Articles on: eCommerce

How to Create Flat Lay Images on Caimera

A flat lay is a product shot with no model and no mannequin — the garment or product photographed as if laid flat, on a clean background.

In Caimera there are three ways to get one, depending on what you are starting from.

Not sure which you need? Start from a product photo → use Ghost Mannequin / Flat Lay. Start from a sketch → use Sketch to Image. Want a styled, props-and-surface flat lay for marketing → use Still Life Images.

Route 1: From a product photo — Ghost Mannequin / Flat Lay Tool

This is the main flat lay tool. It takes a photo of your product — shot on a mannequin, on a model, or already laid flat — and rebuilds it as a professionally shot, clean studio flatlay.

Step 1: Open Ghost Mannequin / Flat Lay from the Home page, or find it in the sidebar under eCommerce.

$Step 1: Open\u00A0Ghost Mannequin / Flat Lay (Extract Product Tool)$

Step 2: Upload your garment images in bulk or one at a time. You can upload and convert up to 100 images at once, with a minimum resolution of 768 px.

You’ll find the Upload Product section on the left-hand panel, while the History section on the right-hand panel shows your generations and their queue status.

Step 2: Upload your garment images

Step 3: Set the output style with the toggle in the editor:

Ghost Mannequin (default) — the garment holds its 3D shape, as if worn by an invisible body.
Flat Lay — the garment is presented flat.

$Step 3:\u00A0Set the output style$

Step 4: Click Generate. Each image costs 2 credits.

You can select which product you want to extract from your garment by simply describing it in the Product to Extract section. This step is especially important when you’re working with on-model shots, as it helps ensure Caimera extracts the correct product from the image.

💡Pro tip: You can use both on-model images and flat-lay images taken with your iPhone, and convert them into clean, professional studio-style flat lays. Watch this quick tutorial to see how easy it is to turn an on-model image into a professional full-shot or flat-lay product image.

$Step 4:\u00A0Click\u00A0Generate$

Step 5: Review the results in the preview panel, then download.

Output matches your input aspect ratio, so tall garments are no longer squashed into a square.
Seams, topstitching, logos, hardware and prints are preserved faithfully from the source photo.

Step 5: Review the results in History Panel

Step 5.1: Download Image

Tidying up your input first

If your source photo needs framing, click the circular edit icon on the uploaded image to crop, zoom (up to 3x) or rotate (-180° to +180°) before generating. This works from the full-resolution source, so you lose no quality.

Edit icon for Input

Input Edit Settings: Zoom in, Zoom out, Rotate (-180° to +180°)

Route 2: From a sketch — Sketch to Image

If the product does not exist as a photo yet, you can go straight from a sketch to a flat lay.

Step 1: Open Sketch to Image from the Caimera homepage, navigate to Sketch to Image. You’ll see the upload panel, similar to the one in the Extract Product tool.

$Step 1: Open\u00A0Sketch to Image$

Step 2: Upload your sketches in bulk or one at a time. You can upload up to 100 images at once, with a minimum resolution of 768 px. Supported formats include PNG, JPEG, WebP, HEIC, PDF, AI, SVG, and DXF.

Step 2: Upload your sketches

Step 3: Select your desired output style and toggle it to Flat Lay.

Step 3: Select your output style as Flat Lay

Step 4: Choose your model quality (Pro for quick iterations, Max for production) and click Generate.

Dropping in a multi-page PDF gives you one sketch card per page, up to 20 pages. Each page is billed as a separate generation.

Step 4: Choose your model quality

Route 3: Styled flat lays for marketing — Still Life Images

Ghost Mannequin / Flat Lay gives you a clean, e-commerce-ready product asset.

For a styled flat lay — with the product arranged on a surface with props, shadows, and a specific mood — use Still Life Images from the Marketing section of the Caimera homepage instead.

Still Life Images on Caimera Homepage

You can choose from our ready-made Still Life templates to create polished product stills, or navigate to the Editorial Tool and use Direct with Moodboard Reference to guide the look. You can also chat with the Creative Agent to create a more customized and creative flat-lay scene.

You can also search for flat lay using the tag section.

Templates by flat lay search

Which route for which job

Starting point	Use	Output
Product photo (mannequin, model or flat)	Ghost Mannequin / Flat Lay	Clean PDP-ready flat lay or ghost mannequin
Sketch or CAD file	Sketch to Image → Flat Lay output style	Rendered flat lay from a drawing
A finished product you want styled	Still Life Images	Styled marketing flat lay with props and surface

🧤 How to Use the Extract Product Tool to Create Ghost Mannequin / Flat Lay Shots in Caimera: Learn how to extract products and turn garment images into clean Ghost Mannequin or Flat Lay shots.

✏️ How to Use the Sketch to Image Tool: Learn how to turn sketches into polished, high-quality product images with Caimera.

📁 Guide to Sketch-to-Image File Formats: Choosing the Right Output: Learn which file formats you can upload to Sketch to Image and how to choose the right format for your workflow.

🎨 How to Use Editorial Templates on Caimera: Learn how to use ready-made Editorial Templates to quickly create polished and consistent visuals.

Have a question or running into an issue? Reach us via the chat bubble or at contact@caimera.ai.

Updated on: 11/09/2026

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