What is Photo Editing? Techniques, Tools & Tips for Photographers and Professionals

Photo editing is a valuable skill set that enhances images by altering an image’s light, color, size, and background and increasing focus. As part of photo post-production, photo editing involves various editing types- basic, complex, and advanced.

Since the emergence of photo editing in the 19th century, the process has transitioned from manual to computer-based photo editing programs. Now, photo editors have extensive control and freedom over the images they edit, making their target audience satisfied. Renowned photo editing software includes Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, Affinity Photo, CyberLink PhotoDirector 365, GIMP, and ACDSee. The software offers numerous features, ranging from selection, layers, and image alteration to the histogram, noise reduction, and lens, and is not limited to color change.

All professionals, from photographers, e-commerce store owners, fashion brands, advertising agencies, and online marketers, use photo editing to build a brand and establish trust and dominance. Photo editors start editing with photo culling and apply different editing techniques to improve image quality.

What is Photo Editing?

Photo editing is a set of photo enhancement techniques applied with photo editing software to enhance a photo. Photo editing is often referred to as image editing, photo/image retouching, photo post-processing, photoshopping, and image post-processing. Editing includes resizing, cropping, image rotating, composition & framing, retouching, color correction & color grading, background removal, and flaw & blemish elimination to bring professional and polished-looking images. After the techniques are applied, edited photo quality & resolution improves.

Professional image editors apply their skillsets with image post-processing software and tools ranging from Photoshop, Lightroom, and Affinity Photo, to CyberLink PhotoDirector 365, GIMP, and ACDSee. Photo editing programs offer numerous features to support basic to advanced-level photo editing types.

The editing process includes 3 steps: photo culling, raw image editing, and file submission. The final and approved version of edited images gets published in different sales channels, including the company website, e-commerce platforms (Amazon, eBay, &  Shopify), social media, mobile apps, and email marketing. Well-edited images draw viewers’ attention to the subject, deliver the right message, and drive traffic. Experienced photographers, e-commerce brands, the fashion industry, advertisement and magazine agencies, and photography studios collaborate with professional photo editing companies to fulfill their bulk image requirements.

When Was Photo Editing Invented?

Photo editing was invented around the 19th century, nearly concurrent with the emergence of photography.

The first ever permanent picture was brought to the world in 1826 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, an early pioneer of photography. He used the Heliography process to create the picture, an early photographic method Niépce developed around 1822. Though the photography creation process was a success, the result was rudimentary.

In 1839, photographer Louis Daguerre experimented with Niépce’s work and coined the Daguerreotype, the first publicized photography process. Daguerre cut down exposure time and refined photographs, addressing the need for editing photos.

During the inception of photo editing, photographers used paint, ink, and airbrushes to apply manipulation techniques on negatives to prints as follows.

• Hand painting: Photographers used watercolors, oil paints, or pigments to colorize and convey realism in the black and white photos.
• Scratching and etching: Scratching and etching was a negative manipulation technique in ancient photography. This process would improve the artistic vision of images with flaws or add details.
• Combination printing: Combination printing is an early photo editing technique of combining multiple negatives into one photo, which was difficult to capture in one shot.

After computers were invented, former US President Abraham Lincoln’s photo became the first photo-editing example in 1860. Mathew Brady edited his photo, implemented lighting manipulation and posing modification, and created a professional setting for Lincoln’s presidential image.

In 1980, the image editing process faced revolutionary changes. Some notable events are as follows.

• In the 20th century, the rise of the pictorial movement changed people’s perception of pictures from documentation to a form of fine art. 
• Between 1960 and 1970, the first digital cameras and scanners were developed.
• In 1987, Adobe Photoshop was released. Thomas and John Knoll created Photoshop, which incorporates robust tools for digital image manipulation.
• In 2011, the first photo editing mobile apps were made public through the app store.

What are the Different Types of Photo Editing?

There are 3 different types of photo editing: basic, complex, and advanced photo editing techniques. Depending on the work type and process, these image processing types encompass straightening, cropping, contrast & white balance, clipping paths, reflection, effects, restoration, and many others.

