Background Remover
The background cut-out
The Background Remover separates the garment from the studio backdrop and the floor. You take the form itself out first, with Remove Object in the image editor.
Open the tool Ghost mannequin
Ghost mannequin photos for clothing brands
Photograph the garment on a mannequin, then remove the mannequin from the picture. The garment keeps its worn shape and sits on clean white, ready for a product page.
Start freeThe ghost mannequin technique
A ghost mannequin photo shows a garment holding its worn shape. No model, no hanger and no mannequin appears in the frame. You photograph the item on a mannequin or a dress form. You then take the visible parts of the form out with Remove Object in the DesignerBox image editor. The Background Remover drops the studio backdrop and the floor, so the garment sits on plain white. There is no one-click ghost mannequin button in DesignerBox.
Parts of a ghost mannequin image
The four things that make the worn shape look real.
Clean cut-out on white
Remove Object takes the visible parts of the form out of the photo. The Background Remover then drops the studio backdrop, so the garment sits on plain white.
Open neck and inner collar
The neck decides whether the effect works. A second photo of the inside back of the collar fills the opening.
Even light across the set
Spotlight Relight applies one lighting treatment, so a whole drop reads as a single shoot rather than a pile of separate photos.
True garment colour
Colour is the claim a shopper can return. Compare the cut-out against the real garment before you publish it.
Tools behind each step
Each card opens the app that does that part of the job.
Spotlight Relight
Even light across a set
Spotlight Relight applies one lighting treatment to every garment, so a row of thumbnails matches instead of drifting from shot to shot.
Open the tool
Photo Angles
Extra views of the garment
Photo Angles builds the side and back views a shopper wants, from the photo you already have.
Open the tool
Flat Lay Studio
The flat lay alternative
Flat Lay Studio arranges a garment flat on a surface. Use it for items that hold no shape on a form, such as scarves and socks.
Open the toolSteps for a ghost mannequin image
Two photographs, then two passes in the image editor.
1
The shot on the form
Dress the garment on a mannequin or a dress form. Pin the back so the front hangs the way it does on a person.
2
The inside collar shot
Photograph the inside back of the collar on its own, in the same light. You need this second image to close the neck later.
3
The cut-out
Run Remove Object on the visible parts of the form. Then send the photo to the Background Remover to drop the backdrop and the floor.
4
The finish
Place the collar image behind the neck opening in the design editor. Even the light with Spotlight Relight. Then check the colour.
One garment first
Cut out a single garment and check the neck at full zoom before you process a whole drop.
The hard parts of the cut-out
The neck is the part that fails. On a form, the mannequin sits behind the collar. Taking the form out leaves an empty gap there. The inside of the garment should show instead. The fix is a second photograph of the inside back of the collar, taken in the same light. Place that image behind the neck opening in the design editor. The garment then reads as worn rather than as a flat shape with a hole in it.
Colour is where a cut-out goes wrong most often. Deep black, grey marl and any fabric with a sheen shift the most. The cut removes the surroundings that told your eye what the light was. Check the finished file beside the real garment in daylight, not beside the original photo. A shopper who receives a different shade returns the parcel. That cost sits with you rather than with the software.
A drop is judged as a set. Twelve garments cut out on twelve slightly different whites look worse than twelve plain photographs on one background. A shopper sees the difference across a category page before reading any single image. Settle the background, the crop and the lighting once. Save the sequence as a workflow. Then run every new garment through the same steps in the same order.
Craft details for apparel cut-outs
Six checks that separate a clean cut-out from a pasted one.
The neck opening
The inside back of the collar has to come from a second photograph. Without it the neck reads as a hole rather than as a shape.
Colour through the cut-out
A cut-out can shift a shade. Hold the finished file beside the real garment in daylight before you publish it.
Shadow and contact
The hanger shadow and the floor shadow go with the backdrop. Decide whether the garment floats on white or keeps a soft contact shadow. Keep that choice for the whole set.
Edges on knit and lace
Loose knit, fur and lace have soft edges. Check them at full zoom, because a hard edge makes the garment look pasted onto the background.
One background per drop
Every thumbnail in a category should sit on the same white and the same crop. The garment on a slightly different white is the one a shopper notices.
Size for zoom
Product pages let a shopper zoom, so the file has to be large. Upscale at the end, once the cut-out and the neck are final.
Tools in this workflow
Each one handles a part of an apparel image set.
Background remover
The tool that separates the garment from the studio backdrop and the floor.
Spotlight relight
One lighting treatment across a set, so every garment thumbnail matches.
Design editor
Layers and precise placement, for putting the collar image behind the neck opening.
Virtual try-on
The on-model version of the same garment, for pages that need a person in the picture.
Image upscale
A larger file for product-page zoom, run as the last step on a finished image.
Workflows
Save the sequence once, then run every garment in a drop through it.
Questions about ghost mannequin photos
What apparel sellers ask before they shoot a drop.
What is a ghost mannequin photo?
A ghost mannequin photo shows a garment with its worn shape intact and nothing holding it. No model, no hanger and no mannequin appears in the frame. The garment is photographed on a mannequin or a dress form, and the form is then removed from the picture. Retailers use the format for main product images because it shows fit and cut without a person.
Does DesignerBox have a one-click ghost mannequin button?
No. Ghost mannequin is a technique, not a single feature. You photograph the garment on a form. You take the visible parts of the form out with Remove Object in the image editor. The Background Remover then drops the studio backdrop and the floor. Spotlight Relight evens the lighting across a set. The design editor places the inside-collar image behind the neck. Save those steps as a workflow and the next garment takes far less work.
Do I still need a mannequin to shoot the garment?
Yes. The worn shape in the final image comes from a real garment on a real form. The software takes the form out of the photograph. It does not invent how the item hangs. A dress form, a torso mannequin, or a person removed later all work. The garment has to sit the way it would on a body.
Why do I need a photo of the inside collar?
Because the mannequin sits behind the collar in the main shot. When the form is removed, the neck becomes an empty gap instead of the inside of the garment. A separate photograph of the inside back of the collar, taken in the same light, fills that gap. Place it behind the neck opening in the design editor and the shape closes.
How do I keep the garment colour correct?
Photograph on a neutral background and keep one light setup for the whole set. After the cut-out, compare the file against the real garment in daylight rather than against the original photo. Deep black, grey marl and shiny fabrics shift the most. Correcting a shade before you publish costs far less than a return from a shopper who expected another colour.
How do I keep a whole drop consistent?
Decide the background, the crop ratio and the lighting once, then apply the same three to every garment. Save the sequence as a workflow so each new item goes through the same steps in the same order. Consistency across a category page matters more than any single image, because a shopper reads the grid before reading one photograph.
Clothing photos with no mannequin in view
Shoot one garment on a form, remove the form, and check the neck at full zoom.
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