Clean up what is around the product

A loose cable, a label on the tabletop, or the edge of a prop can distract from a good photo. Lightbox’s retouching tool helps remove those small distractions.

Make a local edit

The workflow is to mark the unwanted area, review the replacement, and keep or undo the edit. Work in small sections so it is easier to see what the tool changed. On a Mac or iPad, the brush’s size shows under the pointer, or under a hovering Apple Pencil, before you start a stroke.

Retouching and background removal solve different problems. Retouching can keep a useful setting while removing one object. Background removal replaces the entire area around the subject.

Preserve the item’s condition

For a product listing, the edited image should still represent the item you are selling. Keep scratches, worn fabric, cracks, missing pieces, and other condition details visible. Photograph them clearly in a separate detail image when necessary.

Removing dust from a background is different from hiding damage on the product. If something looks wrong because the item needs cleaning or straightening, fix it before taking another photo when possible.

Check the repaired area

Look for repeated texture, bent lines, unexpected shadows, and edges that no longer meet. Zoom out as well as in. A patch can look convincing close up and still disrupt the lighting of the wider image.

Be cautious around product labels and patterned materials. A retouching tool can replace small marks with plausible-looking details that were never there. A better source photo may be more reliable than a complex repair.

Part of the editor

Join the TestFlight beta to try retouching on your own product photos.

For a practical sequence, start with iPhone product photography, then prepare the crop and image size. Lightbox keeps the unedited original, so you can check every change.