How do you test and review your product photos for glare and other issues before uploading or printing them?

1 Check your lighting setup

The first step to avoid glare is to check your lighting setup and make sure it's suitable for your product. Depending on the material, shape, and size of your product, you may need to adjust the angle, distance, and intensity of your light sources. You can use a light meter, a histogram, or a gray card to measure the exposure and the white balance of your light. You can also use diffusers, reflectors, or flags to soften, bounce, or block the light and create even and natural illumination.

2 Use a polarizing filter

A polarizing filter is a handy accessory that can help you reduce glare and improve the color and contrast of your product photos. It works by filtering out the polarized light that causes glare and reflections from shiny or metallic surfaces. You can attach a polarizing filter to your lens and rotate it until you see the desired effect on your camera's LCD screen or viewfinder. You can also use a polarizing filter on your light source if it's a flash or a strobe.

3 Review your photos on a computer

While you can preview your photos on your camera's LCD screen, it's not the best way to spot glare and other issues. You may miss some details or see inaccurate colors due to the small size and low resolution of the screen. To review your photos more accurately, you should transfer them to your computer and view them on a calibrated monitor. You can use a photo editing software like Photoshop or Lightroom to zoom in, crop, rotate, and adjust your photos as needed.

4 Use the clone stamp or healing brush tools

If you still find some glare or other issues on your product photos after reviewing them on your computer, you can use the clone stamp or healing brush tools to fix them. These tools allow you to copy pixels from one area of your photo and paste them over another area. For example, you can use the clone stamp tool to remove a glare spot from your product by copying a similar area of the product and covering the spot with it. You can use the healing brush tool to remove dust, scratches, or blemishes from your product by copying a nearby area of the same texture and color and blending it with the affected area.

5 Apply noise reduction and sharpening

The final step to test and review your product photos for glare and other issues is to apply noise reduction and sharpening. Noise is the grainy or speckled appearance that can occur on your photos due to low light, high ISO, or long exposure. Sharpening is the process of enhancing the edges and details of your photos to make them look more crisp and clear. You can use a photo editing software to apply noise reduction and sharpening to your photos. You should adjust the settings carefully and avoid overdoing it, as too much noise reduction can make your photos look blurry and too much sharpening can make them look unnatural or noisy.

6 Save your photos in the right format and size

The last thing you want to do is to ruin your product photos by saving them in the wrong format or size. Depending on your purpose, you may need to save your photos in different formats and sizes. For example, if you're uploading your photos to your online store or website, you may want to save them in JPEG format, which is a compressed format that reduces the file size and preserves the quality of your photos. However, if you're printing your photos, you may want to save them in TIFF format, which is an uncompressed format that retains all the details and colors of your photos. You should also check the resolution, dimensions, and aspect ratio of your photos and make sure they match the requirements of your platform or printer.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?