Last updated on September 25th, 2019

Don’t judge a book by its cover.

We’ve heard this since we were kids and yet every day, people do it.

Your product image is going to be the first thing that people see. They will judge your product based on its design, which is why it’s SO important that it’s appealing.

If it’s not, they will likely bounce away from your sales page before even reading a word. Seriously.

(If they even clicked on the image to get to your sales page, to begin with)

It really doesn’t have to be complicated, I promise. And I’m going to show you two amazing tools to create product images that sell. (Don’t worry, it’s super easy and I even have a tutorial to walk you through it at the end of this post!)

Why the product pictures matter

We live in a visual word. More and more, social media is becoming about pictures. Sales copy and ad wording is simply not the only thing that sells your product anymore, so it’s important that bloggers and other business owners are keeping up.

Especially if your product is digital!

It can be hard to have pretty product pictures when you don’t even have a physical product to take pictures of (although, if you DO have a physical product to take pictures of DEFINITELY invest in learning photography or hiring someone to do it for you- it will be one of your greatest investments).

There is so much STUFF out there fighting for everyone’s attention. It could be the next blog post or a viral meme. Maybe it’s a heartfelt video or an ad for a new healthy eating challenge. And then there’s your product image right in the middle of all of it.

Is it going to stand out? Will it make someone stop scrolling? Is it going to make them click or even read what you have to say?

Your product image NEEDS to catch your ideal clients attention. It needs to get them on your sales page and when they get to your page they need to be impressed even further. You can do this by incorporating your favorite, branded typography and gorgeous stock photos! 

This little trick is guaranteed to bring your product images to the next level with minimal effort (I’m all about easy!!). I also have a tutorial to walk you through the process in our design resource library which you can get access to at the end of this post.

Examples of bad vs. pretty images

First, let’s establish what makes a good vs not-so-good product image.

You want your product pictures to be:

• Bright, with lots of whites and pops of color
• Reflect the nature of your product
• Clean and crisp looking
• Interesting yet professional

Try to avoid:

• Dark product pictures
• Going overboard with photoshop
• Adding crazy filters
• Editing the image too much

Let’s take a look at bad product images (in the spirit of making fun of myself, they are both mine from earlier blogging days!)

Now, to be fair, you can use a dark image and edit it to be more appealing. BUT there’s an easier way I promise.

And no, you don’t need photoshop or anything crazy.

Let’s take a look at a pretty product photo that will most certainly stop people in their scrolling-tracks, which I created in Canva using just the basics:

P.S. I have a tutorial at the end of this post that will walk you through this step by step 🙂

Tools needed to create product pictures

As I said before, product images don’t have to be complicated or expensive to create, especially a digital product. I have had a digital product printed for product pictures but it’s totally not necessary.

Here’s what you need:

• Stock images

• Myebookcover (optional)

• Canva

• Our video tutorial (in design resource library)

Stock images

Personally, my favorite stock image resource for this kind of thing is the free stock images from Ivory Mix. There are a ton of really clean workspace images that are perfect. You can also use Adobe stock, iStock, or creative market. I have also found some good ones in Canva.

I generally don’t recommend thee free stock image sites such as Pexels and Pixabay– sometimes these images are not meant to be free ( *ahem* stolen) and I’d hate for you to be hit with a copyright issue!

Myebookcover

I love this site for turning digital products  (like ebooks/workbooks/ecourses etc) into 3D images. Super easy to use, most templates are free– some are paid–either way, it’s not a tool I can live without!

Not only is this much more appealing for product images, but it helps your reader envision the purpose.

For example:

 VS. 

See the difference?

Canva

Canva brings it all together. Also to note, you do NOT need the paid version of Canva for this. That being said, Canva for Work is the best $12 I spend each month and I highly recommend upgrading as soon as you can!

Our Video tutorial

Our video tutorial will walk you through the steps of creating amazing, eye-catching  product pictures that will not only grab your readers attention, but it will encourage them to click through and buy!

You can view it in our free password-protected design resource library (see the end of this post). It’s super simple to follow along, I’m sure even my two-year-old could do this (he does know how to work my phone).

Judging your book by its cover

Your product image does have to grab people. It needs to be professional, clean, and it’s important to take the few extra minutes to make it awesome. And yes, your sales depend on it (especially for digital products, e-commerce sites, and Etsy!)

And, with only a few tools; you can do this! You can make it great. So take the next step (watching the tutorial) and try it out! If it helps you generate sales without having to outsource someone to create your product image then it’s a win-win right?

FREE VIDEO TUTORIAL: CREATING PRODUCT IMAGES THAT GENERATE SALES

Get access to our step-by-step free video tutorial (along with all our other tutorials, templates, and design tools) by filling out the form below!

Some of the links included in this post are affiliate links provided for your convenience.

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