High-quality product images are crucial for success in ecommerce. Potential customers want to see clear, appealing photos that accurately represent the items they may purchase. Investing in professional photo editing can dramatically improve image quality and increase sales. But how much should online retailers expect to pay? This guide examines the costs, services, and factors that influence e-commerce photo editing pricing. Read on for tips to find a top-notch service that fits your budget.
What Techniques Are Included in an E-commerce Photo Editing Service?
E-commerce photo editing includes a wide variety of techniques to polish product images. Here are some of the most common enhancements offered:
Background Removal
Accurately cutting out the product from the background is one of the most requested services. This helps the item stand out and prevents distracting or cluttered backgrounds from taking attention away from the product. Complex backgrounds like hair, glass, smoke, or transparent objects can increase the time and cost of background removal since they require more intricate work to get a clean cutout. Simple color backgrounds are generally cheaper and faster to remove.
Color Correction
Adjusting the colors in a product image to look natural, appealing, and true to life is an essential service. Photo editing experts will color correct images to achieve proper skin tones on models, make sure product colors are accurate, adjust the white balance so whites look clean and optimize brightness and contrast so details pop. Proper color correction makes products shine.
Retouching and Restoration
Professional photo editors can digitally remove any imperfections like dust, scratches, spots, wrinkles, stains, and other flaws in the image. They may also rebuild damaged or missing areas of a product image to make it look pristine and new off the shelf. Careful retouching makes products look perfect and brand new.
Shadows and Reflections
Adding natural-looking shadows and reflections is a key technique to make products appear more photorealistic. Reflections are especially important for shiny items like jewelry, watches, glassware, and more – the reflections help sell the realism. Shadows add depth and dimension as if the object was photographed in a studio setting with proper lighting.
Cropping and Resize
Cropping eliminates unwanted areas of an image, like distracting backgrounds or excess margins. Resizing ensures the final image matches e-commerce site requirements or social media platform specs. Consistent cropped image sizes give an online store a uniform, polished look.
Format Conversion
Converting images to the optimal file formats for web use improves performance. Common e-commerce formats are JPG for photos and PNG for logos, graphics, and images with transparency. Services may also add transparency layers to JPGs as needed. The right format optimizes visuals.
Image Enhancement
Sharpening, brightness/contrast adjustments, noise reduction, saturation boosting, and more edits can take product images from dull to dazzling. Making colors vibrant, details clear, luminosity balanced, and the overall image pop provides huge visual improvements.
Multi-Image Editing
For product sets, editors can match color tones and editing styles across all the images to ensure visual consistency. This also works well for catalogs featuring many items – the images all have a cohesive uniform look. Consistency and attention to detail are key.
Image Masking
Detailed masking maintains even the most intricate edges like wispy hair, smoke, glass, lace, and complex transparent objects during background removal. Masking ensures these challenging images result in a high-quality cutout free of jagged edges or blurring.
Ghost Mannequin Effect
For clothing and accessories, photo editors can digitally remove the mannequin while maintaining the shape of the product on a real model. This makes the item appear to “float” on an invisible mannequin providing a clean display.
360° Spin Photography
To capture all angles of a product, spinning turntable photography is taken. Editors then compile the images into an interactive 360° view that customers can spin and zoom in ecommerce. This provides dynamic visuals from all sides.
As you can see, professional photo editing includes much more than simply removing backgrounds. Top e-commerce services provide a range of enhancements to truly make products visually appealing and maximize their digital presence.
What Affects the Pricing of E-commerce Photo Editing Services?
There are several key factors that determine the costs of ecommerce photo editing services:
Image Quantity
The total number of product images that need editing is a primary driver of costs. More images equal more editing time and effort. Services may offer discounted bulk rates or price breaks at certain quantities to incentivize larger orders. Having 100 product photos edited will take far longer than 10, for example.
Image Complexity
Simple images with solid color backgrounds are much easier and faster to edit cleanly than backgrounds with intricate patterns, transparent objects, smoke, liquids, etc. Challenging images require more time, technical skill, and work from the photo editing technicians to execute a quality edit. More complex product images mean higher costs.
Image Size
Larger high-resolution files contain far more pixels and image data for editors to work on. Large files require more processing power, take longer to edit, and use more data storage – which all add cost. Smaller web-sized files are quicker to enhance.
Editing Needs
The specifics of the image editing required for each product affects the time and complexity involved. Simple color correction can be done swiftly. But major retouching of flaws, relighting products, multi-image consistency, collages, and other intense edits take more effort and time from the expert editors.
Turnaround Time
Rush orders requiring ultra-fast turnarounds often come with premium fees or expedited service charges. Quick turnarounds demand editors focus solely on that project. More relaxed delivery timelines are more affordable for the client.
