How to Get Awesome Product Images When Dropshipping?

I can remember the day as if it were yesterday—that moment you get awesome product images for your dropshipping store.

It feels so good not to have boring pictures from your supplier, and it sells a lot better!

Think about it—your customers can’t touch, feel, or try out your products, so what do they rely on?

Pictures.

However, most dropshipping stores use product images that everyone is using.

So, the best way to beat your competition is to have unique pictures.

In this guide, I’ll show you eight different ways how to get awesome product images for your dropshipping store.

Let's start!

8 Methods to get dropshipping product images (Beginner to Pro)

Here are eight methods to get awesome product images for your dropshipping store, sorted from the most beginner-friendly to professional approaches:

1. Use the images from your dropshipping supplier

The easiest way to get product images when you start dropshipping is to use the ones your supplier provides.

Most dropshipping suppliers will give you images for each product:

This is perfect for beginners because it’s quick, simple, and doesn’t cost you anything extra.

But, unfortunately, your competitors will have the exact same images as well.

To still make the most out of these images, you can follow these tips:

• Pick the best ones. Choose the highest-quality images. Avoid blurry or low-resolution photos.
• Add your own style. Even if you’re using the same images as others, you can make your store look unique with good product descriptions, branding, and store design.
• Watch for watermarks. Some suppliers put their own logos or watermarks on images. This doesn’t look professional, so avoid using these or edit them out (more on this later).

This way, you will have more chance of beating your dropshipping competition!

2. Ask your dropshipping supplier for exclusive images

If you want to make your store stand out a bit more, a great option is to ask your supplier for exclusive images.

You could do this right from the start, but I prefer waiting till I start getting sales so that the supplier knows I'm a serious customer!

Let your supplier know that exclusive images can help you sell more products, which is a win-win for both.

Just don't expect that every supplier will have exclusive images, but it's worth asking!

Often, if you can prove that you're making a lot of sales, suppliers would love to keep you happy by doing something extra.

3. Edit the images from your supplier

If your supplier's images are good but not quite perfect, you can always edit them to make them look better and fit your brand.

This is a simple way to add your own touch without needing to take new pictures.

Editing the background

Many images from dropshipping suppliers only feature the product with a white or boring background.

So, it's time to remove the background of the image and add a better background.

Canva is my favorite tool for this:

Here is a great example of how it works.

The image below is just normal and has a plain white background.

Meanwhile, this one has a more relevant background (and some more editing skills though), but it's still the same image as above:

Which one do you think your new customers are going to love more? Which one do you think they are more likely to buy?

The first one, which is just normal looking, or the second one, where you can see that someone really put time into it to make the image look great?

I don't think I need to say the answer, but it is indeed the second one!

One note is that for some products, where there are many details on the product itself or where aesthetics are important, it can still be great to include a white background photo.

For example, with jewelry:

Adding your own headlines

The CJdropshipping product from earlier had some good-looking lifestyle images.

But where it goes downhill is the cheap-looking headings in the image:

It's low resolution, the text wrapping is unusual, and the text isn't even straight!

It immediately looks like a cheap item from China, right?

That's where changing these headings can make a huge difference.

Some editing work with Canva, and voila!

Removing your supplier's logo

If you want to take the product images from your supplier, it might happen that your supplier watermarked these images.

There are two ways you can handle this.

One is to copy the image and remove the watermark yourself with a tool like Canva or Photoshop.

Just note that while it's really easy, it might also get you in trouble if the image is copyrighted! 

The second one is to ask the supplier for images without a logo or any watermark. This way you're also certain that you got permission to use the images on your dropshipping store.

It looks really unprofessional if you see something like Jingqian123 in the right corner. Or that it shows a logo on your product image, but that logo isn't yours.

Be careful with product images that show faces. It's not always certain that these people gave permission to be shown in these pictures. The same goes for just copying pictures from your supplier; make sure you're allowed to do that. Better safe than sorry later!

For more information about how to avoid getting sued when dropshipping, check out these six great tips.

Plus, check out this article about the topic: Is dropshipping legal?

4. Edit your supplier's images using AI and 3D rendering

To take your product images to the next level, you can use AI, 3D mockups, and rendering.

These tools can transform basic supplier images into something that looks modern, professional, and unique, without needing expensive equipment or photography skills.

There are many AI-based tools that can automatically adjust things like brightness, color balance, and sharpness, making your product look more polished.

Some AI tools can even remove unwanted objects, fix imperfections in the photo, and change the background for you.

For example, a tool you can check out is Pebblely:

There are also AI tools that allow you to add 3D props to your images, like Flair.ai:

If you sell fashion items, you can even look at a tool like OnModel. This Shopify app uses AI to transform your existing photos into unique images:

You can:

• Swap out the models in your clothing images (For example, according to your target market.)
• Put your t-shirt design on an AI-made model (No more costly photoshoots!)
• Change photo backgrounds
• Add faces to cropped images.

A great alternative to OnModel is Botika.

