Ghost Mannequin Services for Apparel Brands

What ghost mannequin work covers

A ghost mannequin image usually combines two or more photos of the same garment, so the mannequin disappears and the inside of the garment shows where it should. Work on a job can include:

• Mannequin removal: taking out the form, the stand and any pins or clips, with clean edges along the garment.
• Neck joins: adding the inside back of the collar from a second photo, so the garment looks hollow. This is also called a neck joint.
• Openings: showing the inside of sleeves, hems and waistbands where they'd be visible.
• Shape: evening out shoulders, sides and hems, without changing the garment's fit.
• Fabric: creases, lint, loose threads and marks left by the shoot.
• Color: matching the garment to the real fabric or a color sample.
• Consistency: the same background, crop and position across a collection.

What to shoot

With ghost mannequin photography, the shoot decides how clean the result can be, because the photos have to line up when they're combined. It usually helps to:

• Use a mannequin that fits the garment, since gaps and pulling are hard to fix later.
• Keep the camera and lights in the same place for every photo of a garment.
• Shoot the front and the back, then the inside of the neck and any other opening that will show.
• Steam the garment and pin it so it sits the way it should.
• Keep the physical garment, or shoot a color target, for matching color.

What files to send a retoucher covers formats and extra frames, and how to keep product color consistent covers color on set.

Getting a collection ready for your store

Online stores and marketplaces each have their own rules for image size, background and crop. Send us those specifications with your brief, along with an approved image if you have one, so the whole collection can be matched to it.

Editorial, campaign and e-commerce retouching explains how this work differs from campaign images, and commercial retouching covers the rest of a brand's product and campaign images.

AI tools or a retoucher

AI tools can now make ghost mannequin images quickly, and for simple garments that may be enough. They're most likely to go wrong on anything they have to guess, such as the inside of a collar, a label, a seam or the exact color of the fabric. AI photo retouching vs human retouchers has a practical way to decide which images need a person.