Cover photos for Wine labels Question

[Connie]

I have a question about making cover photos for wine labels. The label size says 3.5"x4", and that's the size that is shown for the flat image, but on the bottle, it is clearly much taller proportionally than wide. So should I make the cover photos the same proportions as the listed size, or the same proportion that Zazzle shows on the bottle?

[idraw]

@Connie 
I would go with the listed size, 'because when a customer purchases, there should be no discrepancy that they can, after purchase,perceive as not being true to what they thought they bought. Of course, that's before they drink the wine, then that's a different story. Hiccup.

[KeegansCreation]

This post got me wondering since I have routinely taken the Zazzle mockup at face value and just cut it out and stood it on a different table for the cover photo. So I went to Photoshop and made a 3.5 x 4 inch Photoshop file for a test label. Below is my test label. So I think the mockup is correct however counter-intuitive that may seem. I think there are 2 factors at play here:

1. A difference of .5 inches feels small but as a subset  of 4 inches it is a decently large visual difference. You can see this as soon as you make a file that is 3.5 inches wide x 4 inches tall. It looks much taller than you'd think from just a difference of .5 inches off square.
2. The mockup exaggerates the actual difference because the width of the label curves around the mockup, making it seem visually narrower than it is.
   

[Connie]

I don't understand. How are you getting your label to be that long? Here is what I tried in Photoshop- the red rectangle is 3.5 x 4. There's quite a bit of the mockup label left over at the top and bottom. Of course I can stretch it to make it fit, but what happens when I make cover photos using other images of wine bottles? Do I keep the 3.5x4 proportion, or do I stretch it to approximate the ones Zazzle uses?

[KeegansCreation]

This image with the red 3.5 in x 4 in rectangle superimposed on the mockup does not take into account the curvature of the bottle. This will make the label seem shorter than it actually is. I made a 3.5 in x 4 in rectangle in Photoshop. For the upper bottle, I brought the rectangle into the design tool and let Zazzle's mockup curve it around the bottle. For the lower bottle, I brought the mockup into Photoshop and put the same rectangle in the layer above it. It's the same rectangle and the same bottle mockup in both cases but when I brought the mockup into Photoshop and put the rectangle in a layer above, it looks too short. I would indeed have to stretch it and also warp it a little to account for the curvature of the bottle.

[Connie]

@KeegansCreationThank you for this demonstration. I understand what you mean by the curvature, and it is technically correct. But my question is, when making my own mockups on my own wine bottle images, do I stretch them to look as long as these, or do I take that 3.5x4 image, and merely warp it to follow the curves, without lengthening it? It's a lot easier to just take the correct size and warp it, without worrying about whether it's long enough to compensate for the curve of the bottle. I could have gotten all mine done already!

And also, I see a lot of wine label mockups on Etsy, but they are usually the wrong size. But if I have to lengthen them to mimic Zazzle's mockups anyway, I might as well use the Etsy mockups that LOOK the same as Zazzle's, even though they are technically the wrong size.

[KeegansCreation]

I would use Photoshop's new cylinder warp. Edit>Transform>Warp>Custom>Cylinder. I tried it on the mockup Zazzle provides and it looks just like the Zazzle mockup when made to conform to the curves of the bottle.

[Connie]

Unfortunately, CS5 doesn't have that. I don't have the subscription model.