As a cable manufacturer, we’ve often faced a key question: should we present our products on the website using real photographs or go with 3D visualizations? Both approaches offer unique benefits and limitations, and the right choice depends on the objective, budget, and expectations of the audience.

The traditional route: product photography

Our first attempt at showcasing cables online — back in the early 2000s — relied on photographs. And to be honest… it was a beautiful disaster. The results are still visible on our old website.

Back then, in the early days of the internet, using cut-out images with artificial shadows seemed acceptable. But looking back, these weren’t professional product shots — and we suspect some might not even have been digital. It’s quite possible they were paper prints, scanned in after being developed.

Real photos

Photography remains the most natural and trustworthy way to present physical products. A well-executed photo:

• Builds credibility
• Highlights real textures and materials
• Can show the product in use
• And often reflects the professionalism (and budget) behind the brand

How to photograph electrical cables?

Exactly — that’s the challenge! Taking appealing photos of cables involves organizing a full shoot: lighting, logistics, and not least, cost. It’s a relatively inflexible process, especially when product designs or concepts change. And to be honest — cables aren’t the most photogenic of subjects. They’re long (sometimes measured in kilometers), yet their diameter is just a few millimeters. So how do you compose a shot that shows fine construction details while keeping the image visually attractive?

Macro shot of a processed cable end?

That’s a smart way to reveal the internal structure of a cable — but it’s far from simple. You’ll run into a few practical challenges:

• Tripod and cable mounting – To take a sharp photo with the shallow depth of field that macro lenses require, you need a quality tripod and a clever way to secure the cable in place while framing the shot.
• Copper looks great… but – It’s tricky in photography. You must carefully control lighting and reflections in the copper. To give mirrored highlights some depth, you’ll need dark (but not black) areas around the set.
• Shadows or no shadows? – A shadow-free light tent and a proper photo background may be necessary. In short: a fully equipped photo studio.
• Traces of processing – To show the cable’s core, you need to strip both the sheath and insulation. But stripping tools often leave marks where they grip and peel the material. In a macro photo, even the smallest imperfections become visible.
• Precision cutting – Tools must be calibrated to score the insulation without damaging copper strands or inner wires. The rest is done by pulling and tearing the cut section — PVC at the edge becomes slightly whitish, which also shows up in close-ups.
• Wire or strand ends – These have to be cut too, but even the sharpest tool will slightly flatten or dent copper. A solid core gets “pinched”, and stranded wire ends are compressed.
• “Broom effect” – When you remove insulation from flexible class 5 stranded wires, the twisted strands can unravel. The wire’s twist helps it stay flexible and maintain shape — but once insulation is off, the end tends to fray. Fun fact: in our manufacturing process, we don’t remove insulation entirely — we just loosen it for easier stripping before tinning or crimping later.

Cable sale photos

Despite our preference for 3D visualizations, we still occasionally shoot real photos. Most recently, during our 2025 cable clearance, we wanted customers to see what our “shelf stock” actually looked like. I took the photos myself — and while they may not be studio-grade, they captured an honest and authentic look, thanks to the effort of many great people (whom I sincerely thank!). We had to pull coils and reels from storage, cut samples, take them to production, and process them for the shoot. It took some work — but the result did exactly what it was supposed to. (Maybe there’s still something for you in that offer!)

See how a professional photographer handles an audio cable product shoot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgTSF5v8z4U

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Another route: 3D Visualizations

As I’ve mentioned before — we prefer visualizations. When I was first tasked with creating illustrations for our product catalog, I wanted to show the internal structure of our cables in a way that simply couldn’t be achieved with photography. I used Blender to render the visuals. Maybe in a future post, I’ll share a bit more about my workflow and behind-the-scenes process.

3D renderings give you nearly unlimited freedom to craft the perfect image. They’re especially useful when:

• You want to show the inside or a cross-section of a product,
• You need perfect lighting and background every time,
• Consistency is key — for example, when presenting many different cables laid out in exactly the same way,
• The product doesn’t physically exist yet, or you don’t have samples on hand.

When done well, a 3D visualization can look even more appealing than a photo. Of course, there’s a risk that an image that looks too perfect may feel less authentic — but in our case, it’s not a concern. We don’t pretend these are photos.

Back in 2016, I even proposed adding a fake “cutter mark” on the exposed end of a wire to make it more realistic. But that idea didn’t make it into the first edition of the catalog. Since then, we’ve stayed consistent with a clean and stylized visual approach — both in the catalog and on the website.

What do you, our clients, prefer?

In practice, we use both methods — combining realistic 3D renderings with real product photos and sometimes technical drawings. But I’d really like to know:

Would you rather see polished visualizations like these, or should we invest in a professional photo shoot — like the one shown in the video above? Vote in our Facebook poll and let us know!