What if I don't like a finished photo?

A finished photo Clearcoat delivers keeps its Credit spent, even if you decide not to use it: delivered photos are not refunded. A photo that fails is retried automatically inside the same Credit, and if Clearcoat still can't deliver it, its Credit comes back to your balance. For a delivered photo you don't like, compare it with its lot photo to see what went wrong. Then pick one of three next steps: retake the lot photo and generate it again, try another Showroom, or leave that angle out of the listing. Generating again costs one Credit per photo.

Do I get my Credit back for a photo I don't like?

No. The Credit pays for a delivered photo, whether or not it goes on a listing. The Credit comes back automatically only when a photo fails or you cancel it. The cost answer sets out what each Plan costs per photo.

The 6 free Credits let you see results on your own cars before choosing a Plan.

First, compare the finished photo with its lot photo

Open the finished photo in the Studio and switch between Showroom and Original. What you see decides the next step.

• A detail of the car changed. Look at badges and model lettering, wheel design, trim, paint color and any damage you photographed. Clearcoat is told to keep the car as photographed, but the car is drawn rather than copied, so a small detail can come out differently.
• The car doesn't sit in the room. The lot's sky, buildings or other cars mirrored in the doors, hard sun on the hood, or the car looking too large or tilted. These usually came in with the lot photo. Our guide to why replaced backgrounds look fake goes through each of these tells and its cause.
• The plate still shows. On a very close front or rear shot, the plate can fill so much of the frame that it may be left as drawn. Shoot that angle from a little further back.
• The car is right but the room isn't the look you want. That one is a Showroom choice, not a photo problem.

Don't list a photo that changed a detail of the car

A listing photo has to show the car the buyer will find on the lot. That is the line the listing sites and advertising rules draw, as our article on whether AI-edited car photos are allowed sets out. A wrong badge or a different wheel design is a reason to leave the photo out, however good the room looks. Clearcoat's Terms ask customers to compare every image with the original photo before publishing it.

Retake the lot photo, then generate it again

Most fixes start with a better lot photo, because Clearcoat keeps what that photo shows of the car. From our guide to photographing used cars on the lot:

1. Get the whole car in frame, with a small margin, and let it fill most of the frame. A cut-off mirror or bumper has to be guessed, and a car that is small in the frame gives its badges and wheels few pixels.
2. Hold the phone steady and use the main 1x camera, so the details are sharp.
3. Shoot in soft light. Overcast days or open shade work best. In sun, keep it behind you and your shadow off the car, and step to the side until the doors and glass stop mirroring the lot.
4. Keep one camera height, roughly headlight to mid-body, with nothing standing between you and the car.

Add the new photo to the Vehicle, choose the car in the Studio, tap the other photos to leave them out, and generate. The Studio shows the Credits a set costs before you generate, and the new photo is one Credit.

Try another Showroom

If the car is right but the room is not what you want, generate the same lot photo in a different Showroom. The lot photo is already saved on the Vehicle, so there is nothing to upload again. Pick a room from the library, or make one from a photo of your own dealership. Creating a Showroom costs no Credits, and each finished photo in it is one Credit.

Leave that angle out

A listing does not need every angle. If one shot keeps giving you trouble, such as a side profile with no room to step back on a tight row, list the car without it. Autotrader UK's dealer guidance puts it plainly: "20 great images are better than 50 poor quality ones" (Autotrader UK, 2023). The shot list shows which exterior angles matter most, starting with the front three-quarter.