It takes your current on-model photos and turns them into an unlimited selection of professional product images:

5. Ask your happy customers for product images

One of the best ways to make your store more trustworthy is to ask your happy customers for product images.

People love to see how a product works or looks when used by someone just like them:

A way to do this is to give your first customers a really big discount or just give it for free.

Just let them know that they need to send a picture with them and the product if they love it!

This way can, however, be easily abused by the customer. They might just take the discount or free product and not give anything in return, like a picture!

So, an easy way to fix that is to give them a big discount or a free product after they submit a picture.

6. Use influencers to take pictures for you

This option is great for getting awesome product images for your dropshipping store.

It's really simple.

But before I start, I suggest you read this article here if you're not familiar with influencer marketing.

This method involves asking an Instagram Influencer to take a picture with your product that they can then later post on their Instagram page:

Don't forget to ask them if it's okay for you to reuse the picture in your own store (or for your Social Media channels). This way you have a great Instagram shoutout and a unique product image!

Another thing to remember is that some Instagram Influencers only want free stuff.

That means sometimes you don't even have to pay for a shoutout. Just let them keep the product. (You can learn more about this here.)

If you want to get some inspiration right now, check out these 10 Instagram shoutout examples.

7. Take your own dropshipping product images

If you are up for a little DIY, you can take your own dropshipping product images.

I suggest you only use this option when you know the product is selling.

Before that, you don't know if you can sell it at a profit!

The good news is that you don’t need to be a professional photographer or have expensive equipment to get great results.

To start you’ll need to order the product you’re selling (if you haven't already).

You can then create a basic setup at home with just a few items:

• Camera. Today’s smartphones have great cameras that can take high-quality photos, so you don’t need to buy an expensive DSLR.
• A clean background. A plain white or neutral background works best for product images. You can buy an inexpensive photography backdrop online.
• Lighting. Lighting is key! It's a great idea to buy a lightbox, which gives soft light sources and avoids harsh shadows:

Once you’ve taken your photos, you can use Canva or the AI tools mentioned earlier to give them a polished look!

A great bonus is that you can even make your own videos for your ads. Now you can be as creative as you want to get new people buying your product(s).

8. Hire a photo studio to take your product images

If you want truly professional product photos but don’t have the time or skills to take them yourself, another great option is to hire a photo studio or freelancer.

This will allow you to get really amazing-looking product images like these:

There are plenty of talented photographers and studios that specialize in product photography, and many of them are affordable.

You can find freelancers on platforms like Upwork or Fiverr.

If you prefer working with a photography studio instead, remember you don't necessarily need to use expensive ones from the US or UK.

There are actually many photography studios in countries like Vietnam, the Philippines, or India that offer high-quality work at much lower rates. This is a great way to get professional photos for dropshipping on a budget!

3 Tips for the product images on your dropshipping store

Here are three more tips for the product images on your dropshipping store:

1. Use pictures from your customers as reviews

Of course, I understand if you don't want to use pictures of random people with your product as product images.

So, a great way to still have that connection with your customers and show new customers that other people love your products is to enable picture reviews. (More information about that here.)

For example, look at the picture reviews from Notebook Therapy:

Doesn't that look awesome?

It tells possible new customers that a lot of people liked their products.

If you use Shopify a great option is the Shopify App Loox. This app allows your customers to submit reviews with pictures like in the example above!

2. Sell in your product images

Did you know that most visitors to your store never scroll past the top of your page?

So, in this case, your product images need to sell everything for you.

That's why your product images should clearly show the important benefits of the product.

If you look at successful ecommerce stores, you'll notice that many of them create their product images like this:

Visitors should understand what makes your product great just by looking at the pictures.

You can include text overlays that explain features, show comparison charts, or how-to-use visuals.

These are all things that can improve your conversions.

Check out this article for more tips on how to increase the conversion rate of your store!

Disclaimer: If you’re selling items like fashion or home decor, where the visual appeal is everything, avoid cluttering your images with text or infographics. In these cases, the beauty and style of the product speak for themselves.

3. Optimize for mobile viewing

Did you know that 77% of ecommerce traffic is from mobile?

That’s why it’s crucial to optimize your product images for mobile viewing.

If your images don’t look good or load quickly on mobile devices, you could be missing out on a lot of potential sales.

So don’t forget to check how your images look and perform on mobile—it could make all the difference!

Conclusion

So there you have it—every possible way to get amazing product images for dropshipping!

Many people are dropshipping or are on their way to starting a dropshipping store.

Unique product images are a great way to stand out from the crowd.

I hope my tips will help you to get these awesome product images!

If you have any other ways you get product images for your dropshipping store, please don't hesitate to comment below!

Want to learn more about dropshipping?

Ready to move your dropshipping store to the next level? Check out the articles below:

• 8 Product Description Examples for Ecommerce (+ 5 Tips)
• Unique Dropshipping Store: 11 Amazing Tips to Create One
• 18 Winning Dropshipping Product Examples in 2025 (Inspiration)

Plus, don’t forget to check out our in-depth guide on how to start dropshipping here!