BrandStills sale post images
How do I make a sale or discount post look good?
A sale post looks good when it is a strong product photo carrying one short, high-contrast line of text, such as the discount and nothing else. Start from your best product image, leave real empty space for the words, keep to one font and one accent colour, and put dates, codes and conditions in the caption instead of on the image.
Most sale posts fail the same way: a flat coloured background, a starburst, three font sizes and a paragraph of terms. The fix is to subtract. The best discount posts are ordinary great product photos with one short line added, because the photo is what earns the tap and the text only supplies the urgency.
The usual mistakes, and what to do instead
A graphic instead of a photo. Red rectangle, white “SALE”. It carries no information about what is actually discounted. Lead with the product photo; the offer is a caption for it, not a replacement.
Too many words. “Up to 25% off selected items this weekend only while stocks last” is a caption, not an overlay. On the image, “25% off” or “Sale ends Sunday” is enough. Everything else, including the code and the exclusions, belongs in the caption where it can be read and copied.
No room for the text. Text squeezed over the product or the label always looks like an afterthought. Choose or make an image with genuine negative space: a plain backdrop, an off-centre product, a calm area of colour where a few words can sit with air around them.
A new look every time. One font, one accent colour, one text position, used for every promotional post you ever make. That consistency is the difference between a brand running a sale and a feed shouting.
The general craft of overlays (contrast, sizing, placement) is covered in adding text to product photos; a sale post is just the highest-stakes case of it.
Building the image when your photos have no space
If your existing photos are all tight crops, render a version with room built in. BrandStills stages your real product (label, colours and proportions locked to your photos) into scenes with clean negative space, like the colour block studio with its flat panels of bold colour, and lets you stage the short text directly on the image in the app. Because edits build on the previous image in a thread, the same staged post becomes “Sale starts Friday”, then “25% off now”, then “Last day” by changing only the words, about a minute per version. For planning the whole promotional set around a big sale weekend, see preparing photos for Black Friday.
Get the app, pick a scene with space to spare, and let one good photo carry the whole sale.
Frequently asked questions
Should a sale post show the product or just the offer?
The product. '20% off' means nothing without the thing it applies to, and text-only graphics are the posts people scroll past fastest. The photo sells the product; the text just adds the reason to buy today.
What goes on the image and what goes in the caption?
On the image: the offer, in a few words. In the caption: the end date, the code, what is included or excluded, and the link path. Fine print on an image is unreadable at feed size and makes the post look like a supermarket flyer.
How do I keep a multi-day sale from flooding my feed with the same post?
Change the photo, keep the treatment. Different product or scene each day, same font, same accent colour, same text position. It reads as a series rather than a repeat, and each post gives a different product its moment.
Related guides
Use a free design app such as Canva or your phone's photo editor to layer text over the image, keeping it short, high-contrast and away from the product itself. For Stories, Instagram's built-in text tool is enough; for feed posts, add the text before uploading so you control the font and placement.
How do I prepare product photos for Black Friday?Prepare four images per product on sale: a clean hero shot, a version with empty space for the discount text, a bundle or lineup shot for gift buyers, and banner-shaped crops for your shop and profile. Aim to have the whole set finished by late October, so November is spent selling and packing rather than designing.
How do I announce a new product on Instagram?Announce a new product as a short sequence rather than one post: a teaser a few days ahead, a launch post built on a clean hero image with a caption that names the product, says what it does, gives the price and tells people where to buy, then follow-up posts showing details and early reactions. One post is easy to miss; three or four posts over a week make a launch.
Last updated August 29, 2026.
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