What are the Basic Photo Editing Techniques?

Basic photo editing techniques refer to those that are simple & easy, and even beginners can do it. Photo straightening, cropping, resizing, and sharpening are easy to apply. Other basic photo editing techniques are as follows.

1. Straighten photo: Straighten is the editing technique of leveling images horizontally and vertically to create a professional and appealing look. It improves image composition and viewers’ perspective on the subject.

2. Image cropping: Image cropping is the process of editing extra parts or areas from an image that don’t serve the right purpose. Cropping retains viewers’ attention and engagement by delivering visual narratives effectively.

3. Resize image: Resize in image processing means changing the photo dimension based on distribution channels, including social media, website, and print formats. Businesses resize images to load fast and maintain publishing platform-specific requirements.

3. Image sharpening: Image sharpening is the process of making images conspicuous and crispy. Sharpening works best for product images, creating more visibility and delivering professional outputs.

4. Reducing noise in photos: Noise is the grainy parts in photos, which is known as digital noise. Reducing noise improves lighting conditions in the images and makes them smooth and high-quality.

5. White balance adjustments: White balance is the temperature-adjusting technique in photos to exude actual color representation. The process rectifies the color casts caused by lighting differences. Thus, it accommodates a realistic appearance in the photo.

6. Adjusting contrast: Contrast refers to the differences between light and darkness in the picture. By adjusting contrast, a photo editor makes the scene look dynamic, adds depth, and sparks curiosity.

7. Adjusting exposure: Exposure is the brightness level in a photo. A photo editor balances the light and shadow by adjusting the amount of light that causes overexposure or underexposure in the photo.

8. Photo lens correction: Lens distortion is a common issue during photography sessions. By editing, you get images removed from barrel distortion or vignetting issues and ensure the professional and natural appeal of the images.

9. Color adjustments: Color adjustments highlight images’ expression of color by fine-tuning saturation, hue, and luminance. As a result, the images narrate the visual effectively, evoke viewers’ emotions, and achieve desired results.

10. Image background removal: Background removal is the process of removing, changing, or replacing the background of a photo. Removing background has proven effective for e-commerce product photos that require specific colors (primarily white).

11. Automatic photo enhancement: Photo editor software features automatic solutions that need one click or no user’s command for example sharpness adjustments, zoom, automatic cropping, and red-eye removal are automatic.

What are the Complex Photo Editing Techniques?

Complex photo editing techniques are the ones that require mastering a step-by-step process to achieve the desired output. Clipping paths, portrait correction, photo stitching, photo masking, and photo layering require knowledge of tools and steps. Some other complicated techniques for editing photos are as follows.

1. Image clipping path: A clipping path is a process of extracting an image from its background by drawing a closed vector path. By manually creating the clipping paths, you get the desired object ready to use on any background, maintaining a professional and clean look for marketing and advertising purposes for e-commerce.

2. Portrait photo editing: Portrait photo editing includes applying multiple changes to the skin, teeth, and hair and removing facial blemishes of people in the image to beautify their look. Photo editors remove imperfections and highlight the facial features so that the persons in the photo look elegant and match the photo context.

3. Photo retouching: Photo retouching involves using multiple editing techniques, including color correction, flaw removal, background removal, and masking. Editing software has a healing brush tool, spot healing tool, patch tool, and clone tool to perform retouching on images.

4. Background editing: The photo editing program provides background erasers, layer masks, and magic wand-like tools to change, replace, and remove backgrounds for images. It ensures unified and clear images across all distribution platforms.

5. Creating realistic shadow: A realistic shadow-creating process under the subject in a photo is called drop and reflection shadow. It adds depth, dimension, and realism by balancing light and shadow.

6. Creating special effects: Effects are stimulating techniques applied in the images to add dramatic visuals. It includes adding color, texture, design, patterns, bokeh, and blur and is not limited to glows that set a specific mood and authentic vibe.

7. Adjusting text and visuals: Adding visuals and text includes font size & color, and placement. It requires design understanding and effective implementation to improve image readability and communicate with the viewers.

