Get Started with the Square Photo Studio App
About the Square Photo Studio app
The Square Photo Studio app makes it easy to take professional-looking product photos in just a few simple steps. With your mobile device, you can snap a picture of your menu or retail item, select a photo style and edit the background color. Once finished, you can choose to sell the item online with a payment link or add it to your Square item catalog.
Before you begin
The Square Photo Studio app is free, and doesn’t require any in-app purchases or a website. While a Square Online account isn't required to use the app, you'll be prompted to create a Square account if you want to save photos, sync photos to Square items, or create a Square Payment Link.
For retail businesses, Square Photo Studio is accessible within the Square for Retail POSapp. To use Square Photo Studio with Square for Retail, your team members must have the Grant access to create and edit items permission enabled.
Using the Square Photo Studio app
To get started with the Square Photo Studio app:
- From your Square Photo Studio app, center your item within the camera frame using the stabilizer icon.
- When the indicator turns yellow, tap the shutter button to capture your image.
- Tap Save to keep the photo or Retake to try again.
- Style your image, and choose to either set up a payment link or add it to your Square item catalog.
When taking photos, you’ll get the best results by placing your item in an evenly lit area against a light background. If you plan on photographing many items, consider investing in an inexpensive lightbox. Oftentimes, you can quickly purchase one online.
The Square Photo Studio app instantly removes the background from your pictures to allow for custom background styles. You can choose a preset style and optionally customize the color, or use a transparent background. When editing your photo:
- Tap on a background tile to preview it with your picture, then tap Edit to change the color or scene. Note: The Edit option isn’t available if you select the transparent background tile.
- On the edit screen, choose from our color palette or use the eyedropper to pick a custom color. You can also enter your own hex code for a more precise color selection, or choose from our background scene options.
- When you’ve selected a background, tap Next.
You can create and sell items with your pictures directly from the Square Photo Studio app. Create a payment link for your item, or add it to your Square item catalog to sell online or in-person. To start:
- Shoot and edit your photo from the Square Photo Studio app.
- Tap Sell Now or Add to Square.
- Log in to your Square account or choose the signup option to create a Square account.
- Follow the prompts to finish setting up your payment link or catalog item.
After creating a link, you can edit the item title, price, or image at any time. You can also copy the payment link or embed code to add the payment link to an external website. To do so, go to your Square Payment Links page in your Square Dashboard.
Learn more about getting started with Square Payment Links for more information on payment links.
You can also save your pictures to your phone’s photo album or share them with others. To start:
- From the style screen in the Square Photo Studio app, tap Next > Save to Photos. You may need to allow the app permission to access your photo album.
- Tap Share to open your phone’s share menu and choose one of the options for sharing.
If you don’t have time to prepare and photograph each item on your menu, you can add and customize photos of commonly sold items from our in-app library. To start:
- From your Square Photo Studio app, select Image Library to choose the image that best represents your menu item.
- Select Style to choose a background style, then tap Next.
- Tap Add to Square or Sell now to log in to your existing Square account or create a new one. These images are free to use with your Square item catalog.