Location of Editors
Labor costs vary based on the geographic location of the photo editing team. Countries like the U.S. and Canada have significantly higher hourly rates. There can be major savings outsourcing edits to qualified technicians in regions with lower costs of living.
Individual vs. Team Workflow
Some services utilize a single editor per image. But most higher-end companies have dedicated teams following an end-to-end workflow on each image for better quality control. The team rates are often higher but deliver superior consistency.
Service Specialization
Specialized e-commerce photo editing companies with expert product editors will offer higher-quality results and more tailored services compared to general graphic design firms. Their expertise with product images commands somewhat higher rates.
Volume Discounts
Services providing monthly or annual contracts with locked-in preferential pricing for large order volumes will offer the lowest per-image costs through tiered bulk discounts. High volumes get better rates.
The exact needs of your images and the specifics of the editing project strongly influence quoted costs from vendors. Discussing these factors openly during the quoting process ensures you receive fair and competitive pricing tailored to your unique requirements.
Average Costs for Ecommerce Photo Editing
Let’s cut to the chase – what can you expect to pay for professional product photo editing? We get it, you’re on a budget and every dollar counts when running an online business.
Pricing varies more than the seasons, swaying based on several factors:
The type of photographic wizardry needed makes a big difference. A basic abracadabra background removal or color hocus-pocus correction may start at just $0.35 per image. But more complex illusions like ghost mannequin effects or 360° spin magic can cost $5-20 per photo or higher.
Different photo editing sorcerers also charge their own rates. Some bill by the hour, with apprentice services starting around $5-10 for simple spells. Master illusionists often have higher rates, especially for advanced enchantments. Other companies charge fixed fees per image edited or bundled packages.
Bulking up your order with high volumes can counteract costs. Many wizards offer bulk discounts for large batches of product images needing a touch of their magic wands. The more photos you need edited, the lower the per-image cost becomes.
Lastly, the complexity of the quest directly impacts the price. Images with intricate backgrounds, multiple objects, or needing extensive retouching take more time and skill to beautify. Simpler product shots are faster to enhance.
| Photo Editing Service | Price Per Image |
| Background Removal | $0.39 – $2.99 |
| Image Masking service | $0.99 – $3.99 |
| Color Correction | $0.39 – $19.99 |
| Shadow Creation | $0.10 – $0.49 |
| Ghost Mannequin | $0.49 – $1.99 |
| Retouching | $1.99 – $19.99 |
Of course, your exact price depends on the details of your photo editing quest. Reputable wizards will inspect your images closely and conjure a custom quote for your needs. But this should give you a ballpark before approaching their magic mirrors!
Tips for Finding the Best Service within Your Budget
Here are some tips for getting excellent quality ecommerce photo editing while keeping costs within your set budget:
Shop Around for Quotes
Get several quotes from a shortlist of top contending photo editing services. Many provide free and no-obligation estimates. Compare their pricing, services, deliverables, timelines, and customer service.
Seek Discounted Bulk Rates
Ask vendors about offering discounted rates for large ongoing orders or consider prepurchasing image editing packs upfront. This locks in savings for big quantities months or a year in advance.
Prioritize Key Images
Allocate extra editing time, budget, and upgrades for hero images or bestselling products. Spend less on quick edits for simpler product variations and accessories.
Use Cost-Effective Automation
Some basic tasks like cropping/resizing, format changes, color correction, and sharpening can leverage automated tools to save money. Focus manual efforts on complexity.
Establish Clear Guidelines
Provide exact requirements and guidelines for editors upfront. This prevents any time-wasting back-and-forth edits or revisions down the road. Set expectations early.
Set Realistic Timelines
Allow adequate turnaround time in your project schedule. Rush overnight edits come at a steep premium. Following a steady, predictable workflow is most cost-efficient.
Negotiate Deals
Politely request further discounts, added-value services, or fee concessions during quoting. Offer to pay upfront or provide client referrals in return for better rates.
Invest Where It Counts
Having stellar, high-quality product images makes a huge impact on conversions and sales. Aim for superb image quality, even if it means slightly higher editing costs on key products.
With some optimization of processes, leveraging discounts, and focusing budgets on hero shots, ecommerce companies can get first-rate photo editing services cost-effectively. Beautiful product photos drive sales, so view this as a revenue investment rather than just an operating expense
Wrapping Up
Ultimately, the cost of an e-commerce photo editing service depends on your specific needs and budget. Remember, high-quality product photos are crucial for conversions and brand perception, so don’t skimp on essential edits. However, don’t overpay for services you don’t need.
By considering the factors discussed, comparing quotes, and prioritizing value over just the lowest price, you can find a service that delivers professional results within your budget. Don’t hesitate to invest in quality editing—it can pay off significantly in the long run.