8. Photo stitching techniques: Photo stitching is the photo merging technique to create a panoramic image. When edited, a stitched photo offers a broader and more immersive view than a landscape image. Image stitching empowers visual storytelling.

9. Image masking and layers: Image masking is the complicated image editing process of showing some parts and hiding other parts of images. Photo layering creates a 3D illusion in a 2D image by placing several elements. Both image masking and image layer are complex image-editing techniques that preserve the original image data and creatively display the subject with narratives.

10. Image manipulation: Manipulation covers a lot of creative image editing techniques. It alters, adds, removes, and replaces all elements, colors, and shapes. Sometimes, the process uses merging several images as well. The transform tool and the liquify tool are examples of image manipulation features.

11. Digital photo data compression: Industry-renowned computer-based image editing solution offers digital photo data compressing. Photo editors adjust the compression setting and minimize the file size.

What are the Advanced Photo Editing Techniques?

Advanced photo editing techniques are a set of multiple complex and creative photo manipulation techniques combining filters and effects to transform images. Expert photo editors mostly perform advanced photo editing. These techniques require mastery, precision, and attention to detail. Professional photo editors apply basic, creative, and custom techniques to deliver impactful visual content. Photo restoration, architectural photography editing, and e-commerce product photography editing are examples of advanced-level photo editing techniques.

1. Old photo restoration: Old photo restoration is the editing method of repairing lost or damaged parts of a photo by restoring the surrounding particles. The restoring process of a photo involves several other editing techniques of inpainting, Fourier transform, neural networks & GANs, manual color adjustment, and not limited to curves and histogram adjustments. It enhances image quality and reinstates the photo’s visual message and purpose for the future.

2. E-commerce product photo editing: E-commerce product photo editing involves retouching, editing, removing background, adding shadow, and adjusting colors to enhance products visually for the sales channels. E-commerce store owners collaborate with professional photo editing companies to ensure the product’s uniform and professional look that builds brand and drives sales.

3. Architectural photo editing: Architectural editing helps architects and realtors refine the looks of their properties, buildings, and spaces. The most common techniques implemented in architectural editing are perspective correction, lens distortion, HDR imaging, adding realistic elements (shadows and lighting), and sharpening.

4. Advanced HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging: HDR images capture broader luminosity and more detail in image highlight and shadows. The process merges multiple exposures of the same scene, achieving a great dynamic image. Most image processing tools enable advanced HDR editing features.

5. Compositing techniques: Compositing is a photo editing technique combining several images into one cohesive picture. In the compositing process, a complex scene is created by layering components. Users can control the compositing process with precision.

6. Black and white conversion: Black and white conversion is the feature of changing images into grayscale. This image conversion technique retains luminance and enhances contrast and mood in the images. Software mostly has specific filters or tools to apply this change.

7. Super-resolution imaging: Computer programs for photo enhancement offer feature super-resolution imaging. It changes magnification, converting low-resolution images into high-resolution ones. It results in achieving features that may not be in the original image.

What are the Common Image Editing Features? 

Common image editing software features are selection, layering, image size alteration, noise reduction, removal of unwanted elements, and image orientation. Those features allow users to manipulate, adjust, and change to create stunning images. Other photo editing program’s features are as follows.

1. Selection: Selection is setting boundaries to apply changes so that the rest of the images remain unaffected. For the selection process, image processing software offers marquee tools, magic wand tools, lasso tools, vector-based pen tools, and advanced tools such as edge detection, color & channel-based extraction, alpha compositing, and masking. The selection process is used to operate several other features, as follows.

• Isolating Subjects
• Background Removal
• Color Correction and
• Applying filters and effects

2. Layers: Layers are transparent sheets containing separate elements of an image. It is a non-destructive post-processing method where layers are stacked on top of one another to represent a part of the picture. The benefit of using layers is that editing on one layer doesn’t affect the other layers or the original image.

3. Image size alteration: Image resizing, also known as image scaling and image size altering, makes images large or small based on the purpose. Image editor software’s resampling feature is used to measure the pixel count of the resized image.

