How to Get a White Background for Product Photos at Home

Shooting for white

Getting a white background in-camera is easier than fixing it in post. Start with:

• A genuinely white surface: White foam core, white art card, or white seamless paper. Not off-white, not cream.
• Clean surface: Any dirt, creases, or scuffs will show up under lighting
• No shadows on the background: The most common mistake — shadows make white turn grey

The goal is to expose the background to pure white while keeping the product correctly exposed.

Lighting to achieve pure white

The standard technique is to light the background separately from the product:

1. Place your product in front of the white background (not directly on it — leave 15–30cm of space)
2. Light your product with a softbox or window light from the front/side
3. Place a second light source behind the product aimed at the background — this blows out any shadows and makes the background pure white

If you only have one light source (window or single softbox):

• Position the product closer to the light and the background further away
• Slightly overexpose — expose for the background going white, then check the product isn't blown out

Post-processing to white

Even with a good in-camera white background, you'll likely need small post-processing fixes:

In Lightroom:

1. Use the Background masking tool (Masking → Background)
2. Increase Exposure and Whites on the background mask only
3. If the background goes white but looks grey on screen, add a slight Tint adjustment

In Photoshop:

1. Select the background using Select Subject > Inverse Selection
2. Use Levels (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels) — move the white point input slider left until background reads 255

Checking against marketplace standards

Amazon requires the pure white to be RGB 255,255,255 on the main image background. To check:

1. Open your image in Photoshop
2. Use the Eyedropper tool, set to 3×3 average sample
3. Click on a corner of the background — the Colour Picker shows the exact RGB values
4. If they're not 255,255,255, adjust levels on the background until they are

AI background removal

If your background is close but not perfect, AI background replacement is the fastest solution:

1. Remove background with Remove.bg or Photoshop's Remove Background
2. Use WaffleIQ to generate a pure white studio background, or place your product into any lifestyle scene

Try WaffleIQ free →