Folksy Guidelines: Use of AI in Product Photography

Photography has always caused a huge headache for small businesses, crafters and artists alike. As more tools become available to help create, edit and improve photography, we understand why the use of AI in product photography can be appealing to makers.

At Folksy, we don’t want to prevent sellers from using new technology where it can be used appropriately to support the admin side of your business.  However, we also want to protect the quality, authenticity and reputation of the Folksy marketplace.  Buyers should be able to browse Folksy and trust that the products they see are real handmade items, made by real people, and that the photography gives them an honest impression of what they will receive. 

Our guidelines are designed to help you understand where AI can be useful and where its use can become misleading or make your product photography feel disconnected from the handmade nature of your work.

The image itself must always be a genuine representation of the handmade item being sold.  AI can be used to improve how that item is presented, but it should not be used to alter, invent or materially misrepresent the item.

The Simple Rule

AI can change the presentation of your product, but it shouldn’t change the product itself.

Your product photography should accurately represent the item a buyer will receive, including its:

• Colour
• Shape and proportions 
• Size and scale
• Texture and finish
• Materials
• Pattern and design
• Handmade details
• Construction and features

AI should also complement your photography rather than replace it.  Your listing must include genuine (not enhanced) photographs of the actual product within your listing as supporting images, if you are choosing an AI enhanced representation for the lead image. 

What can you use AI for? 

AI can be used for relatively minor editing and enhancement where the product itself remains unchanged.

This can include: 

• Removing or replacing a distracting background
• Extending a background
• Removing unwanted objects from the background
• Improving lighting or exposure
• Correcting shadows or reflections
• Improving image resolution
• Correcting colour where the correcting better reflects the real product
• Cropping or reframing an image
• Making other minor technical improvements that don’t change the appearance of the product itself

For example: 

Good use: You photograph your handmade mug in your unstaged kitchen and use AI to remove the kitchen background and replace it with a simple neutral backdrop. 

The mug itself hasn’t changed. Only the way it’s presented.

Use AI generated backgrounds and props with care

AI can also be used to create lifestyle imagery around a genuine product. However, this is where you need to take particular care.

AI-generated:

• Rooms and interiors
• Outdoor settings
• Props
• People or models
• Hands holding or using a product

can all, if not used with care, be used to create an impression of the product that isn’t realistic.

If you use AI to create a lifestyle image, make sure the product remains an accurate representation of the real item. The image shouldn’t make it appear a different colour, size, shape, material or quality.

For example: 

Good use: You photograph your handmade vase and use AI to place the actual vase into a realistic living room setting to show how it might look in a home.

Use with care: AI generates a person wearing your hand knitted jumper. Check carefully that it hasn’t distorted the pattern and the scale and proportions remain accurate.

Not acceptable: When making the edits, AI changes your quilted throw to appear smoother and more mass-produced than the actual product.

Importantly, AI should not make handmade products look manufactured

One of the things that makes handmade products special is their individuality.  Small variations, textures and imperfections can be part of what makes an item feel handmade. 

It is core to our values that AI shouldn’t be used to remove or to disguise those characteristics in a way that makes a handmade product appear mass-producted or artificially perfect.

For example, AI shouldn’t be used to: 

• Smooth away genuine handmade texture
• Remove natural variations in a handmade surface
• Make a hand-built item perfectly symmetrical when it isn’t
• Alter handmade patterns or details
• Make materials appear different from how they really look
• Add details, finishes or features that aren’t present on the actual product

The aim isn’t for every Folksy photograph to look like a professional studio shot.  It’s more important that it looks and feels genuine. 

What isn’t allowed? 

AI shouldn’t be used to create product imagery that could mislead a buyer about what they are purchasing. This includes: 

• Creating an image of a product that doesn’t actually exist
• Creating a product image and then making an item based on that image
• Substantially changing a real product using AI
• Changing the colour, shape, size, proportions or materials of a product
• Adding features or details that do not exist
• Removing significant handmade characteristics
• Making a product appear substantially more polished, finished or manufactured than the real item
• Using AI generated imagery as the only representation of a product on the listing page

For example: 

Not acceptable: AI changes the scale of a painting so it’s impossible for a buyer to accurately work out how big or small it actually is.

Not acceptable: All leading and supporting imagery to be AI generated with no ‘real’ product photographs to support the listing.

Not acceptable: A real photograph of handmade knitwear where the the pattern, stitching or construction is altered or ‘hallucinated’ when the image has been enhanced by AI.

Not acceptable: A real photograph of a white handmade mug is placed into an AI-generated setting and the mug becomes pink.

Your main product image

Your main product image is your primary piece of product marketing.  It’s the first thing a customer will see of your creation, and it’s what will catch their eye and encourage them to click through to the full listing. It should give buyers an honest and immediate impression of the actual product they are purchasing.  

Where AI has been used, make sure the resulting image hasn’t changed the product itself.

We also recommend including additional, unedited photographs of the actual product within your listing, particularly where AI has been used to create a lifestyle setting or significantly altered the background.

These images shouldn’t be confusing to the buyer.  The ‘real’ images and the images that have been enhanced using AI should be consistent. The worst case scenario would be where a buyer feels that the supporting images are conflicting and make them feel that the seller is trying to mislead them, or the products are not authentically handmade. 

Disclosure statement

If AI has been used to materially enhance or create the setting of a product image, we ask sellers to be transparent about this. 

Please include the following statement in your product description: 

The first image has been digitally enhanced using AI. The product shown is the actual item available to purchase and can be seen in supporting imagery.

Please tailor this message to reflect the images that are affected. For example ‘The first, second and fifth image have been digitally enhanced using AI’. 

This helps buyers understand what they are looking at, and reinforces the distinction between the real product and any AI enhanced surroundings or edits.

Minor technical edits such as basic exposure correction, cropping or background removal do not require disclosure.

Why does this matter? 

Folksy is a marketplace built around independent makers and genuinely handmade products.  We want the photography across Folksy to reflect that.

We don’t expect every seller to have access to professional equipment, a studio or a professional photographer. Equally we don’t want to be anti-development, especially when these tools can help support our sellers. AI and other editing tools can help level the playing field and make better product photography more accessible. 

But good product photography shouldn’t look artificial. 

We want Folksy to remain a place where buyers can see real products, made by real people and feel confident that what they see is what they will receive.

More recently, we’ve had customers contact us directly to question the authenticity of some products on Folksy because of AI-generated or heavily AI-enhanced imagery. This is a genuine concern: when AI is used poorly, it can make a handmade product look artificial, mass-produced or simply different from the item a buyer will receive.

This doesn’t just affect the reputation of Folksy as a marketplace; it can also affect individual sellers. If a buyer doesn’t trust what they are seeing, they may be less likely to purchase. Using AI well isn’t just about protecting the quality of Folksy’s marketplace – it’s about helping you present your products in a way that builds confidence and ultimately supports sales.

If you’re unsure where an AI edit is appropriate, ask yourself: 

‘Has AI changed the product, or has it simply changed how the product is presented?’

If it has changed the product in any way, do not use the image.

And always, always, always include an unedited photograph of the actual products so that buyers can see the real item. 

Let’s see some visuals

Need professional help with your photography?

AI isn’t a substitute for good photography, and there are plenty of ways to improve your product images without using AI.

The gold standard will always be working with a photographer who understands how to photograph handmade products. Earlier this year, photographer Diana Stainton collaborated with Folksy on a series of photography guides with practical advice for photographing your work.

You can also find photography support and other recommended suppliers through our Trusted Supplier Directory.