These terms turn up in three places: a studio quote, a marketplace's image rules and an AI tool's settings. Knowing what each one means makes it easier to compare quotes, brief a shoot and see what a price leaves out. Use the letters to jump to a term; each definition links to the page that covers it in depth.
- A+ content
Amazon's enhanced product description: extra images, comparison charts and formatted text that brand owners enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry can add to a listing. It appears further down the product page, below the main photo gallery. For clothing, A+ modules often show fabric close-ups, fit notes and the product worn in context. A+ images follow their own size rules and do not replace the gallery images.
Related: Amazon clothing photography
- AI fashion model
A person in a fashion photo who was generated by an AI image model instead of being photographed. AI fashion models let brands show clothing on a body without booking a model or a studio day. Tools differ: some create a new face for every image, others keep the same model across a whole catalog. The garment should still come from real photos of the product, so it looks like what buyers receive.
Related: AI models vs real models
- Aspect ratio
The proportion between an image's width and height, written as width:height. A 1:1 image is square; 4:5 and 3:4 are portrait formats that suit clothing because they fit a standing body. Stores and marketplaces crop images to the ratio their layout uses, so delivering photos in the right ratio keeps heads, hems and shoes from being cut off and makes product grids line up.
Related: Shopify product image size
- Brand model
A personalized AI model created individually for one brand: cast to match its buyers' age, body type, look and mood, and kept the same across every product and photoshoot. At Sellora, we create one for each brand. On a monthly retainer, she works only for that brand; pilots use a model from our roster. It is the AI counterpart of a house model that a brand books season after season.
Related: On-model clothing photography
- Clipping path
A vector outline drawn around a product in an editing program so it can be separated from its background. Retouchers use clipping paths to put items on pure white, to remove the mannequin from ghost mannequin shots and to recolor parts of an image. Paths suit hard edges such as collars and hems; soft edges like fur, fringe or loose threads usually need a mask instead.
Related: Ghost mannequin photography
- Color matching
Correcting a photo so the product's color on screen matches the real item. Studio light, camera settings and AI generation can all shift a color: navy turns black, cream turns white, a red leans orange. Color matching compares the image with the physical product or a trusted reference photo and corrects it. It matters for clothing because a color that looks different in person is one reason buyers send items back.
Related: How to photograph clothing
- Colorway
One color version of the same design. A T-shirt sold in black, white and sage comes in three colorways. Each colorway usually needs its own photos, because buyers want to see the exact color they are ordering. That is why colorways multiply a photo budget: 20 styles in three colorways means 60 sets of images, not 20.
Related: Clothing photoshoot cost
- Day rate
A flat fee for a full day of work, common for photographers, models, stylists and hair and makeup artists, and for studio rental. A day rate covers a fixed number of hours; overtime, usage rights and retouching are often billed on top. Day rates suit shoots where the number of final images is open, while per-image pricing suits catalog work where it is known in advance.
Related: Clothing photoshoot cost
- Drape
How fabric hangs and folds under its own weight on a body. Heavy wool falls straight, satin pools and catches the light, jersey clings and stretches. Drape tells a buyer how a garment will look and feel when worn. It is also easy to get wrong: a flat lay hides it, and an AI image can invent it unless someone checks it against the real garment.
Related: How to photograph clothing
- Flat lay
A product photo of a garment laid flat on a surface and shot from directly above. Flat lays are quick and inexpensive to produce, and they show the whole shape of an item, its print and its details at a glance. They cannot show fit, length on the body or how the fabric moves, which is why many brands add on-model photos to the same listing.
Related: Flat lay to on-model
- Ghost mannequin (invisible mannequin)
A technique that shows a garment's three-dimensional shape without a visible model or mannequin. The item is photographed on a mannequin, which is then removed in editing; a second shot of the inside of the neckline or waistband is often added so the garment looks hollow, not cut off. The result is clean and consistent across a catalog but still does not show fit on a person.
Related: Ghost mannequin photography
- Image buy-out
A one-time payment that widens or removes the limits on how long and where you may use images, most often images with a recognizable model. Instead of renewing usage rights every few months, a buy-out covers a longer term, more channels or unlimited use. Terms vary by studio, photographer and model agency, so get the exact scope in writing before you pay.
Related: Clothing photoshoot cost
- Image resolution
The number of pixels in an image, given as width × height, for example 2,000 × 2,500 pixels. More pixels keep fine detail sharp when a shopper zooms in on fabric, stitching or a print. Marketplaces and store themes set their own minimum and recommended sizes, so check each platform's current rules. Resolution is not the same as file size, and print DPI does not matter on screen.
