Adidas Product Photo Editing Case Study
Updated on October 30, 2023 in Photo Editing by Nishant Shrimali
“Impossible Is Nothing”
That is what Adidas says, and this is what it follows. Over the years, we all have had a love-hate relationship with this brand.
But let’s be honest, we all look forward to their new products again and again. So as an enthusiast, I also scrapped through the Adidas store and wrote down Adidas product photo editing best practices.
Cause that’s where our expertise stands.
In this article, I am sharing every little detail about the Adidas product photo editing that you can follow. But just as a heads up. Product photo editing is all about making your products stand out in your own style.
With that being said, let’s get started with this in-depth Adidas product photo editing case study, and image managment for their products.
Adidas product photo editing breakdown
To make this easy, the article is divided into two main sections.
- Product photo editing specifications
- Number of image in each category of product
Product Photo Editing Specifciations
Adidas product photography successfully showcases different sides of the product to their customers. I’ll try to break down various parts of Adidas product photo editing and learn about their style guide.
Let’s jump right into it.
Footwear Products Images
If you look at the Adidas footwear image editing, you will find that the product looks sharp, clean, and precise from each side. The details are visible, with sufficient light on the product.
You will also see that there are no irregularities such as threads, bumps, or dust. All this is done using basic retouching tools and adjusting the image settings.
The background color of Adidas product images is #EDEFF0. A light grey tone that works well with every color, without distracting the customer from the product.
In addition to all this, the product itself is placed at the center with a margin of 12% from the right and left sides. Along with all this, you can also see the use of the original shadow that makes the image look more natural without any disruption.
At a glance, here are the Adidas product photo editing specifications of the shoes and footwear –
- Background Color – #EDEFF0
- Crop Ratio – 1×1
- Margin – 12% from left and right
- Original Shadow
- Color Correction
- Basic Retouching (for dust & scratches)
- Image Type – Web Optimized
Clothing Image Editing – Tops
To stay consistent, Adidas follows the same grey tone (#EDEFF0) in the model image editing as well. In the Adidas model images of the top, the model is cropped right above the knees with a 4% margin from the top.
You will also find that the precise cutout is created and hair refining is done to make the model image seem natural. Models can also be found “in action” to showcase the product in use. In case of any hard creases, or wrinkles, the team gets rid of them using de-wrinkling services.
Here you’ll also find images with the ghost mannequin photography, flaunting just the product. Ghost mannequin photo editing service helps is clearly defining the product without any model. Adidas uses both a model photo editing service and a ghost mannequin photo editing service to showcase the products.
Here, the general Adidas product photo editing specifications are: –
- Background Color – #EDEFF0
- Crop Ratio – 1×1
- Margin – 4% from the top
- Cut out and Hair refining
- Basic Retouching
- Color Correction
- Image Type – Web Optimized
- De-wrinkling (if required)
- Ghost Mannequin (for t-shirt image)
Clothing Image Editing – Bottoms
The Adidas product photo editing for bottoms has just a slight change. Here the background stays the same (#EDEFF0) and so does the cropping.
But the 4% margin is set below. You’ll also see that these images also use the shadow adding service. To be honest, these aren’t the best shadows that I have ever come across. They grab unnecessary attention and distract from the actual product. Which clearly is a red flag in customer experience.
But if that works for Adidas and their customers – Great!
For the bottoms, here are the Adidas product image editing specifications –
- Background Color – #EDEFF0
- Crop Ratio – 1×1
- Margin – 4% from the bottom
- Original Shadow
- Basic Retouching
- Color Correction
- Image Type – Web Optimized
- De-wrinkling (if required)
- Ghost Mannequin (for the leggings above in the image)
Full Model Image Editing
In full model image editing, all the specifications from the clothing (tops and bottoms) merge. The background is grey (#EDEFF0), and the model is placed right in the center.
You can also see that there is a 4% margin that is left between the top and the bottom. Again, the shadow is very distinct and distracting, but it is the creative freedom to choose anything for your products. At PixelPhant, experts suggest more natural shadows as shown in the following image 👇.
In Adidas product photography model is usually in action and gives detailed information about the product.
The specification of Adidas product photo editing for full model images are as follows-
- Background Color – #EDEFF0
- Crop Ratio – 1×1
- Margin – 4% from top & bottom
- Original Shadow
- Color Correction
- Basic Retouching
- Image Type – Web Optimized
- De-wrinkling (if required)
Accessories Image Editing
This is the final category of image editing specification for Adidas. All the products are precisely cut. The background still stays the same and gives consistency in all the product images, which is great.
The products are centered and the margins are fixed at 12% from left and right.
Other than this shadow still seems a little odd as it is not natural nor is it artificial. The specifications are as follows.
- Background Color – #EDEFF0
- Crop Ratio – 1×1
- Margin – 12% from left & right
- Original Shadow
- Color Correction
- Basic Retouching (for dust & scratches)
- Image Type – Web Optimized
Number Of Image In Each Category Of Product
Now that you know about the Adidas product photo editing specifications, let’s understand the number of images Adidas uses per product.
Adidas ensures that as a customer, you can learn everything about the product just by looking at the images. They do this by providing a sufficient number of images as per the type of product.
Footwear
Almost 40% of footwear on the site of Adidas has eight images. This includes the front, side, top and zoom-in shoot of the shoe. along with this you’ll also find the image where pair of the shoes are captured together, the neck of the shoe and a model wearing the shoe.
Eight images are an efficient number of images per product. But depending on the style, and the design, Adidas has also shared 14 images for almost 4% of their product.
Tops
Around 67.7% of the Adidas tops have six images per product. In this section of products, you will also see a wide variety of product photo editing. Along with model photography, you’ll find invisible mannequin image editing and flat lay photography as well.
This mix of styles helps you achieve the true purpose of product photography and image editing. A customer can easily learn about the product, as well as how will it look on them when they wear it.
Bottoms
When it comes to bottoms, 51.9% of Adidas products have six images. These products again follow a similar trend. That is, showcasing the product from all sides, along with the flat lay or a ghost mannequin image.
Here you will also find some models performing squats, jumping rope, or running. This showcases the product in the act and delivers much more information on how the product is useful for the customer.
Accessories
These are small products, and rarely have any difference in design from the different sides. For example gloves, headbands, socks, etc. In this category, 38.5% of products have four images.
Considering the type of products, this is a very efficient number as it shows everything and saves time for the customers as well.
Take-Aways
Before I end this breakdown, it’ll be great if we sum up our learning from this Adidas product photo editing case study.
- Use an efficient number of images per product to show it from all sides and actions.
- Having a light tone grey color makes the product much easy to read and engage.
- Model and mannequin image work amazing together.
- Showcasing details of the product is very important.
With that said, I believe that the shadows still have a huge scope for improvement. The goal of product image editing is to draw attention to the product. And if the shadow is irregular or unnatural, it can hurt customer experience a lot.
With that, I would be thrilled, to sum up this article on a good note. All the product images, logo, and tag line used above belong to Adidas Group and we have used them only for educational purposes.
If you are looking for a product image editing service yourself, get in touch with PixelPhant. PixelPhant is a leading product image editing service helping eCommerce brands scale their customer experience with enhanced product image post-production services. Get a free trial now 👇.