Glossary
Visual commerce, defined
The vocabulary of product photography and AI imaging, in plain sentences — what each term means, what it gets confused with, and where the technique falls short, because that is the part a reference is actually useful for.
A
- AI fashion modelAI & generation
- An AI fashion model is a photoreal human figure produced by an image-generation model rather than photographed, used to show garments or accessories being worn without casting, booking or photographing a real person.
F
- Flat-lay photographyPhotography
- Flat-lay photography is product photography in which a garment or a set of items is arranged flat on a surface and photographed from directly overhead, producing a clean, straight-on record of the product with no body or form inside it.
G
- Ghost mannequin photographyPhotography
- Ghost mannequin photography is a product photography technique in which a garment is shot on a mannequin or dress form and the mannequin is then removed in post-production, so the clothing keeps its three-dimensional worn shape with empty space where a body would be.
H
- Hero imageEcommerce
- The hero image is a product's lead photograph — the one shown in search results, category grids and at the top of the product page — and in most shopping contexts it is the only image a shopper sees before deciding whether to click.
L
- LookbookEcommerce
- A lookbook is a curated set of images presenting a collection as complete styled outfits rather than as individual products, used to communicate how the pieces are meant to be worn together and what the collection is about.
M
- Mannequin photographyPhotography
- Mannequin photography is product photography in which a garment is dressed on a mannequin or dress form and photographed with the form left visible in the final image, showing the garment's worn shape without using a human model.
- Model releaseApparel & production
- A model release is a signed agreement in which a person permits their likeness to be used in specified ways — defined by media, territory, duration and purpose — giving the brand the right to publish images of them within those limits.
O
- On-model photographyPhotography
- On-model photography is product photography in which a garment or accessory is worn by a person, so the image shows how it fits, drapes and moves on a body rather than only what it looks like as an object.
P
- Packshot photographyPhotography
- A packshot is a plain, tightly framed photograph of a product on its own — typically on a white or neutral background with no set, props or people — whose purpose is to document the item accurately rather than to sell a mood around it.
S
- Size inclusivityEcommerce
- Size inclusivity is the practice of offering apparel across a broad range of body sizes and supporting that range properly — in pattern grading, fit testing, pricing and imagery — rather than simply listing additional sizes on an existing product.
V
- Virtual try-onAI & generation
- Virtual try-on is any technique that renders a garment onto a body in software rather than photographing the two together, so a product can be shown worn without the garment and the person ever being in the same place.
W
- White background photographyPhotography
- White background photography is product photography in which the product sits on a plain white field, either lit to white in the studio or isolated and placed on white afterwards, so that it appears cleanly separated from its surroundings.
How these are written
Each entry explains the industry term rather than our feature — if it cannot be defined without naming TinTin, it belongs on a product page instead. Every entry also carries a section on where the technique goes wrong or is the wrong choice, which is the part a glossary that only flattered the tools we sell would leave out. Product links stay at the bottom of the page, out of the definitions.
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