A ghostly standard effect gives a product dimension and shows parts of the product that would otherwise be obscured by a mannequin or model in a single shot.
In short, it’s an easy way to give your eCommerce store a professional touch and make it easier for potential customers to visualize their products.
In this article, I’m going to follow the process of editing your photos in Adobe Photoshop to set the strings, capture the right images, and create the ghost’s standard effect.
At the end of this blog post, you’ll know how to capture photos that look like your clothes are floating on an invisible body.
Step 1: Choose a Putty
The first thing you need to do is prepare your studio for shooting.
First, make sure you have a good quality bead. You can use a model, but a pot will give you the most consistent photos.
Even if you use the same model for all your products, it’s not easy to shoot them in the same position every time.
You also have to remember that for a ghost pot effect you must stitch two shots digitally together.
Start with a penny standing upright.
Mannequins come in all different poses so traditional antique brick-and-mortar stores can blend it in, but when you turn the back of a terracotta outside of its buttocks and twist an arm, your photo looks weird and unnatural.
Also, if your products have sleeves, you’ll need a putty with your arms or you’ll end up with a weird-looking product image. – The torso will have that 3D look but the arms will shake awkwardly.
If you are photographing a shirt or jacket, it helps to have a transparent stand for mounting the axle so that you can see the notch on the rear hem in the first image you take. This will help you align things to Photoshop in the editing phase.
Step 2: Set up your studio
Set up a white backdrop.
This will help ensure that the colors of the clothing are not over-exposed and stay true to the color of each actual product.
The white will reflect the light above your image and keep your camera’s white balance calibration accurate. This makes it much easier to remove the background after Photoshop.
Use a tripod to position your camera in a steady position.
Shoot all your tops at once, then shoot your bottles and finally your ‘full body’ attire to make the process more efficient.
Ideally, you want to position the camera so that the entire frame is filled with white backdrop and product.
Make sure the lighting is light enough to show off your product.
If you are using natural light, check out our post on how to use natural light for product photography for some quick tips. If you are using artificial lighting, review these tips on our blog about building your product photography studio on a budget.
Finally, that mannequin is ready!
Position it at least five feet away from the backdrop so that your final image is very clear and evenly illuminated.
When you put the putty on, make sure you take the time to examine the creases, smudges, and stains.
Although you can always edit it later, it’s easy to keep a wet cloth and iron ready to prevent your problem. Also, keeping an extra pair of hands during the mannequin outfit will help; Adjusting while holding hands and clothes can be a challenge.
Step 3: Take your photo
The first step is simple: take a picture of the front of the dress, with the front of the camera facing the guy
The second step is somewhat intriguing.
Unplug the dress, turn your barn so it faces the camera behind it, and then adjust the standard again – but this time the garment needs to be inside.
The reason you do this is that you can get a clear view of the area of the tag (behind the neck or waist) as well as the bottom of the hem.
The Mannequin Effect of Ghosts – Back and Front
Take this second photo with the same settings as the first and without removing the camera. This is the reason why you should use a tripod and why an older one works better than some models. Here it should take some time to be precise when rotating properly 180 degrees, otherwise, it would be more difficult to sew half of them together
You can follow this same process for any behind-the-scenes look; Just move the sides around.
Take a picture of the front of the panel with the product properly around and the interior of the product thoroughly behind.
You will not need to do this if the back of your product is longer / wider than the front of all the spaces, as there will be no distinction between a product’s back shot and the ghost image on the back of the product.
After taking pictures, we need to edit to hold these parts together.
Step 4: Edit to create a ghostly putty effect
Import your photos into your computer and open Photoshop, then follow these steps:
- Open the ‘front half’ image in Photoshop.
Make sure your ‘Level’ panel is open; You can see that your image creates a locked background layer.
- Unlock the background layer by clicking on the lock next to it.
It will be automatically renamed ‘Level 0’. If you haven’t already, get into the habit of naming your layers while working in Photoshop; This is an extra step but as the levels go up, things get a lot easier.
You can renew the layer by double-clicking on its name (make sure you click the text itself and not the entire box, otherwise, you will open the ‘Layer Style’ window).
Name this layer ‘front’.
- Then right-click the layer and select ‘Duplicate Layer …’
This is a precautionary measure so if you have a mistake, you have a crude version of the original image.
I would suggest giving this layer a “front backup” as it is named.
- Now create a new blank layer and name it ‘Background’.
Use the paint bucket tool to fill the layer with white paint. Now, this layer will be the background of the final image.
- Reorder your layers so that the ‘front’ is at the top, the background is in the middle, and the ‘front backup’ is at the bottom.
You can do this by clicking on them and dragging them up.
- Now. It’s time to remove the background.
Using the Pen Tool will give you the best results, but it doesn’t require a bit of practice to learn how it works.
7.If you are not familiar with this process, check out our blog post on how to remove Photoshop background.
You need to use the pen tool to create a path around the product at your ‘front’ level.
Your. Click ‘Select …’ in your top Photoshop palette and you’ll see ‘marching ants’ around the product.
Ghost Mannequin Effect – Selected Paths
- Go to ‘Select’> ‘Reverse’ at the top of your Photoshop window.
‘marching ants’ will be placed around the background and not the product.
Press ‘Delete’ on the keyboard and your product must be white; The original image is hidden behind the white layer.
This product, however, is a perfect example of when a ghost needs a mannequin effect because Sylhet looks strangely cut on top.
- Open your ‘Back Half’ photo in Photoshop.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 for this image, naming the layers ‘Back’ and ‘Backup Backup’, respectively. You do not need to create any background layers.
- Create a path around the product using the pen tool.
- Click ‘Select …’ to place ‘marching ants’ around the product.
- Press Ctrl + C / Command + C to copy the layer.
- Go back to your ‘front half’ and press Control + V / Command + V to capture the layer. Reorder the hit layers so that ‘Back’ is behind “Front” but the white background is behind both
- After making sure that ‘Back’ is selected, move it around and resize it (press Ctrl + T / Command + to enable the free transform tool) until it has the best position for it.
Sometimes you could fit it perfectly. You can also use the Lasso tool to erase any bits that will not be visible.
After that select the eraser tool and set it to brush mode with an opacity of 25%. In the neck/cuff/hem area, use this tool to blend the front layer backward by gently and softly removing.
Select the brush tool and set it to black (# 000000), with 15% opacity. Use this tool to create a natural-looking shadow in the front and back areas combined. It makes the piece look more realistic and gives it some dimension.
Make sure you don’t overdo it! A few strokes should make a great many of depth.
Ghost mannequin effect with a single top
At last, you’re done. You are now a master of the standard effects of ghosts!
How to make ghost bust for your online store is a great way and we hope this guide has helped you learn the trick.