Related: Shopify product image size
- Lifestyle image
A product photo set in a real-looking scene, such as a street, a café or a living room, instead of on a plain background. Lifestyle images show how and where a garment is worn and help shoppers picture themselves in it. Amazon does not accept them as the main image, but they work well as secondary images, on your own store and on social media.
Related: Inside a 7-image photoshoot
- Main image
The first photo shoppers see, both in search results and at the top of the product page. Marketplaces set their strictest rules for it: Amazon, for example, requires a pure white background, the product filling most of the frame and no added text, logos or watermarks. Because it decides whether a shopper clicks at all, the main image is usually the most carefully produced photo in a set.
Related: Amazon clothing image requirements
- Model release
A signed agreement in which a person gives permission for photos of them to be published, usually stating where, for what purpose and for how long. Brands need one before using images of a recognizable model. A fully AI-generated model has no one to sign a release, so what matters is the license you get from whoever made the images. A digital twin of a real model needs that person's written consent.
Related: AI models vs real models
- On-model photography
Product photos of clothing worn by a person, real or AI-generated. On-model images show fit, length, proportion and how fabric moves, which flat lays and ghost mannequin shots cannot. In a studio they usually cost the most per image, because a model, a stylist, hair and makeup and studio time are added to the product itself.
Related: On-model clothing photography
- Packshot
A clean, standardized product photo on a plain background, usually white or light gray, with even lighting and no props. Packshots show an item clearly and in the same way across a whole catalog, which is why marketplaces favor them for main images. In clothing, a packshot can be a flat lay, a ghost mannequin shot or a hanging shot, as long as the product is shown on its own.
- Per-image pricing
A pricing model in which a studio or service charges for each final image you receive instead of for its time. It makes a budget easy to estimate (images times price) and fits catalog work where the number of products and angles is known. Read the terms: minimum orders, styling, usage rights and rush delivery are often billed on top of the per-image price.
Related: On-model price per image
- Pure white background
A background made only of pure white pixels, RGB 255, 255, 255, with no gray cast, gradient or texture. Amazon requires it for main images, and many stores use it so products line up cleanly in a grid. A white backdrop in a studio rarely records as pure white on camera, so the background is usually set to pure white in editing.
Related: Amazon clothing image requirements
- Retouching
Editing a photo after the shoot to fix what the camera recorded: removing lint, dust and creases, cleaning up the background, correcting color and tidying the silhouette. Basic retouching is usually included in a studio's per-image price, while advanced work such as skin retouching, compositing or ghost mannequin assembly may be billed separately. Good retouching makes the product look like it does in person, only neater.
Related: Ghost & flat lay cost
- Secondary images
The photos that follow the main image in a product listing: other angles, the back view, close-ups of details, the product worn, size charts and lifestyle scenes. Marketplaces allow more freedom here than in the main image. Secondary images answer the questions a shopper would otherwise ask, or return the item over: how long it is, what the back looks like, how thick the fabric is.
Related: Inside a 7-image photoshoot
- SKU
Short for stock keeping unit: a code that identifies one sellable item in your inventory. In clothing, each combination of style, color and size is often its own SKU, so one dress in three colors and five sizes can mean 15 SKUs. For a photo budget, count styles and colorways instead: sizes rarely need their own photos.
Related: Clothing photoshoot cost
- Usage rights
The terms that say where, how and for how long you may use a photo. Product-only images usually come with broad rights, while images of a recognizable model are often limited to a period and to certain channels, because the model is paid for that specific use. Using an image after its term ends can mean paying again or taking it down.
Related: AI models vs real models
- Variant images
Photos linked to one option of a product, usually a color, so the gallery switches when a shopper selects that option. Shopify and Amazon both let you link images to each variant. Without them, a shopper who picks olive may still be looking at the black version, which leads to wrong orders and returns. Every colorway you sell should have at least one image of its own.
Related: Shopify product photography
- Virtual try-on
Technology that shows a garment on a person who is not actually wearing it. Shopper-facing try-on puts clothes on a shopper's own photo or avatar inside a store; brand-facing try-on puts a product onto a model to create on-model images from product photos. Both rely on AI to map the garment onto a body, so fit, length and drape need checking before anyone relies on the result.
Related: AI tools vs done-for-you
Have flat lays or ghost mannequin shots you'd like to see on a model? Send us a brief, and we'll reply with a proposal within one business day. Or book a call, and we'll look at your photos together.