There is a huge difference between a photo of a real item that was retouched using a certain software and a 3D rendered image of an item. I do agree that if the photograph of an item is posted as is without any retouching might cause some unfair prejudice to the seller; simply because photos of jewelry that are used online are larger than the real size of the item. Therefore, any minute imperfections that cannot be seen with the naked eye (and that are very acceptable quality wise) are blown and they increase the item imperfection dramatically. Also, jewelry is the most difficult to photograph because of metal/stones reflection so unwanted shadows or reflections are prone to appear on a photo. Therefore, retouching is a must to remove such impurities that are not native to the item itself.
So I am for a retouching of an item to certain extents but not to the point of totally covering imperfections 100% because this will be misleading to the client. You noticed that some sites display parts of the item in a magnified manner (like when you use a loupe) when you hover over the item. Needless to say that this feature is useless if the item is totally cleared from imperfections. In my opinion, the photo of the item should be retouched in a way that it preserves the look of the real item yet removing any imperfections that are not seen under the naked eye.
What I am totally against is to use 3D rendered images of the item. Why? because a 3D rendered image display the item in perfect conditions and that cannot be achieved in the real world. There are no perfect and void of any imperfections jewelry items, whether done by us or by any other well known brand name. Take a loupe and you will see what I mean. If you pay attention, you will notice that well recognized brands always display retouched high quality photos of their jewelry and never a 3D rendered image.
Want to verify if what I am saying is correct or not? Buy a jewelry item from a site that displayed perfect 3D rendered jewelry and when you receive your item, check it with a loupe to see the grand canyon :-). Then go to the site, use their magnifying feature to see a close up of the 3D rendered image and you will not see a micro hole there. It is even more scary is that all the gemstones/diamonds on the 3D rendered images are not real! It is impossible for a computer to generated the real correct color of a colored stone for example. So what you are buying is not what you are getting.
Don't be fooled, when buying jewelry online make sure you are getting the item you see online and as close as possible to the real deal. Get what you paid for!
 |
A raw photograph of a ring that is to be retouched
using imaging software. Photo courtesy of http://www.tesori.no
|
 |
A perfectly retouched photograph of real rings.
Notice that how natural the rings are and that you
still can see some native impurities on the gold
that are not visible with the naked eye.
You will get what you see when you buy these.
Photo courtesy of http://www.tesori.no
|
 |
A 3D rendered image of a ring.
Notice how perfect the metal is
and how flawless the gemstone is!
You will not get this ring how
you see it on the screen.
Photo courtesy of whoever wants to scam you.
|
