Creative use of Car Pics.

[ChrisR]

Dear Auto website vendors and marketplaces, 640x480? WTF!

View attachment 7630

Have you seen the graphic for Product Detail Page lengths for items such as a TV, and automotive, Best Buy vs a standard dealer site?

It is incredible the amount of data that is published for a relatively minor large purchase, and bereft of extensive data for such a major purchase.

 

[vitas]

iPhone 14 display has a resolution of 1170px × 2532px. By now, people are used to using the pinch gesture to zoom in and out. In order to properly examine a used car photo, the photo should be at least 2.5x resolution of the screen to allow zooming in without losing details. Also, may sites block or interfere with the natural zooming UEX. Viewing car photos on a site should be no different than viewing photos in a standard photo app on a phone. There's no need to reinvent this experience.

 

[ryan.leslie]

It is incredible the amount of data that is published for a relatively minor large purchase, and bereft of extensive data for such a major purchase.

Why do you think that is Chris? I don't want to derail the thread, but I'm genuinely curious about your opinion. I'd guess a combination of the following:

• The data doesn't reliably exist, and absolutely isn't attributable to a single source
• Someone decided it didn't pass Uncle Joe's DISC test to curate and publish it... "give them just enough to get them in"
• The uniqueness of used doesn't allow for comprehensive side by side comparison
• The VDP is still best described as a digitized window label, not an experience
• Electronics, washer/dryers,etc purchases are data and price based decisions; auto is data, price, plus emotion

 

[Alex Snyder]

Why do you think that is Chris? I don't want to derail the thread, but I'm genuinely curious about your opinion. I'd guess a combination of the following:

• The data doesn't reliably exist, and absolutely isn't attributable to a single source
• Someone decided it didn't pass Uncle Joe's DISC test to curate and publish it... "give them just enough to get them in"
• The uniqueness of used doesn't allow for comprehensive side by side comparison
• The VDP is still best described as a digitized window label, not an experience
• Electronics, washer/dryers,etc purchases are data and price based decisions; auto is data, price, plus emotion

• websites that perform an actual transaction require greater investment

 

[Will G.]

Anyone want to assist me with an experiment?

I currently have some time off while I am interviewing and just enjoying my (forced) break before getting back to work. I would like to do an experiment with some photos of vehicles. I have a lot of experience editing in lightroom (basically photoshop but for bulk processing vs PS individual photo processing) and am trying to put together a preset that 1) increases the appeal of pictures of a vehicle and 2) can be done quickly / efficiently so that it doesn't take 20+ mins per car and therefore isn't worth the time / effort.

Basically looking for someone to volunteer their photos of their vehicles before they get decompressed by whatever IMS, web provider, etc, otherwise I would just grab them off the internet.

I have been working on something similar.

 

[AutoAlex]

I have been working on something similar.

Awesome pics Will! Do you have a portfolio website? What camera do you use? I have had success with a Canon 70D, not the latest and greatest anymore but has gotten the job done!

 

[Will G.]

Awesome pics Will! Do you have a portfolio website? What camera do you use? I have had success with a Canon 70D, not the latest and greatest anymore but has gotten the job done!

Those were taken on a Nikon Z5. I don't have a portfolio website yet. More examples on my IG

https://www.instagram.com/willennial_com/

 

[joe.pistell]

Another DealerRefresh 1st...
Do the pre-recon shots sell more cars?

Pre-recon are the cell phone lot shots, quick, non-professional (example)


Compared to the stores front line photo process:


Solution?

Give your New Arrivals extra attention!​

1 -- Have your photographer take high-quality photos — more is better.
2 -- Don’t photo dirty cars. Period.
3 -- Annotate NEW ARRIVAL on the footer.



Prepared by AutoMagic Labs · TurnSignal ·
The stats: Jul 1–28, 2026, Reymore GA4 (ASC events) —
--141 fully photographed units: 8.5 median VDP views/day in their first 30 days, 53 leads (forms + calls) ·
--49 photo-pending units: 0.3–1.0 views/day, 0 leads, 14 with zero shopper activity ·
--Average wait for full photos: 15 days ·
Sources: reymore.com inventory feed & 16-month archive · Tiles: reymore.com, Jul 29 2026

 

[craigh]

Sources: reymore.com inventory feed & 16-month archive · Tiles: reymore.com, Jul 29 2026

I love what you're doing and I want to know if the design matters.
The fonts and styles you have on the text are straight out of the 90s when everyone learned about "outer stroke" in Photoshop, with some Drop Shadow to boot. I'd be interested to see if a better design with identical content helped moved the needle.

Here is Gemini's first attempt - I asked for a "2026 style overlay"

 

[joe.pistell]

I'd be interested to see if a better design with identical content helped moved the needle.

Function versus style.
Many people believe that white space and style drive the function. Style is fungible, style is like fashion, it's A/B testable. The function is the innovation, the style is like paint on a car.


Google "Change Overlay to 'geo-cities' formatting". lol