Retouching a photo is one thing that most expert photographers consider to be very important. The thing is, the overall aesthetics of a photo depends on how much retouching has been done. But, how much does it cost to retouch a photo? Is it too costly?
The price range for retouching photos varies and it is affected by many factors. The factors include the type of photo retouch, the skill level of the photographer, the complexity of the photo, and the time it will take to retouch. Depending on this factors, the price can take from only $1 to as high as $50.
While most photos have to be retouched at some point, not all photographers have a keen eye for this process. However, knowing how to retouch can determine how good a photo turns out after all the effort that went into capturing it and what amount to charge for the retouch.
What Is Photo Retouching?
Photo retouching is the process of editing out small imperfections in a photo, such as light or dark spots, blemishes, re-sizing, and color correction. It may also be used to create specific looks in a picture such as a black and white effect or enhancing the colors in a photo.
This process is often needed in all aspects of photography and it is not easy to do as you may think. You’ll need high level of skills and experience to give a perfect retouch to a photo. That is actually the main reason most advanced or skilled photo retouchers charge high for any photo retouch project.
Additionally, most skilled photographers understand the importance of having a high-quality image retouching service. These services go all out to acquire a wide range of tools, software and workflows to help achieve the most attractive images possible.
Different Types of Photo Retouching
There are different types of photo retouching you can consider and the type of photo retouching you choose will depend on the requirements of your specific project.
Basic photo retouching
Basic retouching usually refers to quick edits that are done prior to fine-tuning an image. It involves using simple corrections such as-
- changing the exposure and color,
- Removing distractions/blemishes,
- Skin smoothing,
- Eye enlargement,
- Teeth whitening,
- Hair removal, removing red-eye, and
- Lighting adjustments.
You can consider basic photo retouching for your birthday shoot pictures, wedding, product pictures, and passport photograph, etc.
Advanced photo retouching
With an advanced photo retouch, you can find it quite hard to recognize the person or place in the picture. It is the type that gives the personality in the picture a different look from the true image. With advanced retouch, you get to remove unwanted spots, marks, wrinkles, backgrounds, and many more on the face.
The best example of advanced retouch is of a model photo which is the commonly seen on billboards for advertisement. Most of the pictures of the models you see on billboards, stickers, and many more undergo advanced photo retouch.
Extensive photo retouching
An extensive photo retouch will cost more than the two types mentioned above. You have to pay more for retouch and it is the kind that most people consider for beauty or wedding photography. The retouch gives attention to details and ensures you appear glowing without any form of blemish.
Also, extensive retouch involves color correction, light adjustments, blemish removal, background composition, change of background, skin correction, and comprehensive editing. On all fronts, the final outlook of an extensive photo retouch is amazing and better than the basic or advanced.
How much Does it Cost to Retouch a Photo?
The price for photo retouch varies based on the levels. There you have the basic level, advanced and the extensive level. The pricing for each level is not the same likewise the task is not the same. So, sometimes, the nature of your project determines the stage and the pricing.
For basic, you should get a retouch for images as low as $2, $10 for advanced, and $50 for extensive. It all depends on the service policy for the company you are using. There are different companies that you can consider out there in the market and they offer the best.
If you scroll down, you get to see some of the companies you can trust and rely on for quality images of photo retouches. Therefore, if your photo retouch just requires removing spots or blemishes, you might want to consider a basic level for that.
The bottom line is that you should always have a talk with the service provider to see how much does it cost to retouch a photo.
What Types Of Photo Retouching Service Do You Need?
There are different types of photo retouch services that you should consider and use. However, choosing the right one will give a satisfaction that you will find so hard to get over. So, below are some of the top-rated photo retouch services that you should consider.
Clippingfly
Clippingfly offers a photo retouching service that makes your photos look great and stand out. It is one of the most trustworthy photo retouching service out there, used by thousands of businesses and individuals daily. And the pricing starts at only $0.39.
The service ensures your photos to look amazing with a team of professionals overseeing the full editing process. As retouch and remove include body manipulation, skin texture definition, and realistic blemishes, it’s best to hand over the job to professionals.
Clippingfly can also correct and retouch any image to your exact specifications, down to the smallest stray hair. With highlight adjust, and enhancement in all aspects of your photo, you can achieve the desired outlook you want.
We Edit Photos
We Edit Photos have lots of advanced photographers that are skilled and experienced to retouch all kinds of photos. They specialize in online portrait and wedding photo retouch and editing services. The company goes all out to support all their client with smooth communication and an affordable price range.
Vector People
Vector People host lots of professional photographers that are willing to serve you well. It is the right place to be for all kinds of photo restorations. They can repair, enhance old photos, get rid of scratches on photos, and can also give color to black and white photos.
Perfect retouching
One of the online services you should consider is the Perfect Retouching. The company offers photo retouch services which include beauty, headshot, jewelry, and product. If you are looking for a high-end retouch for your photos, then you should consider the company.
The customer care and relation are superb while the service fee is not life-threatening. There are amazing and well-cultured photographers and editors there that are willing to help you get your desired photo.
Also, you have a free trial to yourself to have a taste of the service you can get from them.
Fix the Photo
When others failed to deliver just what you want with your photo retouch, you should trust fix the photo to bring a smile to your face. The company is devoted and known for delivering the best which makes them one of the best companies for photo retouch.
Fix the Photo boasts of highly trained professional photographers that will handle your project with care and seriousness. The price range for edit and retouch varies and be rest assured you are never going to break your bank to retouch your photos.
