How to prepare lighting images for rendering

Updated October 11, 2026

What to upload

For a fixture, an image of the fixture itself, in the Product photo slot. In Studio it replaces a light fitting found in the room, built from your image.

A bulb is different: no image is sent. It goes into the fitting already there, which keeps its shape, and changes the light. A product is treated as a bulb when its name or category says so, with words like bulb, filament, A19, GU10 or E26.

The thumbnail and lifestyle slots are optional. Studio renders a piece from a lifestyle image first and a thumbnail next, ahead of the main image, so leave them empty unless they show the whole piece clearly.

The ideal fixture image

The whole fixture, its shade and its finish, nothing else.

The whole fixture in frame, canopy and chain included for a pendant.
A plain, light background.
Even light, so the metal finish and the shade's color read true.
The fixture alone: no room, no other lamps.
True color, with no filter or edit.

Do this: Ideal
The whole fixture, plain background, even light.
Avoid: Cropped
A missing base or shade has to be guessed.
Avoid: Already in a room
Other lamps and furniture compete with it.
Avoid: Dark or uneven light
The finish reads darker than it is.
Avoid: Too small in the frame
The detail of the shade is lost.

Illustrations: the same product each time, with one thing changed.

Measurements

Light is measured in kelvin, entered under Color temperature, and it is what renders light the room with.

Whole numbers from 1000 to 10000. One number for a fixed white; two for a tunable range.
Anything filed under Lighting needs one, a fixture as well as a bulb: it is the light the room is shown in. A lamp filed under Furniture can go without, and is then shown switched off.
Renders use the middle of the range unless someone picks a value. With no range at all, light is drawn at 3000K, warm white.
Candlelight is under 2000K, warm white 2000–3000K, neutral 3100–4500K, daylight 4600–6500K.
The product form has no size boxes for lighting. If your CSV carries width_inches, height_inches and depth_inches, a fixture's render uses them.

Where it goes

Fixtures, bulbs and lamps each go somewhere different.

Studio's light fittings take products filed under Lighting only: a fixture replaces the fitting, and a bulb changes its light.
A lamp filed under Furniture is placed like furniture, and still gives off light when it has a color temperature.

Before you save

Check each product:

Fixtures: the whole fixture, on a plain background, on its own.
Bulbs: named as bulbs.
Color temperature entered: one number, or a range.
Lifestyle and thumbnail slots empty, unless they show the whole fixture.
JPEG, PNG or WebP, 4.5 MB or less.

Create your workspace, then choose a plan to render a few of your fixtures before you prepare the rest.

Get started