---
title: "Product photography brief template: one page, filled in"
canonical: https://withicarus.com/blog/product-photography-brief-template
site: Icarus
description: "A one-page product photography brief template with a filled example: goal, product, scene, mood, where it runs and shot count, for a photographer or AI."
---

# Product photography brief template: one page, filled in

A one-page product photography brief template with a filled example: goal, product, scene, mood, where it runs and shot count, for a photographer or AI.

_October 24, 2026. Written with AI from the sources listed below, and checked automatically before it went live._

![Small business owner holding up a cream speckled ceramic mug to check its glaze](https://icarus.b-cdn.net/blog/product-photography-brief-template/owner-holding-speckled-mug.png)

_Made with Icarus_

A product photography brief template is one page with six lines: the goal, the product, the scene, the mood, where the photos will run, and how many you need. Fill those in plainly and a photographer or an AI can get the shoot right the first time.

This post gives you the blank template, a filled example for a ceramic mug, the size rules that depend on where the photos run, and how to use the same page in the Icarus chat.

**Key takeaways**

- A good brief fits on one page and answers six questions.
- Write the brief in plain words, the way you'd brief a person. Use the same words for an AI.
- Where the photos run sets the size, the shape and what you can't put on them.
- Count your shots by channel before you start, so nothing is missing at the end.

## What goes in a product photography brief?

A brief exists so nobody has to guess. Every line you leave blank gets filled by someone else's taste, and that's how a shoot comes back wrong.

These six lines cover it:

1. **Goal.** What the photos have to do. Launch a product, refresh a listing, fill a month of social posts.
2. **Product.** What it is, its colour and finish, and which details buyers check. A logo, a seam, a label.
3. **Scene.** Where the product sits or who holds it. A kitchen table, a hand, a plain white backdrop.
4. **Mood.** The light and the feeling. Soft morning light reads calm. Hard sun reads bold.
5. **Where it runs.** A good brief says [what the images will be used for](https://www.holabrief.com/creative-brief/photography-template), because a product page, a feed post and a story each want a different shape.
6. **How many.** A number for each place the photos run.

Two extra lines save a lot of reshoots: **must have** (the handle faces right, the label is readable) and **avoid** (no props that compete with the product, no text on the image). If you have a photo you love, add it as a reference. One good example says more than a paragraph of adjectives.

## The blank template to copy

Copy this into a doc or a note. Keep each answer to one or two sentences. If a line runs longer, you're probably describing two shoots.

**Brand:** who you are, in one line.

**Goal:** what these photos have to do.

**Product:** name, colour, material, finish, and the detail that must stay exact.

**Scene:** the setting, the surface, the props, and whether a person is in frame.

**Mood:** the light, the time of day, the feeling.

**Where it runs:** each place, with its shape (square, vertical, wide).

**How many:** a count for each place.

**Must have:** the things that make a shot usable.

**Avoid:** the things that make a shot unusable.

**Reference:** a photo or two you'd be happy to see again.

That's the whole page. It works for a studio photographer, a friend with a good camera, or an AI tool, because all three need the same answers.

## A filled example for a ceramic mug

Here's the template filled in for a small ceramics brand launching a new mug.

![Cream speckled stoneware mug on an oak table with a linen napkin and coffee beans in soft window light](https://icarus.b-cdn.net/blog/product-photography-brief-template/speckled-mug-oak-table-window.png)

_Made with Icarus_

**Brand:** handmade stoneware for slow mornings.

**Goal:** launch the new speckled mug on our store and on social in the same week.

**Product:** a cream stoneware mug with brown speckles, a matte glaze and an unglazed foot. The speckles and the matte finish must look the same as the real mug.

**Scene:** an oak table by a window, one linen napkin, a few coffee beans. For two shots, a woman's hands holding the mug.

**Mood:** quiet morning. Soft side light from the left, warm but not orange.

**Where it runs:** product page (square), main listing photo on a white background (square), Instagram feed (square), Instagram stories (vertical).

**How many:** one white-background hero, four table scenes, two close-ups of the glaze, two vertical stories. Nine in all.

**Must have:** handle facing right in the hero, steam in one story shot.

**Avoid:** text, logos or price stickers on any image. No shiny surfaces that make the glaze look glossy.

Notice what it doesn't say. No lens, no f-stop, no lighting diagram. Plain words about what you want to see are enough, for a person and for an AI.

## Where the photos run decides size and rules

The "where it runs" line does more work than it looks. Each place has its own sizes and rules, and a brief that names them saves you cropping and redoing shots later.