4. Cropping image: Cropping is the discarding of actual data of an image by changing the aspect ratio. Cropping helps create a new composition and emphasize the subject. Cropped images look closer than the actual image, but it doesn’t minimize the photo resolution of the cropped part if the original image is of high quality.

5. Cutting out a part of an image from the background: Cutting an object from its background requires selecting first. It will create an outline for easy extraction. However, cutting may be complicated if the object has hair or design intricacy. Photo editors use green screens for easy background removal.

6. Histogram in photo editing: According to Wikipedia, an image histogram is a graphical representation of tone in digital photos. The histogram feature allows users to check the brightness distribution of the image. Users can adjust the brightness of a single pixel, update in real time, and use histogram feedback to enhance brightness & contrast.

7. Image noise reduction: Image noise is the grainy appearance of the image—random variations of color or brightness cause it. Complete noise reduction may affect the data. Image editing software offers multiple noise-adjusting solutions similar to the removal of JPEG artifacts & scratches.

8. Removal of unwanted elements: To remove unwanted elements, photo editors use the Clone tool. It omits unwanted elements, branches, people, & objects and preserves viewers’ attention. By removing distractions, you can enhance the composition and accentuate the subject.

9. Selective color change: Photo editing programs allow users to change color selectively. Selective color change is mostly used for the e-commerce industry’s product variants. Instead of repeated photoshoots, applying selective color changes is fast and easy to color-swap.

10. Image orientation: Image orientation is the connection between the height and width of an image. Image orientation determines the perception of how the camera is positioned and an image is captured. Two primary photo orientation types are portrait or vertical orientation and landscape or horizontal orientation. Image editing programs allow rotating to any degree to change photo orientation.

11. Perspective control and distortion: Professional photo editors control perspective through techniques of managing image distortion. Perspective control and distortion are mostly used for images of oblique angles. Perspective control is a sensitive process requiring interpolating adjacent pixels, which may cause decreased sharpness. A well-edited image will look similar to a perspective control lens view.

12. Lens correction: Images come with distortions of fisheye, pincushion distortion, mustache distortion, or barrel distortion. Photo manipulation software offers many solutions similar to automatic & manual lens correction tools and lens correction filters to address lens distortion. Lens correction retains the original appearance of the scene.

13. Enhancing images: Enhancing images is the photo editing process to improve image resolution, quality, composition, light, shadow, and stain by manipulation. Photo editors enhance image quality and resolution by applying stinging & retouching techniques, and using filters.

14. Sharpening and softening images: Sharp, blurred, and dull images can be revived using photo editing computer program features deconvolution or unsharp masking. Such adjustments in smoothing and softening make images real yet appealing to look at.

15. Slicing of images: Image slicing is the latest advancement in photo processing software. Images are sliced from the whole image and used for webpages, graphic visuals, or dynamic swaps to increase the viewer’s interactivity.

16. Special effects: Each image editing software offers plenty of special effects in the form of distortion, bokeh, artistic & texture effects, color splash, glitch, geometric transformation, or a combination of effects to create a stunning view.

17. Stamp clone tool in Photoshop: The Photoshop stamp clone tool, Clone Stamp, and Rubber stamp tool is a brush-like tool for cloning a pixel to paste elsewhere. The process of the stamp clone tool is to copy and take samples from one part of an image to paint other parts. By selecting the brush size, ranging from 1 pixel wide to 100, a photo editor changes opacity and seamlessly matches the rest of the image.

18. Change color depth: The use of image editing software lets you change the color depth. Color depth stands for a unique number that represents colors in an image. 2, 4, 16, 256, 65,536, and 16.7 million colors are common color depths. File formats like PNG, and JPEG store color depths. Change of color depth impacts how the image file appears.

19. Change contrast and brightening: Image editing software features improve contrast, brightness, and underexposed or overexposed images. The applied transformation on color channels varies depending on the software. You can select the parts of the image to add contrast and brightness without affecting overall photos.

