Choose Your Equipment

Create a Great Photo

Photo Do's

• Use proper lighting to light the entire item thoroughly.

• Try to use a background that contrasts with the item.

  • Use a plain, colored fabric backdrop to make your item stand out. Pure white backgrounds are great for very dark items and sometimes jewelry.

  • Consider using hardwood floors as a background for large and small items.

• Avoid background clutter that can distract buyers or confuse them regarding what you are selling.

• Set the camera to a medium resolution (for example 1024x768 pixels). This provides excellent photo quality and results in a faster upload time for pictures used on eBay. It is also good for photo editing, if needed.

• Photograph items at close range and at an angle.

  • Photos should be big enough to show details and fill the whole frame when appropriate.

  • Multiple photos enable buyers to see as much detail as possible. For example, tabs, labels, original packaging, and accessories.

• Include scale where appropriate.

• If the item has any flaws, wear, or damage be sure to document it with a photo.

• Consider using a tripod to take sharp pictures using indoor lighting without flash.
  
  

Photo Don'ts

• Don’t copy pictures (without permission) from another eBay seller or manufacturer/retailer.

• Don’t photograph using flash if your item is reflective—like a mirror or the glass on a framed picture.

• Don’t use flash or avoid relying on it.

• If an automatic flash comes on, it means that you need another light source or that there isn't enough natural light.

Edit Your Photo

Once your photo is on your computer hard drive, you can often improve it with photo editing software, which may have come with your digital camera or scanner. eBay Enhanced Picture Uploader also provides photo-editing features. The three basic types of edits are crop, rotate, and resize.

Save Your Photo

Save your edited picture as a JPEG (.jpg) file, (file types other than JPEG and GIF should not be used if you are hosting on your web hosting server). Here's how (in many programs):

• 1. Click the File menu.

  2. Select Save As….                                    

  3. When the Save As dialog box appears, name your file.

  4. Use the Save as type pull-down menu, select JPEG (.jpg) or GIF (.gif).

  5. Click Save or OK.

When editing, minimize the number of intermediate "saves" in JPEG format because successive saves reduce the quality.

Use eBay Guides for additional photography tips

Get advice from Community members who have written their own eBay Guides for cameras and photos

Now you are ready to upload your picture to eBay!