![Cream speckled stoneware mug with its handle facing right on a plain white background](https://icarus.b-cdn.net/blog/product-photography-brief-template/speckled-mug-white-background.png)

_Made with Icarus_

| Where it runs | What to know | Size |
| --- | --- | ---: |
| Google Shopping | Recommended size | 1500 x 1500 px or above |
| Google Shopping | No promotional elements, watermarks or stamps | |
| Shopify | Best for square product images | 2048 x 2048 px |
| Shopify | Largest image | 5000 x 5000 px |
| Shopify | File size | under 20 MB |

Source: [Google Merchant Center](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324350), [Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/product-media/product-media-types)

Two more lines are worth copying into your brief. Shopify advises [one consistent aspect ratio](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/product-media/product-media-types) for all your main images, so a collection page lines up. And Google says [images made with generative AI must carry metadata](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324350) marking them as AI-generated. If you use AI photos for Shopping ads, check the file before you upload it.

Google also lists [stock photo watermarks, copyright symbols and graphic stamps](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324350) as overlays to avoid. That's why the example brief says "no text" in the avoid line. Put your sale message in the ad copy, not on the product photo.

To check a finished photo's size, file type and background, drop it into the [product image requirements checker](https://withicarus.com/tools/marketplace-image-requirements). Rules change, so read the platform's own page before a big upload.

## How the brief becomes an Icarus request

Icarus is built to be briefed like a creative team, in plain words, so you don't have to rewrite the page as a prompt.

![Woman's hands holding a steaming cream ceramic mug at a wooden table in morning light](https://icarus.b-cdn.net/blog/product-photography-brief-template/hands-holding-steaming-mug.png)

_Made with Icarus_

1. Open the Icarus chat and add one clear photo of your product, from one angle. If a person's face is in the shot, add one sharp, front-facing headshot.
2. Paste your brief and tell it what you need, the same way you'd hand the page to a photographer.
3. Pick **Ask first** if you want it to check with you before it makes anything. Pick **Auto** and it gets on with the work.
4. Look at the shots full screen. To change one, draw on the part you want changed and send it back with a note.

Product pinning keeps the mug's real colour and detail in every image. When a model's face is in frame, face locking keeps the same face across the set. If the brand has one look you use again and again, save the scene as a [studio](https://withicarus.com/features/brand-studios) once: the light, the background and the mood. Then every product you shoot after lands in the same scene.

If you'd rather write a single shot yourself, one line of the brief becomes a prompt like this:

> A cream stoneware mug with brown speckles and a matte glaze on an oak table by a window, a linen napkin and a few coffee beans beside it, soft side light from the left, quiet morning mood

Try this prompt in Icarus: https://withicarus.com/dashboard?prompt=A%20cream%20stoneware%20mug%20with%20brown%20speckles%20and%20a%20matte%20glaze%20on%20an%20oak%20table%20by%20a%20window%2C%20a%20linen%20napkin%20and%20a%20few%20coffee%20beans%20beside%20it%2C%20soft%20side%20light%20from%20the%20left%2C%20quiet%20morning%20mood

You see each shot's price before you make it. On the AI Icarus starts you on, an image at 2K costs $0.05 when it holds a saved product, so the nine shots in the example brief at $0.05 come to $0.45. Every price is on the [pricing page](https://withicarus.com/pricing).

## Check the brief before you send it

Read the page once more before it goes to anyone. These checks catch most of the reshoots:

- [ ] The goal fits in one sentence
- [ ] The product line names the detail that must stay exact
- [ ] The scene says whether a person is in frame
- [ ] The mood names the light, not just a feeling
- [ ] Every place it runs has a shape next to it
- [ ] Every place it runs has a shot count
- [ ] The avoid line covers text, stickers and watermarks
- [ ] You've added one reference photo you like

When the shots come back, hold them against the brief line by line, then against the real product. Check the colour, the logo and any fine print before you publish, the same way you would after a studio shoot.

Keep the filled brief. The next launch only needs a new product line and new counts, and the rest of the page stays the same.

## Questions

### What should a product photography brief include?

The goal, the product and its key details, the scene, the mood and light, where the photos will run, and how many you need for each place. Add a must-have line, an avoid line and one reference photo if you have one.

### How long should a photo brief be?

One page. If a section runs past two sentences, you're probably describing two different shoots, so split them into two briefs.

### Can I use the same brief for a photographer and an AI tool?

Yes. Both need the same answers in plain words. With Icarus you paste the brief into the chat, add one photo of your product, and tell it what you need.

### Do I need technical camera terms in a brief?

No. Describe what you want to see: the setting, the light, the feeling and the details that must stay exact. A photographer turns that into camera settings, and an AI works from plain words.

### How many product photos should I ask for?

Count by place, not in total. Write how many you need for the product page, the main listing photo, the feed and stories, then add them up so nothing is missing when the shoot comes back.

## Sources

- [Google Merchant Center image requirements](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324350)
- [Shopify Help Center: product media](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/product-media/product-media-types)
- [Photography Brief | Guide + Template](https://www.holabrief.com/creative-brief/photography-template)

---

Site: Icarus (https://withicarus.com)
Canonical: https://withicarus.com/blog/product-photography-brief-template
Contact: tanmay@hooked.design