Blog
Colour reproduction in product photography
Due to the frequent emails regarding the 'perfect reproduction' of colours in photos, I have decided to address today a problem that is very difficult to solve. Unfortunately, a very common problem among Internet sellers (both Allegro sellers and those who have their own Internet shops), is the complaint of products on the basis of "colour discrepancy". - the purchased product in reality differs from the colour that the customer saw on the Internet. This is not a situation where you order something red and receive a green colour... The problem is a tonal discrepancy, i.e. you order a blood-red product and receive a reddish pink (raspberry) colour. This situation is particularly troublesome for retailers who offer products whose primary selling point is their colour. Such products include, above all, cosmetics, but also clothing. Is there any effective way of dealing with this?
No company in the product and advertising photography industry can guarantee that colours will appear the same to all users. Unfortunately, this is physically impossible - because every screen (laptop matrix, monitor or phone) - displays colours differently.
To better understand this situation, take a trip to the nearest shopping mall, visit an electronics (consumer electronics) shop and compare the colours displayed on dozens of different TV sets . Even though a single film is shown on all the TV sets, we will see differences in the colours displayed. Depending on the type and quality of the equipment, these differences will be smaller or more significant. On a "lower grade" screen - colours tend to be paler and the shapes presented are not always 100 per cent sharp. On the other hand, on "top-of-the-range" screens - you will notice that all colours drip with juiciness and colour saturation. The image is very vivid, sharp and every detail is visible. The same happens with product images on the screens of Internet users and online shoppers.
At snapshot-studio.pl, we are aware of the extent of this problem and how often it is the basis for customer complaints. Therefore, when taking photos for online shops, we make sure that the photos we take are as optimised as possible (we use special templates, and we use appropriately calibrated equipment). Product photos are taken in a professionally equipped and prepared studio; we have the possibility of working with both daylight and appropriately adjusted studio lighting, thanks to which we have full control over product lighting and its colour.
We use EIZO monitors from the ColorEdge series - designed for photographers and graphic designers involved in professional graphic processing. The ColorEdge series monitors provide a wide colour space and an advanced uniform backlighting system, and thanks to a built-in sensor for self-correction, we have constant control over calibration and colour reproduction.
A very important process is the time-consuming graphic retouching (including tonal correction) and the appropriate saving of the file - for WEB or print.
In addition, we always compare colours on a 'traditional' monitor - to ensure that the colour match on professional equipment - is appropriate on a lower-end monitor, to have 'intermediate' colour consistency on both monitors.
It is also important to remember that laptop matrices are a unique type of display - in terms of colour display, of course. First of all, they are very 'sensitive and responsive', and do not have as large an angle of tolerance as desktop (so-called PC) monitors. It only takes a slight angle of tilt of the laptop matrix (flap) backwards or forwards for us to change the colour, as well as its saturation. White products often "disappear", while blue (navy blue) can give the impression of being grey. This is a disadvantage that no one can overcome, and when viewing photos on a laptop - it is always important to remember the "optimum" setting of the matrix.
Unfortunately, until we all have the same monitors (and, in addition, graphics cards, which also modify the colours displayed) - we will never see the image presented in the same way. Using the tools mentioned above, we can optimally reproduce the colour of the product.
If you run an online shop or sell products on auction portals and you want to see the real colour - contact us! Free trial session available - for product images and clothing images!
Telephone contact from 8:00 to 16:00 on +48 722 772 774
Email contact: biuro@snapshot-studio.pl!
Scope of action: Rybnik / Katowice / Silesia / Whole Poland / International :)
Michał
Współzałożyciel. Specjalista ds. Marketingu i Reklamy
Ekonomista ze specjalizacją marketingu w biznesie oraz w handlu międzynarodowym. Współzałożyciel spółki Snapshot Studio. Na co dzień odpowiada za promocję i budowanie wizerunku firmy. W biznesie i w życiu kieruje się filozofią Kaizen.