Flat lay photography is the quiet workhorse of online fashion. No model fees, no studio booking, no hair and make-up: just the garment, a clean surface and a camera pointing straight down. Done well, a flat lay shows cut, colour and detail clearly enough that shoppers can judge a T-shirt, a scarf or a set of accessories in seconds. Done badly, it shows creases, warped proportions and a grey, uneven background that makes even a good product look cheap.
This guide covers how to set up, style, light and shoot flat lays for fashion and accessories, plus how to size the finished images for the marketplaces most small sellers use.
When a Flat Lay Is the Right Choice
Flat lays are not the best format for every garment. They work brilliantly for some categories and poorly for others, so decide before you shoot.
Where flat lays excel
- T-shirts, sweatshirts and knitwear with a simple silhouette and a print or texture to show.
- Children's and baby clothing, where flat presentation is the norm and often the marketplace expectation.
- Accessories: scarves, belts, wallets, sunglasses, socks, ties, small leather goods and jewellery sets.
- Outfit bundles, where you want to show several items that go together in one frame.
- Detail and secondary images, such as a close-up of a label, stitching or fabric weave.
Where to use a model or ghost mannequin instead
- Tailored and structured garments such as blazers, dresses and trousers, where fit and drape are the selling point.
- Adult apparel main images on some marketplaces. Amazon's clothing style guides have historically asked for adult apparel to be shown on a model or ghost mannequin, while kids' and baby clothing is shown flat. Rules vary by category and region, so check your category style guide in Seller Central before committing a whole catalogue to flat lays.
A sensible approach for many sellers is to use a flat lay or ghost mannequin for the main image and add on-body or lifestyle shots further down the gallery.
The Setup: Height, Lens and Stability
Get the camera directly overhead
The defining feature of a flat lay is a camera sensor parallel to the surface. Even a few degrees of tilt turns a rectangle into a trapezoid, makes one shoulder look wider than the other and throws off the sizing information shoppers rely on. Use a tripod with a horizontal arm, a C-stand with a boom, or a purpose-built overhead rig. A bubble level on the camera's hot shoe or the in-camera electronic level is the quickest way to confirm you are square.
Choose a longer focal length
Wide lenses exaggerate the parts of a garment closest to the centre and stretch the edges. A focal length of around 50mm on a full-frame camera (or the "2x" or "3x" lens on a smartphone) gives a far more natural shape. The trade-off is height: a 50mm lens needs to sit roughly 1.8 to 2.2 metres above the surface to fit a full-length pair of trousers. If you cannot get that high, lay the garment on the floor rather than switching to a wide lens.
Lock in your height and settings
Pick a camera height that fits your longest product with a little breathing room, mark it, and do not change it between items. A fixed height means every T-shirt in your catalogue is shown at the same scale, which makes collection pages look tidy and helps shoppers compare sizes. Use manual exposure, a fixed white balance and an aperture between f/5.6 and f/11 so the whole garment, including raised seams and hardware, stays sharp.
Surfaces and Backgrounds
| Surface | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| White seamless paper | Marketplace main images, clean catalogue look | Dents and footprints show; replace the working section often |
| White foam board | Accessories and small items | Too small for adult garments; edges can appear in frame |
| Matte vinyl or PVC backdrop | High-volume shooting; wipes clean | Glossy finishes reflect light; buy matte only |
| Linen, wood or textured boards | Lifestyle and social media flat lays | Not compliant for most white-background main images |
For marketplace main images, shoot on white and plan to push the background to pure white (RGB 255, 255, 255) in editing. For secondary images and social posts, a textured surface that suits your brand adds warmth without distracting from the product.
Styling the Garment
Prepare it properly
Steam or iron every item. Creases look far worse from directly above than they do in person, because flat lighting has nothing else to hide them behind. Remove tags that will show, lint-roll dark fabrics and check for loose threads.
Give it shape
A garment laid completely flat looks lifeless. Professional stylists add subtle volume:
- Slip a sheet of tissue paper or thin card inside T-shirts and tops to smooth the front and stop the back panel showing through.
