Most small online stores start by editing their own product photos. It is a sensible way to begin, and it teaches you what good images look like. Later, the editing starts to take hours that you need for selling. This guide helps you decide when to keep doing it yourself and when to hand it over.
What product retouching involves
Even a good photograph needs work. Typical tasks are removing the background or cleaning it to a pure, even colour, taking out dust, fingerprints and scratches, straightening and cropping, correcting colour so the picture matches the real product, adding a soft shadow and sharpening detail. For a single image, each step is quick. Across a catalogue, the time adds up.
How long does it take?
A simple product on a clean background may take a few minutes to edit once you know the process. A product with a complicated shape, hair, glass or transparent parts, such as a jar or a glass vase, takes much longer. If you have 200 products and four photographs of each, that is 800 images. Even at five minutes each, the job takes about 67 hours. That is nearly two working weeks.
When it makes sense to do it yourself
- You have a small catalogue, and few new products each month.
- Your images are simple, with plain backgrounds and few reflections.
- You enjoy the work, and your time is not needed elsewhere.
- You want to learn the craft, so that you can brief someone else well in the future.
When to outsource
- You have more than a few dozen images, or a launch with a deadline.
- Your products are tricky: glass, jewellery, shiny metal, fur or fabric with fine detail.
- You want a consistent look across a catalogue, with the same background, shadow and crop.
- You sell on several platforms with different rules.
- Your time earns more when you spend it on sales, sourcing and customers.
What consistency is worth
Customers compare products side by side without noticing it. A set of images that share the same background, light and crop looks trustworthy. A set that mixes styles looks uneven. A professional retoucher keeps every image within one standard, and can match the style of images you already have.
What to expect from an outsourced service
Ask for a clear unit price per image, a turnaround and a volume discount. For my own work, product and e-commerce retouching takes 2 to 3 business days, and a discount applies from 50 images. Ask whether the service returns files in the sizes your platforms need, named in a way that uploads easily. Ask for a small sample first. See the pricing page for units and discounts.
How to brief a retoucher
Send two or three sample images, and describe the finished look: background colour, shadow, crop and size. Say what must stay the same: the colour of the product, texture, logos. Say what can go: dust, wrinkles, labels you do not want. Send a naming list. The guide to the product photo checklist explains what to prepare at the shoot to make editing easier.
A simple way to test
Pick ten images that you find hardest to edit. Edit three yourself and time yourself. Send the other seven to a retoucher as a sample. Compare the results and the cost of your time. The answer is usually clear.
Related guides
For beauty and portrait work, read natural retouching: where to stop and beauty retouching without the plastic look. If you are building a store, see online store product page basics.
Send me a sample
Send two or three sample images and tell me where they will be used. I reply with a plan, a quote and a turnaround. You can request a retouching quote here, read about product photo retouching and e-commerce photo retouching, and call, email or message me using the details at the bottom of this page.