20. Gamma correction: Gamma correction refers to the process of regulating luminance in a photo. Gamma correction is a non-linear operation, meaning the alterations differ across brightness levels. Images edited with gamma correction will look natural and consistent regardless of the device. Image editor software has ‘Curves’ in the color menu to perform multiple tasks including gamma correction.

21. Photo color correction: Photo color correction refers to the manipulation of color, hue, tone, fading in and out, white balance, variation of light impacting the color, red-eye effect, mixing color channels, and also grayscale & sepia tone-like effects. Image manipulation software allows adjusting & manipulating colors and control over how the image appears.

22. Dynamic blending: Dynamic blending features a blend of multiple images to bring out unique visuals. Famous photographer Elia Locardi coined the term dynamic blending to the world. Various modes and parameters are used in the dynamic blending process, and images are manually blended into one HDR image. It creates a unified scene representing different lighting conditions.

Why Do Professionals Need Photo Editing?

Professionals similar to photographers, e-commerce managers, and online marketers edit their photos to deliver the brand’s message, attract targeted consumers, and drive conversions. Image editing is needed to improve image quality, maintain the brand’s consistency, and help viewers understand the brand’s message. Well-edited images convey messages effectively. When the image quality lacks or contains distractions, viewers don’t give it a second chance. All types of professionals use photo processing for the following reasons.

Professional photographers & studio owners need photo editing to get high-quality images. High-quality photos bring more satisfaction and create more business opportunities. Studio owners and photographers rely on image editing computer programs to adjust color, light, shadow, and tone and eliminate imperfections. A 2025 report titled Photo Editing Software Market Analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, Middle East, and Africa – US, Japan, Germany, UK, China, India, Canada, France, Italy, Brazil – Size and Forecast 2025-2029 has forecasted that the market size for the editing software will increase to $ 606.1 million. By editing photos, photographers preserve the photo’s artistic visuals and strengthen their portfolios.

E-commerce sellers and online store owners highly rely on high-quality images. Images drive prospective customers to the store. A 2022 blog titled Facts, Stats, and Impact of Product Photography on Modern E-commerce Buying Experience! by Slazzer has reported that photo quality is the most crucial factor to 90% of online shoppers. Edited photos show products from all angles with the right color and size. It assures the buyer to make the purchase.

Advertising agencies edit to enrich the photos with color, vibrance, and dynamism. It helps brands keep a consistently professional look, remove distractions, and resonate with the target audience’s needs.

Online marketers and influencers of digital platforms use photo editing to show a product’s significance, engage potential target audiences, and create brand awareness. Stunning visuals hook viewers and make them check the products the marketers and influencers are offering. A 2023 blog titled 52 Visual Content Marketing Statistics You Should Know in 2024 by Hubspot has reported that 47% of online marketers use images.

Fashion brands look to edit their images for striking creative appeal, show trends, and attract fashionistas. Professional retouchers improve fashion products such as apparel, jewelry, shoes, bags, and sunglasses, thus increasing sales.

Do Most Photographers Edit Their Photos?

Yes, most photographers edit their photos to uplift image quality, fulfill commercial purposes, and make satisfied clients. Reputed photographers live up to their names, maintaining consistent and dignified services with their work. Editing elevates the image’s appearance. Other reasons for photographers to edit their photos are listed below.

1. Build an Impactful Brand

Image editing helps photographers distinguish their works from the competitors. By applying photo editing techniques, they create high-quality & consistent images that resonate with their photography style. These changes help them connect with the target audience and become recognizable.

2. Acquire a Competitive Edge

Editing improves image quality. This is why e-commerce product photographers edit their photos. They alter color, light, and composition to create stunning visuals. It makes products appear attractive and convinces potential customers.

3. Establish Professionalism and Trust

Edited images look high-quality & polished, are devoid of flaws, and are right in exposure and composition. This angle demonstrates the photographer’s professionalism. Viewers trust such images and the intended message.

4. Cultivate Creative Expression 

Editing conservatives a photographer’s style and concept in photos. Photographers use colors, add or remove shadows, and lighting to express their creativity and emphasize the story through visual manipulation. 