Also, they are vast with retouching portraits, wedding pictures, product images, manipulating images, edit and many more. You just need to get to their website, make an inquiry, get a quotation and the work will be done.
Retouching Experts
If you need a positive review before you can get your photo retouch from any company, the Retouching Experts will then be your top choice. The company boasts of a record of retouching over 80000 images with successful and positive reviews from over 150 clients.
What Features do Retouching Services Offer?
When you get a quotation for a picture retouch, it is expected that you get to know the things that are included in the pricing. You might be asking yourself lots of questions on why the retouching fee is high and getting to know what the retouching entails will answers all your questions.
There are many things that can be included in the retouching price and it all depends on your project requirement and the photographer involved; however, the common ones are listed below.
Removing or adding images
It is no longer surprising what photographers can do almost anything with photo retouching nowadays. If someone misses your birthday party photoshoot or your wedding, you can easily add the picture of the person to the real photo.
The same way you can add people to the image is the same way you can remove. The task is done with the help of top-quality software like Adobe Photoshop and many more.
Color correction
If you take a picture and then realize you need better color grading, not all hope is lost. All that you need is a professional color correction from an experienced photo retoucher. All that the service will do is to improve the hue, saturation, contrast, and tone of the pictures to meet your desired color.
Beauty retouching
The common retouch I have got to known so far is beauty retouching. Most people want to look attractive and alluring with no blemish. So, this kind of retouch will focus more on skin retouch, blemish removal, color correction, the use of mask, clone stamping, layers, teeth whitening, and many more.
The goal is to make the person looks natural and still like a model with no blemish. Most of the models you see on the advertising board go through this process and it doesn’t come cheap. The price can be on the high end especially if you have to work on the background of the photo or image.
Giving color to old photos
When I saw a few pictures of my granddad from his days of World War II, I thought I could give it a new and attractive look. However, I couldn’t do it then because adjusting the light in post-production can affect the quality and composition of the image.
But now technology has evolved. Now you can work magic and give some retouch of glowing color to make old images attractive and appealing all over. So, it is one of those retouch projects that you can consider.
Compositing images
Compositing images requires a high level of skills and experience and the price is relatively high. And the process requires a background cleanup, image expansion, composition, and many more. Thus, compositing images can only be done by professionals.
What Factors will Affect How much Does It Cost to Retouch a Photo?
There are different factors that affect the rate or pricing for photo retouch, including:
1. Stylizing retouches
If you request adding styles to your photo, it might require that you pay extra for it. The stylizing is not basic work and that is the reason you need to allow the pro to handle the work. So, with tens of dollars, you should be able to do that.
2. Delivering prints to your home
Home delivery is another reason you will be paying extra money for photo retouch. The pricing will surely be lower if you are picking the photo online.
3.Rush or last-minute photo editing
All photographer loves to take their time with photo edit and retouch. So, if you expect them to go all out to deliver a retouch or photo edit work in a small amount of time, you will have to pay extra charges for it. Here in my part of the world, we have a special service known as ‘wait and get’. It is instant delivery of your photograph and it comes expensive.
4. Numbers of photo
The number of photos you are editing or retouching also determines the rate or price you will pay. The price for one will sure be different from ten photographs.
5. Number of revision requests
There are some retouching works that require several revisions. Some might be as a result of the client not being satisfied with the initial retouch. In this case some service providers claim extra charges for every revision. However, the pricing differs as your photographer determines the rate per revision.
6. Time-sensitive work
For every photo edit or retouching, most photographer loves to take their time because they have to give attention to details. You must have heard that time is money, so it is not surprising to see some photographers charging per hour.
7. Restoring damaged photos
Restoration of old or damaged images is not a task that all photo retouchers can do. It requires high skill and experience and that is the reason the price is always on the high end.
8. Printing high-quality images
The quality of the printed image you want also determines the pricing.
How to Choose Professional Photo Retouching Services Online?
If you are planning to hire a photo retouching service online, it is important that you give attention to some details or else you might end up regretting your decision.
So, what are the things you should do?
Check for reviews
You should check the reviews online from those who once had taken service from this company. Take your time to check all that is written or said about them before you decide to work with them. If you see positive reviews, you can the contact with them.
Ask for previous work
You are never on the wrong side if you ask the company to share their previous work with you. All you just want is to confirm if they are capable of doing what you want. So, if indeed they are good at what they do, they will send some of their portfolios to you and you can decide on what next to do.
Check payment and refund policy
You should also check how much does it cost to retouch a photo with a particular service. Besides, their payment method and refund policy also play a big role. You just need to get all the information you need before paying for their services.
The Difference Between Photo Editing And Photo Retouching?
Photo editing and photo retouching are two different processes that you can use to make your photo look its best. Although the difference between photo editing and photo retouching may be subtle, but the methods are related.
Photo editing functions to solve problems in images already taken while photo retouching serves more of a corrective purpose by fixing imperfections from awkward angles, reflections, and shadows that were previously impossible to catch, or photoshop disasters.
Besides, all the photos you generally see in magazines or billboards are actually the products of photo retouch. So recharging has a professional value to it more then photo editing does.
Conclusion
How much does it cost to retouch a photo? As you can already understand, it’s difficult to give an exact answer. There are many factors that contribute to the pricing of photo retouching. The quality of the photo, the level of retouch, the number of images, the retouch requirement, and many more.
The pricing varies also based on the type of service and the skills level of the photo retoucher involved. As a result, the pricing a professional retoucher will demand will surely be different from that of a beginner. So, it is important you get a consultation from any company before you pay for any retouch service.
