Retouchup Blog

08
Apr
Tips for Better Clipping Photos

It seems that more photographers are beginning to realize the many uses for clipped photographs. Clipping has been widely used for sports photos and products, now we are seeing a variety of uses for clipped photos. For those who have never had the need for a clipped photo here is a brief description of the product, process and uses. 

Any photo that has a distinct subject and a plain or non-cluttered background could be a candidate for clipping. The main image is kept intact while the background is removed leaving a transparent background. The resulting image saved as a .png can be manipulated in Photoshop onto any other backdrop for digital sports posters, banners etc. Product shots can be placed or composited onto virtually any background and changed very easily. While it is a relatively straight forward process there are many things to consider when shooting an image for clipping.

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03
Apr
Retouching Communication Tips

Anyone who takes professional photographs will most likely need those images retouched to satisfy their client’s needs. Whether you photograph commercial products, sports teams or portraits you probably will have an ongoing need for retouching services.

There are various solutions available for retouching such as doing it all yourself, having in-house staff and of course, outsourcing. There will be advantages and disadvantages to each of these but we will not explore those in this article. If you are reading this, most likely your desire is to outsource as much retouching as seems feasible for your situation so that is what we will focus on. 

A major challenge whether you have in-house staff or you choose to outsource is going to be accurate communication of your expectations. We have several tools programmed into our system that make accurate communication very easy to achieve with minimal effort on your part. We would like to offer a few suggestions that should help you see better results from using our service for your retouching. 

 

Basic Information

We offer three levels of retouching and have most of the basic tasks we perform at each level indicated on our home page.  We often receive orders that simply say “RETOUCH” or “DO YOUR BEST”.  The artist will attempt to give you his or her impression of what they think is a good retouch but it does help us a to have a basic understanding of your expectations.  

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02
Apr
New Product: Time-Lapse Video Add-On for Photo Restoration and Digital Oil Painting Services

RetouchUp’s new photo restoration & digital oil painting video time-lapse add-on helps make marketing photo restoration easier for you! We give you the option to have us create a neat 2-4 minute summary of the entire restoration process, complete with before and after images. While sped up, you’ll be able to see all of the corrections we make, from fixing scratches and spots, to restoring tears and water marks, to fixing the color, and more!

Posting these short videos to your social media is easy, and it visually shows your clients the value of restoring their old and damaged photos. This photo restoration video could even be something you offer as a product to your clients. Along with the keepsake of a restored family photo, it’s really unique for them to see all of the work that went into restoring their photo!

Here’s an example of what it would look like:

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31
Mar
COVID-19 Production Update

Covid-19 Production Update:

We remain OPEN FOR BUSINESS for all categories: clipping/image extraction, retouching, photo restoration, color correction, etc.

Your RetouchUp artist team is geographically diverse, and traditionally works from home offices. This has been a great blessing as many are working in regions under strict quarantine.

Some outsource providers are *TEMPORARILY* unable to perform work due to COVID-19 situation in their countries. Different service providers meet different needs for the industry and each serve an irreplaceable and important function. If you come from one of these providers, we are happy to help you with your immediate need, yet encourage you to plan for their prompt and necessary return to service in the near future.

Each photographer serves a vital need for the consumer market. Every service provider fills a necessary role in our industry. TOGETHER, we are going to weather a few weeks of difficulty, and then come on out of this ready to re-build as photographic community and industry.

All in this together,

Austin Long & the entire team at RetouchUp

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30
Mar
Keeping Positive and Productive During Pandemic Times

by RetouchUp

 

Pandemic doesn’t have to imply being paralyzed or frozen by panic. There’s a lot of advice out there for photographers to help you professionally and personally during these trying times, from buying stock (please only do this if you truly know what you are doing), to enjoying your sofa as much as you can. 

The industry and society still need YOU. And you need to stay positive and productive. In the end, when the pandemic is over, you’ll go back to doing what you know and love.

Here are some ideas we’ll hopefully find useful and can give a try. 

Please share this article with anyone you want to help spread ideas!

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24
Jan
Incorporating a Lost Loved One in a Photo

Over the years we have been honored to help photographers include a lost loved one of a client into their family photo. We often get inquiries like “My client lost their beautiful child at age 2 and the child would now be 10. They have seen images on the internet of a shadow figure next to the family and would like to do something similar. Can you do this?

Yes, we can, and again honored to be tasked with such a special request.

Here are some ways that will help you and your client get exactly what you are hoping for.

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16
Jan
An update on best SEO practices for photographers in 2020

 

It’s possible that you know a lot of things about SEO, or maybe you are new in the photography industry and want to learn more about it. Today we want to share a list of key concepts you can apply to improve your ‘visibility’ online and rank higher. These are valuable steps you can take to be more visible when potential clients need the services you offer and to improve your actual strategy – if you fill is necessary in order to have a rewarding year. 

