eBay: It's Photography That Sells
- by Peter Lerman (copyright 2010)
Software (Image Processing)
After you have gone to the trouble of learning how to set up your shot, light it and take the photo do not be the Bozo that just takes the photo off the memory card and puts it on eBay. You have a little more work to do before you are finished.
You probably got some image editing software when you bought your camera. If you are lucky you got a copy of PhotoShop Elements. If not, go spend the $80 and get a copy. Well worth the investment. There are other photo editors and if you own one, learn to use it for its basic functions. Most likely it will be all you need. The full version of PhotoShop is very expensive and hard to master. It is much more than you need.
1 - Crop
Make your photo a Horizontal photo (landscape). These work best on eBay. Crop so the proportions are about 4:3 (that's 4 wide and 3 high) Try making your photos 800px wide and 600px tall. Don't bother with anything wider than 1,000px. Adjusting the size this way will be called "resizing" or "resampling" or "Image > Image Size". Learn it.
Crop out whatever "white space" you did not eliminate when taking your photo. Also crop out any other distracting objects in the frame. Keep it very simple and use all the space you have to show off your goods.
2 - Adjust
I can't describe this for you. You have to see it and learn it. Adjust the photo in the "Lighter/Darker" mode until it is just right. Maybe your shot will also benefit from an adjustment in Contrast. Try it.
If the photo is not the same color as the original subject (the white background is bluish or yellowish) then you need to adjust the Color Balance. If the colors are too bright or rich or faded, adjust the Color Saturation. Play around, experiment and you'll get it. Be patient.
3 - Save As...
Save your photos as ".JPG" files with "Medium" quality. Your files will be small enough to load very quickly and have all the color and detail you need.
Upload your photos to eBay now and watch the sales figures rise!