5. Present Photos with Dominance 

Edited images help photographers engage with the target audience on social media and other digital platforms. Photo is a powerful medium for the promotion and marketing of online businesses. By posting edited photos, photographers impart their skills to businesses looking to shoot product/service photos.

How Do Photographers Edit Photos?

Photographers edit their photos by following a few consecutive steps as follows. 

Step 1: Photo culling: Image editors cull the photos first based on their editing requirements.

Step 2: Raw photo editing: This step proceeds differently depending on the editing types (retouching, background changing, etc). Once the basic editing is performed, editors adjust the client’s requirements and implement advanced-level editing techniques on the images.

Step 3: File exporting and submission: After the process has been completed, editors fine-tune the processed images and export them in jpg, jpeg, tiff, png, or other accepted file formats to deliver to the clients.

Editing images is a lengthy and technical process. An in-depth understanding of the software’s toolset is needed to express photos proficiently. The benefits of editing photos are enhanced image quality, the development of a personal style, and the creation of recognition among the target audience.

What is the difference between a photographer and a photo editor?

The main difference between a photographer and a photo editor is the applied skillset in photos. A photographer prepares the setup and captures the frame, giving the concept a life. Meanwhile, a photo editor manipulates and enhances images and is ready to distribute them.

A photographer and a photo editor can be the same person. Photographers need editing as a final touch, so they are directly involved in the editing process. On the other hand, photo editors don’t have to be involved with the photographers. They may receive images from other professionals to edit.

Who is a Photo Editor, and What Does an Image Editor Do?

A photo editor is a digital makeup artist to beautify any image. The role of photo editors is to transform raw images into high-quality and prepare them for dissemination.

Professional Image editors are proficient in editing software, tools, and techniques to enhance photos. Popular software that professional photo editors and editing companies use are Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, Affinity Photo, CyberLink PhotoDirector 365, GIMP, and ACDSee. They sort and review images, organize them based on editing requirements, and perform retouch, adjust color brightness, resize, and remove flaws. By working for a long time, they develop a distinctive image editing style to draw out the image’s best look.

The perception of photo editing as a job has shifted to art. Photo editing is an art that enhances photos’ resolution and appearance, removes flaws, and holds viewers’ attention. Earlier, editing only improved image quality, but now, editing is a purpose to deliver a message. That’s why renowned brands, studios, e-commerce stores, and professional photographers emphasize hiring professional photo editing solutions.

How Do You Improve Your Photo Editing Skills?

To improve your photo editing skills, combine your soft skills and technical skills. Photo editing is a highly useful and effective skill to learn. Both soft skill and technical skills will aid your learning journey and help you find your editing style.

• Soft skills to master photo editing: Patience, time management, teamwork, active listening, and receptivity to feedback. These help you shape your mindset and guide you to learning technical skills.
• Technical skills to master photo editing: The direct manual process involves choosing the right software, learning the basics, understanding the workflow, and keeping going with trial and error.

After being accustomed to using the tools, join the community and ask seniors for collaboration. Pay attention to the fact that such collaboration mostly comes with free or minimal pay, with an emphasis on first-hand learning from industry experts. Consistent practice with your preferred software will hone your skills.

How to Learn Complex and Advanced Photo Editing Techniques?

You can learn complex and advanced photo editing techniques by getting trained by expert photo editors. Advanced and complex photo editing techniques are difficult skills and challenging to learn. Assistance from experienced photo editors will lead you to persistent learning and ease up the process. You can access photo editing experts online and offline.

How to Learn Photo Editing Online?

There are 3 ways to learn photo editing online.

1. Software-provided courses

2. Skill development of online platforms, and

3. Free resources are available online

Each photo editing software offers plenty of tutorials and expert guidelines to aid the new user’s learning. You can upgrade to advanced learning by accessing free and paid courses. YouTube and Coursera offer plenty of free videos, whereas Udemy and Skillshare are premium platforms. You can also join active online communities and connect with global photo editors, build your network, and gain valuable insights for your work.

How to Learn Photo Editing Offline?

