Mike4144

I want to sell several pieces of large furniture on sights like eBay, I noticed that a total white background is often used on the “better” online web sights to display the sale items. What is the easiest way to achieve the white background with larger pieces of furniture (where background white sheets cannot be used. Is it all done in editing programs? What ideas can you suggest?

Ron Dial Loc: Cuenca, Ecuador

It has usually been done with a large roll of white paper and two stands. But with good editing skills to cut out the background in post, then it is just inserting a white background.

Mike4144

The furniture is rather large to sit on paper background and the setup space is limited to a basement. Can the background be achieved with just editing? Any inexpensive editing programs?

djtravels Loc: Georgia boy now

Take a good, high contrast photo of your items and use any layers capable photoshop program. Photoshop Elements will do. djt

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Tough problem. That is what a real photo studio is needed for. Some are large enough to drive a vehicle in to for being photographed against a blank white, black or other desired
background. These days some studios go Green-screen or Blue-screen for really advanced effects. But this is obviously not what you are looking to do.

If you want to try getting to a white back ground via software like Photoshop, this is how I might try it. If you can only light up the furniture in an otherwise darkened room so from the camera the background goes nearly black. Then with and using ACR or Full Ps increase the contrast, make the shadows darker and / or blacks deeper so the background goes to black. Then selecting the blank black space around the furniture, select invert so the black becomes white. When setting up the shot avoid bright objects in the background. This is an outline with many steps with much more needed details.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

If you are taking the pictures against a blank wall (even if you have to move some items), pain the wall white or lime green (you can substitute your preferred shade of white for the green).

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

The white background, as you have noticed, will show off your furniture best. but trying to do what you are aiming for without a white paper roll background will be an exercise in futility. It's not just the background that needs to be white. You'll need to place the furniture on white as well, have nice large softboxes or umbrellas or diffused led lighting to ensure good brightness and not too much contrast. You'll need to "anchor" your furniture pieces by allowing some very light shadows to fall on the white paper, otherwise the furniture will appear to be floating. You'll need to light the background as well as your furniture. Achieving a good balance between the background and the furniture will take some doing, but eventually you'll get the right combination. Be sure to use flags or grids on the background lights to avoid any light spilling onto the furniture. And you'll need to get some distance between the furniture and the background.

The easiest, and likely cheapest route for you is to rent space in a commercial studio that is set up to do automotive or furniture photography and bring your furniture there. Trying to do this on a shoestring budget in tight quarters with inadequate lighting is not going to get you the results you are looking for.

CPR Loc: Nature Coast of Florida

If you hang a white background just behind the edges of the furniture then you can easily cut and paste into a full white, or any other color or scene, background you want. You could even have a couple folks stand behind the piece holding a white sheet.

jbmauser Loc: Roanoke, VA

A lot of eBay sellers user a this program to cut out item and put it on a white background. https://www.photoscissors.com/

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

The results are very "photoshopped" and hardly very professional. But some may find it acceptable.

bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

put a sheet behind the items, then it makes the editing a bit easier.