A product photo shows one side. A 360° view lets a shopper drag the product round and look at the back, the sides and the details that photos skip. On a product page, it's the closest thing to picking the product up.
Shopify doesn't have a "360° view" button, but there are several ways to add one. This guide compares them, then walks through the fastest: a spin made from the product photos already on your store.
Your options on Shopify
There are four common ways to show a product from every side on a Shopify product page.
1. A traditional 360° spin (turntable photography)
The product sits on a turntable and a camera takes a photo every few degrees, usually 24 to 72 photos for one full turn. A viewer app then plays them back as a spin. The result is accurate and sharp, but it needs a turntable, lighting and a camera setup, or a studio. Studio 360° photography is typically quoted at around $150 to $1,200 per product. See our guide to 360° product photography costs for the full breakdown.
2. A 3D model
Shopify supports 3D models as product media, alongside images and videos, as long as your theme supports them. Shoppers can rotate and zoom the model, and on supported phones view it in their room with augmented reality (AR). Shopify asks for models as GLB files of about 4 MB, built to real-world scale with detailed textures. That usually means hiring a 3D artist. Shopify's own guide puts simple models at $40 to $200, and detailed ones above $1,000.
3. A product video
Shopify lets you upload product videos up to 10 minutes long and 1 GB in size. A short clip of the product turning is easy to make with a phone. The catch is control: shoppers can't stop at the angle they care about, and Baymard Institute's testing found that 59% of users consistently skipped product videos.
4. A spin made from two photos
Newer tools use AI to make the spin from just a front photo and a back photo. There's no turntable or 3D artist, and the photos you already have usually work. This is how Twurn works: you pick the two photos in your Shopify admin and get a spin in about a minute.
| Option | What you need | Typical cost | Time per product |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turntable 360° photos | Turntable, lights, camera or a studio | $150–$1,200 per product at a studio | Hours to days, with shipping |
| 3D model | A 3D artist and reference photos | $40 to $1,000+ per model | Days |
| Product video | A phone or camera, and editing | Your time | An hour or so |
| Two-photo spin (Twurn) | A front and a back photo | $1.50 per spin, first 2 free | About a minute |
How to add a 360° spin with the Twurn app
Here's the whole process. Most stores have their first spin live in a few minutes.
- Install the app. Add Twurn: 360 Product Spins from the Shopify App Store. The Free plan includes 2 spins to try it.
- Make sure the product has a front and a back photo. They can be anywhere in the product's media. If you need to take them, our guide to taking product photos with your phone covers it.
- Pick the product and the two photos. In the app, choose the product, then tap the front photo and the back photo.
- Make the spin. It takes about a minute. You can keep working while it's made.
- Check the preview and publish. Drag the preview to look at every angle. If it looks right, publish it.
- Add the Twurn block to your product page, once. The app links you straight to your theme editor, where you add the Twurn block to the product template. After that, every product with a published spin shows it automatically.
Check every preview before publishing. Twurn photographs nothing between the front and the back: AI works out the angles in between. For most products that's exactly what you'd expect to see. If a side detail looks wrong, don't publish that spin, and keep real side photos in your gallery for anything a shopper needs to see exactly.
Which photos work best
The two photos make the biggest difference to how the spin turns out.
- Front and directly behind. Not three-quarter angles: one straight from the front, one straight from the back.
- Same distance, height and light. If the back photo is closer or lit differently, the spin has to bridge the gap.
- A plain background. White, grey or any plain colour works well. Busy backgrounds distract from the product.
- The whole product in frame. Leave a little space around the edges.
Products with a clear front and back turn best: bags, shoes, clothing, toys, gadgets, bottles and boxes. Very shiny or see-through products are harder, because reflections change as the product turns.
Two photos in, one spin out.
Where the spin should go on the page
Placement matters more than you'd think. In Baymard Institute's testing, 83% of users never tried a 360° feature that sites offered, and 56% of users started a product page by looking through the images. A spin hidden behind a small "360" button gets ignored; one that's easy to see, near the main photos, gets used.
- Put the Twurn block close to your product images, ideally right below the gallery, so shoppers see it without scrolling far.
- Let it turn once on its own. The Twurn viewer gives the product a short turn when it first appears, which shows shoppers it can be dragged. You can turn this off in the block's settings.
- Keep your normal photos. A spin adds to your gallery; it doesn't replace close-ups, photos in use, or photos showing scale.
Will it slow down my store?
Page speed affects both sales and search rankings, so it's a fair question. The Twurn viewer waits until the spin scrolls into view before loading its images, so it adds nothing to the first load of your page. The images come from Twurn's servers rather than your store's. It also sets no cookies and doesn't track your shoppers.
What it costs
The Twurn app has a Free plan with 2 spins to try it. After that, the Pay per spin plan is $1.50 a spin with no monthly fee, billed on your normal Shopify bill. You set a monthly spending limit in the app, and spins stop when you reach it. Spins that fail are never charged, and published spins stay on your store.
Questions
Does Shopify support 360° views natively?
Not as a spin of photos. Shopify supports images, videos and 3D models as product media. A photo-based 360° spin needs an app, such as Twurn.
Do I need special photos?
No special equipment. You need one photo from the front and one from directly behind, taken from the same distance and height. The product photos already on your store usually work.
Does it work with my theme?
The Twurn block works with Online Store 2.0 themes, which is nearly every current Shopify theme, including Dawn. You add it in the theme editor like any other block.
What happens if I delete a spin or uninstall the app?
Deleting a spin removes it from your product page. If you uninstall the app, the block disappears from your theme, and when Shopify asks us to delete your store's data (48 hours after uninstalling), your spins are deleted too.
Sources
- Shopify Help Center, Product media and Uploading and managing files (video limits: 1 GB, 10 minutes).
- Shopify Partners, 3D modeling checklist (GLB files, about 4 MB).
- Shopify Blog, 3D Models in E-Commerce (model costs $40–$200, complex models over $1,000).
- Baymard Institute, Video and 360 views (59% skipped videos; 83% never tried 360° features).
- Baymard Institute, Product images and descriptive text (56% of users explore images first).
- Zno, Product photography pricing 2025 (360° photography: $150–$1,200 per product).