until your prints are clear and crisp; many free, basic photo apps — Google Photos, Apple Photos, Photoshop Express — will let you easily tweak brightness and contrast. You can also remove the background using an app such as Pixelcut.

Here are some great examples of designs photographed on a white background.

Zoo Escape Stacking Game
From $6.49
Button Text
Portable Zen Garden
From $6.49
Button Text
Modern Rambler House Miniature
From $6.49
Button Text

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Level up with optional shots

Once you’ve taken your perfect Catalog shot, feel free to experiment with some other photos to really show off your design. Adding optional shots to your catalog design are shown to improve success!

Personalization shot

From decorations to gifts, designs that offer a touch of personalization see higher engagement. Quickly adding a name makes gifts and decorations extra special!

Lifestyle shot

A great lifestyle image shows your design out in the world, so creators want to bring it to life.

Scale shot

Show the size of your print compared to familiar objects.

Process shot

A picture of your print as it’s being created can help creators better understand the assembly process.

Group shot

If your design is part of a set or can be used with other designs, include the other items in the background (or as separate shots) so that people can search for your related designs.

Variation shot

If your design can be printed in different ways, show a few. Creators will appreciate the flexibility, and sparking an idea for them means more prints and downloads for you.

Detail shot

Show off the finer details of your print, such as intricate cuts, inlays, or engraves. This is an opportunity to show additional angles of your design, like a side view or the backside.

Prop shot

If your design works with related objects (a dice tower or pen holder, for example), show those things along with it, giving creators a sense of how your print looks and functions.

Motion shot or animated graphic

Not every picture has to be static. If your print looks great in motion, capture that. An animated GIF also works great for showing multiple uses for a design.

Optional shots

Once you’ve taken your perfect Catalog shot, feel free to experiment with some other photos to really show off your design. Adding optional shots to your catalog design are shown to improve success!

Personalization shot

From decorations to gifts, designs that offer a touch of personalization see higher engagement. Quickly adding a name makes gifts and decorations extra special!

Swipe for more ⟷

Lifestyle shot

A great lifestyle image shows your design out in the world, so creators want to bring it to life.

Swipe for more ⟷

Scale shot

Show the size of your print compared to familiar objects.

Swipe for more ⟷

Process shot

A picture of your print as it’s being created can help creators better understand the assembly process.

Swipe for more ⟷

Group shot

If your design is part of a set or can be used with other designs, include the other items in the background (or as separate shots) so that people can search for your related designs.

Swipe for more ⟷

Variation shot

If your design can be printed in different ways, show a few. Creators will appreciate the flexibility, and sparking an idea for them means more prints and downloads for you.

Swipe for more ⟷

Detail shot

Show off the finer details of your print, such as intricate cuts, inlays, or engraves. This is an opportunity to show additional angles of your design, like a side view or the backside.

Swipe for more ⟷

Prop shot

If your design works with related objects (a dice tower or pen holder, for example), show those things along with it, giving creators a sense of how your print looks and functions.

Swipe for more ⟷

Motion shot or animated graphic

Not every picture has to be static. If your print looks great in motion, capture that. An animated GIF also works great for showing multiple uses for a design.