# Prepare your garment photos (https://docs.apparelai.app/getting-started/garment-photos)
Your garment photo is the reference for every result. The color, print and detail in your model photos come from it, so a clear photo gives you a more accurate result. This page helps you choose and prepare photos, and shows you how to photograph clothes for AI photoshoots. To upload them, see [Product library](/library/products) or [Your first photoshoot](/getting-started/quickstart).
## Photos you can use [#photos-you-can-use]
You don't need a studio. ApparelAI accepts these kinds of photos:
| Photo type | What it is |
| ---------- | ---------- |
| Flat lay | The garment laid flat on a surface, such as a table, floor or bed sheet |
| Hanger shot | The garment hanging on a hanger |
| Mannequin photo | The garment on a mannequin |
| On-body photo | A person wearing the garment |
| Supplier or wholesale catalog image | A product image from your supplier's catalog |
Photos like these, taken on a phone at home, work well:
Backgrounds are removed automatically, so a plain wall or a bed sheet behind the garment is fine. A clear photo from your phone camera works. Front-facing, well-lit photos work best.
You're responsible for having the rights to the photos you upload. Use your own photos, or images your supplier allows you to use.
## File types and size [#file-types-and-size]
- In **Create Photo Shoot**, upload a **JPG**, **PNG** or **WEBP** photo of up to 25MB.
- The **Products** page and **Bulk Photoshoot** also accept iPhone **HEIC** photos, which convert automatically.
- If a photo is too big, the app shows **File too large**. Use a smaller version of the photo.
## Front and back photos [#front-and-back-photos]
In the **Product** step of **Create Photo Shoot**:
- **Upload new product (front side)** is the photo of the front of your garment. It's required.
- **Back side (optional)** is a photo of the back. Add one when the back has its own design. It's used when you pick a back-view pose, so the back of the garment comes from your photo instead of being invented.
Both photos upload together when you select **Continue**. If you pick a product you uploaded before, you can still add a back photo under **Back side (optional)**. It's saved to that product straight away and used for back-view poses from then on.
In Saree, Salwar kameez and Shirt mode, the **Product** step shows that mode's photo slots instead (see below). In **Bulk Photoshoot**, the standard product row has a **Back photo** slot. See [Bulk photoshoot](/photoshoots/bulk-photoshoot).
## Photo slots in each garment mode [#photo-slots-in-each-garment-mode]
Some garments are made of several pieces of fabric, and a single folded photo hides most of them. When you turn on a garment mode in **Settings**, the **Product** step shows a slot for each part of the garment. Only the first slot is required, but each extra photo gives that part a real reference instead of a guess.
| Mode | Photo slots |
| ---- | ----------- |
| Saree | **Saree Body** (required), the main fabric. **Blouse**, the blouse piece. **Pallu**, the decorative end piece. |
| Salwar kameez | **Top (Kameez)** (required). **Bottom**, the salwar or pants. **Dupatta**. **Sleeve**. |
| Shirt | **Shirt Fabric** (required), the main fabric. **Logo**, a chest logo or brand mark. **Collar**, a contrast collar fabric. **Cuff**, a contrast cuff fabric. |
| Dupatta | The standard upload: a front photo and an optional back photo. |
Each mode has its own upload button, such as **Upload Saree & Continue**. In **Bulk Photoshoot**, each product row has a slot for each of the same parts.
- **Sarees:** the app suggests close-ups of the pallu, border and blouse for better accuracy. Use the **Pallu** and **Blouse** slots for those parts. There's no separate border slot, so make sure at least one full run of the border is visible in your **Saree Body** photo.
- **Shirts:** each extra part gets its own instructions, and the logo is taken from your actual file, so it stays exact.
For what each mode does, see [Garment modes](/garment-modes).
## Photography tips for accurate results [#photography-tips-for-accurate-results]
### Prepare the garment [#prepare-the-garment]
- Steam or iron it first. Fold lines can come back looking like creases or seams.
- Fasten the buttons, straighten the collar and square the shoulders on structured pieces like blazers and shirts. The result follows the shape you give it.
- Spread the garment out so its shape is easy to read. Keep the neckline, sleeves, hem and pattern visible, and don't fold over or hide details.
- For layered sets, such as a jacket over a shirt, photograph the layers clearly separated.
### Take the photo [#take-the-photo]
- Shoot straight on, not at an angle, so patterns aren't distorted.
- Keep the whole garment in the frame, sharp and in focus.
- Fill the frame with the garment. Move in close for small, detailed pieces like kidswear.
- Use soft, even light. For knitwear, soft light from one side keeps rib and cable texture. Flat light from the front flattens it.
- For zari, zardozi and other metallic work, let the light fall across the surface. Flat light from the front can make metallic thread look like grey cotton.
- Use a simple, uncluttered background if you can.
For handwoven or heavily worked pieces, where buyers zoom in to judge the zari or embroidery, add real close-up photos of the fabric to your listing alongside the AI model photo.
## Import photos from a product link [#import-photos-from-a-product-link]
If your products are already on an online store, you can import their photos instead of uploading them:
On the **Products** page or on **Home**, select **Import from Store**.
In the **Import from Store URL** window, paste the link to a product page from Shopify, WooCommerce or any other store, and select **Fetch**.
All the photos are selected at first. Untick any you don't want, then select **Import N Selected**.
Each photo you import is saved as a product. This imports photos from one product page at a time. It doesn't connect your store. See [Product library](/library/products).
## Frequently asked questions [#frequently-asked-questions]
Steam the garment, lay it flat or hang it up, and shoot straight on in soft, even light, with the whole garment sharp and filling the frame. A clear photo from your phone camera works, so you don't need a studio. See [Photography tips for accurate results](#photography-tips-for-accurate-results).
No. Backgrounds are removed automatically, so a plain wall or a bed sheet behind the garment is fine. A simple, uncluttered background still helps.
Any of them works, and so do on-body photos and supplier catalog images. Front-facing, well-lit photos work best, with the neckline, sleeves, hem and pattern in view.
Yes, on the **Products** page and in **Bulk Photoshoot**, where HEIC photos convert automatically. In **Create Photo Shoot**, upload a JPG, PNG or WEBP photo of up to 25MB instead.
Add one when the back of the garment has its own design. Upload it under **Back side (optional)** in the **Product** step, and back-view poses show your garment's real back instead of an invented one. See [Front and back photos](#front-and-back-photos).
## Related [#related]