I own an operate a online shopping cart and I have products on hand
that I would like to take pictures of with my own digital camera. The
camera is a good quality camera so the pictures can be taken at a high
resolution and they turn out great.

Here is an example of how I want my pictures to look
http://www.leatherbees.com/product48.html
As you can see there is no background on the picture what so ever and
blends right in against the white background.

Here is an example of how I do not want my pictures to look like
http://www.leatherbees.com/product118.html
As you can see there is a grey box around the picture from when the
picture was cropped or scanned. This is what I want to avoid.

In other words, I want my pictures to look professional and look like
ones in catalogs that you get in the mail or pictures you see on
amazon.com so that there is no background against the item and it
blends in perfectly with the white background.

So my question is, 
A. What is the best way to set up my products to take pictures as far
as lighting goes?
EX, do I want to make a little stand covered with white tagboard or
paper and have high powered lights on the display?

B. What resolution and what settings should I set the camera to in
order to get the best looking picture?
(keep in mind all my pictures I will be compressing and resizing from
the original, so I don't need anything to big, the biggest I want to
get to put online is something like
http://www.leatherbees.com/product48.html maybe a little bigger)

C. The most important question I have is once I put the pictures I
took onto the computer,  the first thing I will probably do is crop
them, I know how to do that, but my questions is how do I remove the
grey outline or make the background transparent so it fits in to the
white background like the blue backpack does shown above so you can't
see the background. I want software that is easy and works very well.
I don't mind if I have to purchase something, that's not a problem.
But I want something that is easy to use and does the job right the
first time. Basically all I want to do is crop the pictures myself,
and have the software fix the background and then once that is done, I
have no problem saving it and compressing it.  A program that does
everything would be great, but the background is my biggest issue
right now.

So again

Here is an example of how I want my pictures to look
http://www.leatherbees.com/product48.html

Here is an example of how I do not want my pictures to look like
http://www.leatherbees.com/product118.html

By looking at the 2 pictures above, you should be able to note exactly
what I am talking about and hopefully can direct me in the right
direction as far as taking the pictures (setting up a display with all
white, lighting, etc) camera settings (how many megapixel, other
settings on the camera that I don't know about for taking pictures
like I described) and how to remove the background using software that
is easy to use and can do what I am wanting automatically.

Any other suggestions would help
Thanks

---

Clarification of Question by simx-ga on 12 Sep 2004 12:03 PDT

hey scomanatl, that is exactly what I was looking for, except I would
like to use jasc paint shop pro, maybe if you could do the same thing
with that and put that as an answer that would be great
thanks

Yes, you want a setup with a white background. The simpliest setup is
to take white photography paper (or any large sheet of pure white
paper) and set it on a table in an L-shape. That means one portion
will be taped or pinned to a wall, and the bottom portion will lay on
the table. Then get yourself some photography lamps (hot lamps are
cheapest); two should do. Don't use a flash.

If, when you place the photo on your website, the background looks
suddenly gray, the easiest thing to do is take it back to your photo
imaging software and lighten the whole photo. Your exposure was simply
too dark.

Hope this helps,
Kriswrite

Why not just use good image editing software like photoshop?

Corel PhotoPaint and I assume most image editing software has a
function where you can replace all pixels of one colour with pixels of
another colour. You could use this to replace all pixels of your
background colour with whatever colour you are using for your web
page. You might have to exclude the actual object from this replace in
case any of that colour is in the object.

hey there..

your photos are fine, all you need is a photo editor like photoshop. 
the background of your image isn't a pure white.  all you need to do
is select the background color and remove it from the photo.  then
when you flatten it, it will have a pure white background.  i took the
image you provided below and did this in like 5 seconds.  you can see
it here....

http://hoshindokarate.com/bag.jpg

you can get fancy and add a drop shadow like in the first bag if you
use the hi rez images - i couldn't do that with the image you posted
because it was low rez and had jagged edges once i removed the
background.  if you find this explaination sufficient, i will gladly
provide detailed information.

hey scomanatl, that is exactly what I was looking for, except I would
like to use jasc paint shop pro, maybe if you could do the same thing
with that and put that as an answer that would be great
thanks

Hi Kriswrite

You need to invest to build a studio.  I used to get a white
background picture by software, and it taked alot of time. You have to
really concentrate on it and get a good result.  That's why i invest a
studio about $400.  Depend on your budget, but $400 is cheapest i can
build. You can get everything from bhphotovideo.com. First get a pure
white #0000 photography paper. get 2 boxes and against it to wall.
Make a L shape. Put the paper on top of the box and against the wall. 
If you have money, you can buy a "shooting table" + a photography
paper. next, you need a lighting system.  I recommend this one.

Lowel Tota-Light B&H Tungsten 2 Light Kit - consists of: 2
Tota-Lights, Umbrellas, Light Stands - NO Bulbs - 1500 Total Watts

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=248530&is=REG

install the umbrella to the light, boxes and paper on middle of light.
Then all set. get a digital camera, don't need so long. Because the
photo size is gonna so large. next you need to get a stand. Get a
software can optimize your picture, corp and resize your picture. If
you have time take a look at zoomify.com. It allow you to make a
zoomable image for free.

The wholes system is recommend by professional photography. You can
buy a studio and give a try. If not satisfy, just return it.

If you have money, you can try the mk digital direct photo box.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=search&Q=

It's good for taking jewerly picture. 

Thanks.  If you need more information, reply it.

Just want to add some information to my previous post.

You don't need high megapixel to take the picture. In your camera, set
the resolution to as low as possible. It also make the dimension of
picture and image size to smaller.  This is important step. Other
setting you can leave it to default. You don't need to use flash mode
when you using the studio that i mentioned on previous post.

Why photography product is so expensive? If the software can do all
the job.  Sometimes you can fix the picture by software.  The handbag
picture you take is very good so it's easier to fix.  I don't believe
the guy above can fix it in 5 secs. You need 1 sec to open the
photoshop. 1 sec open the file. another sec to set the exposure? no
way to do it automatcally. another sec to save the file.  is that
possible? ask yourself.

Answer from a researcher wannabe: The problem you are refering to is
called "masking".

1) Adjust lighting and background for it to be uniform and different
from the subject.
2) For more advanced results than those obtained with just the
standard image editing tools go for software that's made entirely for
this purpose, such as: Procreate Knockout
(http://graphicssoft.about.com/library/products/aapr_knockout.htm)
It installs as a plugin for JASC Paintshop Pro :)
It has special features to deal with furry, blurred or transparant edges as well.
Good luck !