The most important part of capturing product photos is the work that happens AFTER they’re shot. Post-processing can both make up for effects you couldn’t create during the shoot and enhance the beautiful feature you did capture. It’s essentially the icing on the cake.
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Even the most talented photographers apply edits to their shots. Let’s talk about what is photo editing and how you can use it to perfect your ecommerce images.
Table of Contents
- What is photo editing?: A definition
- What are the different types of photo editing?
- Pixel editing and parametric image editing
- The history of photo editing
- What is photo editing software?
- What is a photo editor?
- Where can I find a reputable photo editor?
- Learn how to edit your photos
‘Photo editing’ is a broad term that involves making enhancements to change the appearance of an image. Below we dive into the definition of photo editing, what a photo editor is and how to use it in your business.
The meaning of photo editing is the act of altering an image, simply put. But that’s oversimplifying a subject which is quite complex. For example, some photo editing techniques are done manually, while others are conducted through automated software. Some photo editing is even done offline, on actual photographs, posters or other printed collateral. There are many different types of photo editing. Some are simple and others are more complex. You can typically execute simple photo-editing techniques fairly easily and quickly. Complex techniques and digital editing may require a software program and more experience and training. Simple photo-editing techniques include: The more complex, advanced techniques include: Two methods of digital photo editing are pixel editing and parametric image editing. Let’s look at their definitions: Many in the industry recommend starting with PIE, and then using pixel editing to refine the final details. Photo editing wasn’t always done so easily on a computer. Before today’s digital image manipulation tools, photo editing was often done by hand. Creative Live takes a closer look at the history of the wet collodion method, photo editing, pointing to the 1850s discovery of the wet collodion method of putting multiple photos together (using negatives). Shortly thereafter, photo manipulators used it to put silhouettes of ghosts on photos of deceased soldiers. One famous example is an image of Abraham Lincoln’s spirit behind widow Mary, placed by William H. Mumler. Fast forward to the 1980s, when Adobe announced the first digital photo-editing software which brought image editing into the modern age its line of products, and digital photo-editing tools which editors can use on their computers. Today, there are tons of photo-editing tools available, both paid and free. However, Adobe’s Creative Cloud remains one of the most popular and well-known. Photo-editing software is a tool which you can use to manipulate and enhance images. Because photos have an increasing number of uses — spanning from display ads to social media and print catalogs to posters — more businesses are finding ways to repurpose photos and use them on multiple channels. To make this easier, editors use photo-editing software programs. There are many kinds of photo-editing software, each with its own costs, features and pros/cons. A photo editor can be one of two things: a tool which edits images, or a person who edits images. Let’s start with the more straightforward one, the tool. There are many tools that can automate different photo-editing tasks. Many photo-editing companies, for example, are actually tools that automate things such as clipping paths. This is great when you want to save time and use an automated tool on your own, but if you’re paying to outsource your image-editing needs, you’ll want to look for a company that does this by hand. On that note, the person who edits images can either be freelance, employed by an outsourced company or agency, or someone who works in-house. There are many possible job titles for a photo editor, including digital photo editor, graphic designer or art director, among others. A photo editor’s typical duties will vary depending on the company and industry. Photo editors who work in-house at a major ecommerce brand, for example, may be spending most of their time prepping product photos to list on their site and manipulating lifestyle shots for use throughout the website. If they work at a photo-editing agency, then they may edit a range of photos from a diverse group of customers. If you want to hire a photo editor to work for you full-time or on a contract basis, you’ll want to do your due diligence. If you don’t find the right company, you could risk losing lots of time and money — and have nothing to show for it. We’ve written an article that talks about how to choose a company to outsource your photo editing; highlights below:
If you’re ready to learn how to edit your own photos, we’ve put together a handy collection of Photoshop tutorials. Here are a few we recommend you get started with:
What is photo editing?: A definition
Other terms for photo editing:
What are the different types of photo editing?
Pixel editing and parametric image editing
The history of photo editing
What is photo-editing software?
Popular photo-editing software and programs include:
Popular photo-editing mobile apps include:
What is a photo editor?
Where can I find a reputable photo editor?
Learn how to edit your photos
