Do I need to Retouch my Images?

The short answer is yes. You've gone through the effort of setting up a photoshoot for your product with the intention that it will be displayed as best as it can. So why skip the last step? Retouching is the most detailed part of the photography process and requires specialist knowledge to complete it.

It can be very time consuming, retouching can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours just for one image. However, make sure you've done everything you can to minimise the time spent in post production. Small things like cleaning the dust off your product before you shoot could save you half an hour. Also making sure you have the correct type of lighting so your product is lit well enough so you don't have to spend hours correcting exposure.

There are many different varieties of software for retouching. Any professional photographer would most likely be shooting in RAW rather than JPG, this gives more flexibility when it comes to the editing stage. RAW photos will come out slightly faded and seem a bit flat and they would need specific software to process the photos. Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop are a couple examples.

If you don't have enough time to learn how to retouch images, then outsource it in the same way you might do with a professional photographer. Unless you've hired a professional photographer who also retouches (which most of them should), then you cannot afford to skip retouching. Effective photography will sell your products and services a lot faster that with poorly executed imagery. Having photos that look unfinished or flat will damage the brand that you have worked so hard to build.