The 3 S’s of SEO

The 3 pillars to build a successful SEO platform for any photographer are:

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09
Dec
How RetouchUp Works: Pricing

Having simple, flat-rate retouch pricing that doesn’t require waiting for an estimate, is a HUGE benefit to professional photographers. This brief video introduction to RetouchUp’s simple pricing is worth watching.

Simple Pricing from Our Team on Vimeo.

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12
Nov
Holiday Turnaround Time

We understand that you rely on our retouching services through out the year and especially during the holiday season! It’s a busy time of year spent juggling everything from your clients needs to your family needs, so we’re happy to help give you some time back so you can step away from your computer and share it with those you love!

Our goal turnaround time throughout the year is 24 hours, if you’ve been a customer with us for some time you know that it’s often half that time or less!

Although a 24 hour turnaround is always our goal we do not guarantee 24 hours for any order due to many factors which may include reworks/revisions, order size, level of difficulty, corrupt file, additional information needed, price change request, or artist availability.

Here are some helpful tips to help your orders get back to you as soon as possible during the holiday season!

Choose the correct retouching level. 

By choosing the correct retouching level before your order is placed will help ensure that your order goes to the appropriate artist from the very start. Sometimes orders are sent in as Complete Retouches with Complete Plus or Special Service edit requests such as head swaps or removing big objects. These types of images are handled by artists that have that clearance level to handle those more difficult edits. Choosing the correct category helps insure your order doesn’t get stuck in temporary limbo going from one level of artist to the correct level.

By Passing “Favorite Artist”. 

Selecting a “Favorite Artist” can delay your order as it gets added to their work queue and worked on in the order in which it was received. If you are in a tight deadline we suggest that you do not select Favorite Artist and let your order go to another skilled artist that can pick up your order as soon as possible!

Make sure all images are in your order.

Including any reference files that might be needed for eye glass glare, head swaps, replacing backgrounds or rebuilding backgrounds. We have seen some orders get held up because the artist doesn’t have all the images necessary to complete the edits requested. Please make sure to select “REFERENCE” below the uploaded thumbnail so that you are not charged for the reference files. 

Give Simple, Straight Forward Instructions!

Try: “Remove hand above boy’s shoulder in the red sweater.” Instead of: “This shoot was a nightmare! First the clients came late and then the little sister wouldn’t keep her hands to herself and kept messing with her brother. LOL The mom tried to shoo away the girls hands over and over. This is the shot they chose and you can see the mom’s hand awkwardly trying to shoo away the sister right before this was taken. Can you please please please remove the mom’s hand and get it back to me asap. The mom wants to send out her Christmas cards ASAP!! Thank You so much!!!” We get these types of instructions a lot. It’s a lot to read. And sometimes there’s more than just one instruction like this example. It really helps the artists if you give your instructions, simple, straight forward like a list.

Give Yourself Time. 

You’re busy. Your clients are busy. We’re all busy! Busy is good! It means strong business for those in the photography industry. We gear up during the holiday season with more artists who can accept more work every year. We see a great influx of orders during the holiday season and that impacts our turnaround time. Make sure to allow extra time for returned images when you talk to your clients. This helps images get through our system, any reworks or tweaks needed and then back to you and your client!

Thanks For Learning about our RetouchUp’s Holiday Turnaround Time!

 

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22
Oct
Serve More Clients and Increase Revenue With Photo Restoration
Graduation Day
Video: Offering Photo Restoration To Your Clients

Grow Your Business

Tell Your Clients ‘YES!’ to Photo Restoration

Your clients have photos that need to be restored. Who better to help them than YOU? By restoring photos you help your clients preserve their priceless memories. At just $100 retail per restoration (or more), every 10 restorations you ACCEPT could mean an extra $1,000 to your revenue. Photo restoration is profitable, while serving your clients’ needs.

Accepting restorations is EASY:

Your professional camera can digitize as well as a scanner, when properly angled and lighted.

Photo scanners are also quick and convenient. If you don’t yet have one, we like the Flip Pal Mobile Scanner which doesn’t need to be connected to a computer, is completely portable, scans in seconds, and scans photos of any size. Here’s how it works. (We’re not affiliated with Couragent, Inc. or their Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner).

Quick ideas for offering photo restoration:

  1. Tell your fans and followers on social media. A simple but BIG announcement lets your clients know you make this available to them!
  2. Offer a holiday special for the first several clients that ask for photo restoration. Restorations make GREAT holiday gifts.
  3. Create a handout or email your clients that you now offer photo restoration!

The holidays are right around the corner so start NOW! We’re here to back you up every step of the way.

Get excited to offer photo restorations and continue to grow your business.

Email us a picture of what you’ve done to start offering photo restorations (could even be a screenshot of a social media post) and we’ll send you a pair of white cotton gloves, a loupe, and a reference card for offering photo restorations. Please include your address in the email for where to ship your package. 

Here’s to preserving memories, and GROWING YOUR BUSINESS WITH PHOTO RESTORATION!

Enthusiastically,

-Your Team at RetouchUp

 

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