A picture is worth a thousand words. And on eBay, a picture can make or break a sale and add $$$ to your item.

RED DIAMONTE DESIGNER TOP

It is not as difficult as it seems - you only need a basic photo editor to do it. With this guide you can start with the basics and learn how to get jazzier as you progress.

1 / PREPARING THE GARMENT

You really need a manequin to fully display your garment, but even without one these tips will improve the look of your listing.

IRON IT! This will bring an amazing improvement to most garments. No one likes to look at wrinkles.

A vital tool that every fashion house and clothing retailer uses is... PINS! Simply draw back the garment between the shoulders and at the waist and hips and PIN IT! This improves the look of the garment no end.

2/ TAKING THE PHOTO

Ensure you have good light or a good flash. If you don't have good light, take the garment outside. Make sure the garment is in focus and completely framed. Avoid 'busy' backgrounds.

3/ EDITTING THE PHOTO

Obviously, you could submit this photo as is, but let's make it really special. First, rotate the photo 90 degrees clockwise. Then it is time to get rid of the background. Use the paintbrust (white) or the erase tool to totally cover the background. Use a finer width tool and zoom in to get really close to the garment.

4/ CROP THE PHOTO

Use the 'crop tool' to reduce the excess background and to bring the garment to the edges of the photo. I use and 8x10 guide, just cutting off the neck top and ending just below the garment hem. This leaves a roomy area left and right.

5/ ADD THE FINISH

This is not as hard as it looks! Really! Use the 'eyedropper tool' to 'pick up' the colour of the garment. Then draw a box with the 'mask tool' or 'marquee tool' and 'fill' it using the 'paint bucket tool' or the paintbrush. Copy this on the right side.

With a more expensive photo editor you can also make a very fancy border by using the 'mask tool' to take a sample of a feature of the garment - in this case the diamontes on this top.

Use the 'paste tool' to place the section at the top left. Use the 'transform option' and the 'scale tool' to drag the small section much larger, accentuating the feature so the customer can see it clearly. If needed, you can copy this larger section and paste it as many times as required to build an entire left border. As above, copy, paste and reverse the section to make a right border.

Have fun and experiment with your photo editor. Who knows, soon you could be erasing wrinkles and double chins - just like I do.