- Bend sleeves slightly at the elbow and angle them inwards for a relaxed, natural silhouette.
- Taper the waist of tops very slightly to suggest a body underneath.
- Use pins or small pieces of tape on the underside to hold folds in place.
- Roll a cuff or turn up a hem if it shows a contrasting lining or detail.
Keep it symmetrical
For catalogue images, symmetry signals quality. Align the centre seam or button placket with the centre of the frame, match sleeve angles on both sides and check that hems sit straight. A grid overlay on your camera or phone makes this much easier.
Styling accessories and bundles
For accessory and outfit flat lays, follow a few composition rules: leave consistent gaps between items, arrange them in a loose grid or triangle, and keep the hero product the largest or most central object. Odd numbers of items (three or five) tend to look more balanced than even ones. If you are selling only one item, any props must be clearly secondary, or left out of the main image entirely.
Lighting Flat Lays
Soft, even light is the goal. Hard light from directly above casts harsh shadows inside folds and exaggerates every wrinkle.
- Window light: the cheapest option. Place the surface next to a large window with indirect daylight, and use a white foam board on the opposite side to fill shadows. Shoot at the same time of day for consistency.
- Two softboxes: position one on each side of the garment at around 45 degrees, at equal distance and power, for shadowless, consistent lighting all day.
- Texture control: to show knit or weave, lower one light so it rakes across the fabric at a shallow angle. Use this for detail shots rather than main images.
Turn off overhead room lights to avoid mixed colour temperatures, and shoot a grey card or colour checker at the start of each session. Colour is one of the most common reasons fashion items get returned, so accurate white balance is not optional.
Sizing Flat Lays for Each Marketplace
Fashion images are often shot in portrait, but many marketplaces display square thumbnails. Shoot with enough space around the garment that you can produce both crops from the same file.
| Platform | Recommended size | Aspect ratio | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | 2000 x 2000 px | 1:1 (up to 5:1 allowed) | 1000 px minimum on the longest side for zoom; product should fill about 85% of the frame |
| Shopee | 1024 x 1024 px or larger | 1:1 cover | Cover image stays square; some fashion categories accept 3:4 for additional images |
| Lazada | 800 x 800 px or larger | 1:1 | White background preferred for the main image |
| Shopify | 2048 x 2048 px | 1:1 or 4:5 (be consistent) | Choose one ratio across the store so collection grids line up |
| Zalando | 1801 x 2600 px | Portrait (about 1:1.44) | Check the current partner image guide before a full shoot |
| 1080 x 1350 px | 4:5 | Portrait takes up the most space in the feed |
Producing all of these versions by hand is where most of the time goes. A tool like PixelPrep lets you upload a batch of flat lays once and export square, portrait and marketplace-specific sizes with consistent padding, so a single shoot covers every channel.
Editing Workflow
- Correct white balance and exposure using the grey card shot from the start of the session, and apply the same settings to the whole batch.
- Straighten and correct perspective if the camera was slightly off level.
- Clean the background: remove dust, threads and paper creases, and push white areas to pure white for main images.
- Retouch lightly: remove stray lint and small creases, but never change the shape, colour or texture of the garment itself.
- Crop and resize to each platform's ratio, keeping the garment centred with consistent margins.
- Export as sRGB JPEG at quality 80 to 85, aiming for files under 500 KB for web use, and name files with the SKU, colour and view.
Flat Lay Checklist
- Check whether your marketplace and category allow flat lays for the main image.
- Mount the camera directly overhead and confirm it is level.
- Use a 50mm-equivalent lens or the phone's 2x lens, and lock the camera height.
- Shoot on matte white for main images; save textured surfaces for lifestyle shots.
- Steam, de-lint and remove tags before every item.
- Add volume with tissue paper and angle sleeves naturally.
- Align the garment symmetrically using a grid overlay.
- Light softly from both sides and shoot a grey card each session.
- Leave space around the garment so you can crop to square and portrait.
- Batch resize for every channel and export sRGB JPEGs under 500 KB.
Get these basics right and flat lays become one of the fastest, cheapest ways to build a clean, consistent fashion catalogue that looks professional on every marketplace.