← Packshot HQ · Guide · Updated 13 August 2026
If you sell products in Ireland — crafts, cosmetics, food, homeware — you already know the problem: your products deserve better photos than the ones on your site, but a studio shoot means finding a photographer, shipping or driving products over, waiting for the edit, and a bill that starts around €250 and climbs fast per product. Here is an honest breakdown of the ways around that, including the one we sell (we'll be clear about when it is not the right choice).
A foldable light tent, your phone, and a free afternoon. For flat-lay crafts and simple shapes this can be genuinely fine, especially for marketplace listings. The limits show up with reflective products (candles in glass, jewellery, bottles), lifestyle scenes, and consistency across a whole catalogue — every batch tends to look slightly different. If you have more time than budget, start here.
The classic route and still the best one for campaigns where a human eye on the physical product matters — texture-critical products, food styling, model shots. The trade-offs in Ireland are cost per product, scheduling (often 2–6 weeks end to end including edits), and logistics if you're not near Dublin, Cork or Galway. For a 30-product catalogue this route gets expensive quickly.
The newest option, and the one Packshot HQ provides: you send the photos you already have — supplier catalogue shots, decent phone photos — and AI-assisted production turns them into studio-grade images: clean backgrounds, lifestyle scenes, campaign looks. No shipping, no studio day; delivery in 24–48 hours.
Two honest caveats. First, fidelity is everything: generic AI tools happily invent details, which is commercially dangerous — a customer who receives a product that doesn't match the photo returns it. Our whole process is built around fidelity to your real product, and any fidelity miss is corrected free. Second, EU transparency rules (AI Act) mean AI-generated commercial images should be labelled as such — we label every image we deliver. A provider who doesn't mention labelling at all is a red flag.
| DIY light box | Studio / freelancer | AI from your photos | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost to start | €30–150 (kit) | €250–800+ per shoot | €129 pilot (3 images) |
| Turnaround | your own time | 2–6 weeks typical | 24–48 hours |
| Product shipping | no | usually yes | no |
| Lifestyle scenes | hard | excellent | strong |
| Catalogue consistency | weak | good | strong |
| Best for | simple listings, tight budget | texture-critical campaigns, models | catalogues, e-commerce, fast campaigns |
One product and time to spare → light box. A hero campaign where someone must handle the physical product → book a photographer, it's worth it. A catalogue to upgrade, an e-commerce conversion problem, or a deadline this month → try the AI route with one product first and judge with your own eyes.
That last part is exactly what our pilot is for: €129, 3 finished images of one of your products, delivered in 24–48h from the photos you already have. If you move to a monthly plan within 7 days, the €129 comes off your first month.
Try it with your product → or book a free 15-min call.
Packshot HQ · Dublin, Ireland · hola@packshothq.com · Every image we deliver is labelled as AI-generated.