If you’re a photographer, you know the euphoria you get after you finish a photo shooting, and you have all the images you need. But after the ecstasy wears off, you remember that you have to start editing.
And this is where the “fun” begins!
Image retouching is almost as necessary as the ability to shoot good images; it’s a vital ingredient of the product photography recipe or the final spice your pictures need to look irresistible.
So, what do you do when you’re not sure what the final image should look like, and you don’t have much time to photoshop?
No matter how much experience you have, there’s always a chance you might forget to edit something important.
An image editing checklist can help make your workflow efficient so you can get perfect product images, so here it goes!
This first step is crucial, especially if you’re working with a wide-angle lens. It’s also helpful to correct potential chromatic aberration in your image.
If you’re a Lightroom or Photoshop user, you will find this action “Remove Chromatic Aberration” and “Enable Profile Corrections.”
Another thing you can do is to create a preset with these two actions and then apply them to your next image import.
Many people seem to ignore the one rule of photography: verticals should be vertical, and horizontals should be horizontal. Unless you’re doing a creative angle on purpose, this rule applies at all times for all genres of photography.
The reason behind this is that when people see a photo that’s askew, the subconscious brain feels a little uncomfortable, making your image less appealing.
Once you’re done straightening your image, dig into the crop. If you’re not looking for a different creative approach, the rule of thirds will come in handy many times.
Also, keep in mind that the subject is usually in the center of the picture for commercial photography or product images.
Cropping the photo is also a great way to remove background distractions from your image.
If you’re a pro in photo editing services, you probably got your exposure straight from the camera. If not, a bit of adjusting won’t hurt, especially if you have a darker or brighter area in your image.
If you’re shooting in a studio environment with photography lights, your white balance needs to be spot on. Use the true blacks and whites in your image as a guide.
Remember to shoot raw, so you have all the flexibility you need to do image retouching without losing any information from your idea.
If you took a photo in limited light, chances are you’ll see some white or off-colored pixels in the dark areas of your image.
You can quickly fix this with the help of the noise reduction function in Lightroom or the reduced noise filter in Photoshop.
After finishing your image editing, the colors in your product image should be vibrant and very close to reality.
Don’t go overboard with saturation unless you’re looking to break the rules with an artistic approach (which doesn’t apply in product images).
Most eCommerce websites have specific requirements for size, background color, and type of file. Make sure you check these requirements before editing to avoid wasting time with extra steps.
For example:
eBay requires that the image has a size of 1600x800px, a maximum file size of 12MB, and the image background should be limited between white to light gray.
Shopify's ideal size is 2048 x 2048px, with a solid background to highlight your product.
Amazon product photo size should be 2000 x 2000px, with a maximum file size of 10MB, and images must be on plain white background.
If you’re editing for one of those platforms requiring a solid, gray, or white background and you’re not keen on doing it yourself, some apps can do that for you.
PixelPro.AI is a photo editing service that will automatically remove background from your product images, so you only have to take care of the other steps mentioned in this article.
So there you have it! The fundamental image editing checklist in 2021. Whether you’re just starting this business or you just sometimes skip some steps because you’re in a hurry, this list will ensure you don’t forget something important.
What else would you add to this list? We’d love to hear about your image editing routine.
For Photographers
For Marketing
For Ecommerce
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