A Practical Guide to Product Preparation for Shoots
Cleaning, assembling and preparing products before they reach the set.
Imogen Clarke
The key figures
- Fingerprints
- show on glossy and metallic surfaces
- Packaging
- creases and dents photograph clearly
- Assembly
- products need assembling correctly and consistently
- Spares
- damaged samples stop a shoot
Why this is worth getting right
Every mark left on a product becomes retouching time, and preparation is far cheaper than repair.
Do this, not that
Do
- Clean products with appropriate materials
- Handle with gloves where marks show
- Request spare samples
- Assemble and check before the set
- Photograph reference shots of correct assembly
Don’t
- Products unwrapped on set
- Single samples with no spares
- Fingerprints discovered in retouching
- Incorrect assembly published in catalogs
When to bring in help
Our advice Bring in help when retouching costs exceed shooting costs.
Where this comes from
- Capture One — Learning resources for product photography
- Adobe Help Center — Photoshop User Guide
The figures and practices above come from the sources listed.
Working on something like this?
We take on Photography & Product Visuals work for teams who want it done once, properly. Tell us what you are building and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right studio for it. Start a project.
Where to go next
Spotted something wrong? Report an error on this page. We correct on the page and say what changed.
