Author Topic: Importance of pure white background? (Read 5610 times)

bacmj · « **on:** March 10, 2010, 10:30 »

I am a beauty/fashion photog new to microstock, and have had good acceptance of my 1st two batches of photos at several sites. I often shoot against white backgrounds, but don't light the background to pure white. Here are some samples accepted by all sites. For stock, is it worth doing post processing to make the backgrounds pure white (or shoot them that way) or are these ok?

Perry · « **Reply #1 on:** March 10, 2010, 10:39 »

I'd say that images that are have backgrounds close to pure white and images that contain both pure white (255,255,255) and light gray areas in the background may get rejected often.

Either go with pure white (255,255,255) or light gray that can't be mistaken for white under any circumstances. Try to avoid anything between.

Then there is always the question about natural shadows. I like natural shadows if they look reasonably good, so I often leave them in the image (they are very hard to duplicate in a convincing way afterwards)

If lit correctly there isn't very much post-processing needed to get the background pure white.

And last: It depends on the use of the image if the layout person wants pure white or not-quite-white background.

click_click · « **Reply #2 on:** March 10, 2010, 10:42 »

Personally, I sometimes prefer leaving the background untouched as it gives the subject more depth in certain lighting situations (almost like in your 3rd image that youposted).

Other than that I'd ALWAYS convert the background to white (if it was shot on white). Your doing the buyer a huge favor!

Furthermore if you make the effort of including a clipping path to isolate your subject with one click in Photoshop, the buyers will love you.

red · « **Reply #3 on:** March 10, 2010, 11:04 »

Problem with including a path is that (at DT at least, don't know about the others), the path does not travel with the up- and down-sized versions of the jpgs. It only stays with the original. The buyer will not know that. I have (not often) uploaded an .eps with a clipping path though as an additional format.

vonkara · « **Reply #4 on:** March 10, 2010, 11:14 »

Shoot on pure 255 background. Put 2 flashes on your background if you can, because the designers want a ready to use image. They may not like to have to isolate your image for you.

If you don't want to do white background images, at least include a realistic background, like a living room or a gymnasium ect...

lisafx · « **Reply #5 on:** March 10, 2010, 12:08 »

Quote from: Perry on March 10, 2010, 10:39

Either go with pure white (255,255,255) or light gray that can't be mistaken for white under any circumstances. Try to avoid anything between.

I agree with this. All or nothing when it comes to white background. Even if the images are accepted, they will have more "pop" in a thumbnail if they are pure white. The almost-white grayish images look a bit dingy in thumbnail.

Also, Vonkara is right, buyers want an image that's ready to use. With all the selection available in micro today they are unlikely to bother with any image they have to clean up.

donding · « **Reply #6 on:** March 10, 2010, 12:13 »

Quote from: lisafx on March 10, 2010, 12:08

Quote from: Perry on March 10, 2010, 10:39

Either go with pure white (255,255,255) or light gray that can't be mistaken for white under any circumstances. Try to avoid anything between.

I agree with this. All or nothing when it comes to white background. Even if the images are accepted, they will have more "pop" in a thumbnail if they are pure white. The almost-white grayish images look a bit dingy in thumbnail.

Also, Vonkara is right, buyers want an image that's ready to use. With all the selection available in micro today they are unlikely to bother with any image they have to clean up.

I totally agree. When I first started doing microstock, I didn't totally understand the importance of pure white backgrounds so some of those ugly ones are in my portfolio, but they never sell, so it's better to go wit the pure white or gray

cathyslife · « **Reply #7 on:** March 10, 2010, 12:15 »

I agree, all white or nothing. If you do leave some gray shadows, be certain not to use the keyword isolated, as the gray shadow will cause the image to be rejected. At least that it what I have experienced in the past.

Dook · « **Reply #8 on:** March 10, 2010, 12:37 »

When you are after pure white background pay attention to the shadow. If you want to leave natural shadow than include it in the picture ( your example number 1 is good), don' cut it in the middle (example 2).

christophertvarne · « **Reply #9 on:** March 10, 2010, 14:37 »

Based on our experiences in the Asian stock photography market, images with pure white background work well for certain design and advertising agencies. But it really depends on the client. Some prefer realistic backgrounds, while others want white background so they can edit the images afterwards with minimum effort.