So, you've chosen the product photo(s) for your ad, you've cropped the image effectively, and you've created a tag line for your shop.
Today's lesson: Add some text.
Let's use this example photo from my friend Di of Auntie Di's De-Lites Etsy shop:
I chose this photo for several reasons. First, the earrings are simply beautiful. Secondly, I like the strong contrast between the product and the background. Thirdly, this photo has lots of white space that I can use for the text of the ad.
Now, while this crop is perfect for the shop photo, I think I'll try cropping it a bit differently for an ad. Why? Because there is white space in two different spots (lower left and upper right), and the viewer might be confused about where to focus his/her attention.
Let's see . . . how about this?
I like this crop because it's a bit closer and we can see more details of the earrings. However, now there's not much room for the text of the ad. Let's try again.
Ahhh . . . now we're getting somewhere! You might be saying to yourself, "Julie has surely lost her marbles! Why in the world did she crop off half of the right earring?"
First of all, because I can see the hooks of both earrings, I know that these are indeed earrings. And what pair of earrings has one earring different from the other? They're always the same, right?
Because of this, I felt comfortable cropping half of the right earring off. My eye knows that both earrings are the same, and now I can see the left earring much more clearly.
Secondly, now I have plenty of room in the lower left corner to add my text. Let's try that now.
Oooo! This is looking pretty good! Notice that I left-justified the text, not centered it. It's a much cleaner look, I think. You can even right-justify the text if you prefer.
Here's another example of a product photo from the Tizzalicious Etsy shop:
This image is definitely "ad-friendly" because it already has some nice white space in the lower right corner. Remember that white space doesn't have to be white; it just needs to be simple, uncluttered space.
Stay tuned for part 4 of this tutorial, in which I'll explain what to do if the product photo that you picked for your ad doesn't have any white space.
Until then,
Other parts in this tutorial series:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5
