How do I turn a flat lay into a model photo?
This is the everyday version of the question: you have a phone photo of a garment lying flat on a table, and the listing needs someone wearing it. Below is what to photograph, which kind of tool to use, what to check before you publish, and what it costs per image.
Quick answer
Lay the garment out flat with both sleeves open and the hem straight, photograph it from directly above in even daylight, then upload that photo to a clothing-specific AI tool and pick a model. Check the print alignment and the hem length against your original before you publish.
What makes a flat lay good enough to work from?
The whole garment has to be visible: both sleeves open, the hem straight, the collar sitting the way it sits, nothing folded under itself. Shoot from directly above so the shape is not skewed by the angle, on a plain surface, in daylight or under even indoor light. Sharpness matters more than resolution, so a phone photo taken on a table by a window beats a soft studio shot every time. Avoid a warm bulb: colour is read out of your photo, so a yellow cast in the input becomes a yellow cast on the model, and that is the kind of difference a buyer measures against the parcel when it arrives. If a piece has an unusual cut, an asymmetric hem or a wrap front, lay it out so the cut is obvious rather than letting it collapse into a rectangle.
Which setting should I use?
Use the mode meant for putting a garment on a model rather than a general image generator. A clothing-specific tool is instructed to preserve the cut, print and colour of the piece you uploaded and to generate only the person and the room around it. A general generator will happily redraw the garment into something that looks similar but is not what you are selling, and a listing photo that is merely similar to the product is the definition of a return. The second decision is the model. Save one and reuse it, because a shop page where every item is worn by the same person reads as a label rather than a pile of unrelated uploads.
| What you start with | What to ask for |
|---|---|
| Flat lay of the whole garment | On-model photo, model facing camera |
| Flat lay plus a plain-background need | On-model photo and a white-background version from the same upload |
| Several styles in one drop | The same saved model and setting on every one |
| A piece that sells on texture | The on-model shot plus a close-up of the fabric |
What should I check before publishing?
Compare the output against your original photo, in this order: print alignment across seams, hem and sleeve length, neckline shape, then colour. Those four are what cause returns when they drift, and they are quick to check side by side at full size. If one of them is wrong, regenerate that single image rather than the whole set. Then check two things that have nothing to do with the image itself: your marketplace’s current policy on AI-generated imagery, because the rules differ by platform and keep changing, and the image size that platform expects. Etsy asks for at least 2000 pixels on both sides; eBay wants at least 500 by 500 and recommends around 1600.
How much does it cost per photo?
With pay-per-image pricing you are charged for each generated image, priced by the model and the resolution you pick, and told the cost before you confirm. There is no shoot to book and no minimum batch, so a single new arrival can be photographed and listed on its own rather than waiting until enough items pile up to justify a session. Failed generations are refunded automatically, which matters more than it sounds: the real cost of a tool like this is the retries, not the first attempt.
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