You can learn photo editing offline by attending a university or photography institute for diploma degrees or courses, joining clubs, and attending workshops. Besides, keep studying physical resources- printed materials, books, magazines, and tutorial DVDs for practicing the photo editing software.

What is the Best Photo Editing Software for Beginners?

The best 4 photo editing software for beginners are: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, Capture One Pro, and Skylum Luminar Neo. The best photo editing software or tool for beginners depends on the user interface, ease of use, features, minimal learning curve, and available resources.

1. Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is one of the most popular photo editing software in the post-production industry. Photoshop is beginner-friendly software due to its intuitive features, layer system, and wide range of tools. It offers documents, tutorials, courses, and community support for a smooth learning process. Its price starts at $22.99 with a 7-day free trial.

2. Adobe Lightroom

Adobe Lightroom is also well-known among new learners. Lightroom’s features include an intuitive layout, photo management, non-destructive features, filters and presets, and accessibility to editing tools. Similar to Photoshop, Lightroom also offers tutorials, community support, and video and document resources to aid their learner’s journey. Lightroom price starts at $11.99 with a 7-day free trial.

3. Capture One Pro

Capture One Pro’s usability is one of the main reasons why new users choose it. Users can customize and migrate their workspace from other software to Capture One Pro. Moreover, its session-based workflow, importing and sorting, advanced masking capabilities, document & video resources, and webinars are helpful for the learners. Capture One Pro’s price starts at $21.58 with a 30-day free trial.

4. Skylum Luminar Neo

Skylum Luminar Neo is reputed among the new users for its simplified navigation. Users don’t feel overwhelmed. Also, the clean interface, AI-powered tools, numerous filters & effects, comprehensive learning resources, and detailed instructions are the reasons for its being beginner-friendly software. Pricing of Skylum starts at $49 with a 14-day free trial.

What Computer is Best for Photo Editing? 

The best computers for photo editing are Apple Mac Studio, HP Envy 34, Puget Systems Workstation, Dell XPS 15, and Microsoft Surface Studio 2. A well-rounded setup for photo editing is the combination of a fast CPU with multiple cores, at least 16GB RAM, an SSD, a GPU, a color-accurate monitor, and photo editing programs support OS. A powerful computer system supports processing power, storage usage, and complicated tasks to edit photos. Therefore, photo editors maintain a smooth workflow and perform heavy-weighted multi-tasking and accurate color representation for the images. 

Do You Need to Edit Your Business Photos?

Photo editing has proven to drive traffic and ROI for businesses. A 2024 blog titled 9 Importance of Product Photography Statistics in E-commerce in Business Dasher has reported that high-quality product photos had a 94% higher conversion rate than low-quality photos. Photo editing brings several techniques and elements together. High-quality images to drive traffic & conversion and maintain the brand’s reputation & professionalism. It produces a cohesive message delivery for all sizes of businesses and brands. The benefits of editing photos are as follows.

• Fastest and most cost-effective solution
• Ready images for marketing campaigns
• Earning customers’ trust and brand positioning.

Photography studios, e-commerce store owners, professional photographers, fashion businesses, online marketers, print media, and all modern businesses benefit from high-quality business images. The types of photos they mostly edit are headshot images, portrait photos, product images, model photos, and drone images.

Professional photo editing companies help brands achieve high-end edited images and retain brand consistency and professionalism. Post-processing companies are backed by highly skilled photo editors, premium software, & photo management technologies to provide customers with the best & secure image editing services regardless of volume and deadline.

Final Overview of Photo Editing

Here is a quick recap of what we have discussed up till now. 

• Photo editing is a subset of photography post-production. All photo editing types are boiled down to 3: Basic, Complex, and Advanced level photo editing techniques.

• Basic photo editing includes straightening, cropping, resizing, sharpening, white balancing, etc. Complex photo editing techniques include clipping paths, portrait corrections, retouching, and photo stitching. Advanced photo editing techniques encompass critical and creative work, such as photo restoration, product photography editing, and compositing.

• The photo editing process includes 3 steps: Photo Culling, Raw Photo Editing, and File exporting & submission.

• Professional photo editors are well-versed in the photo editing software. A combination of soft and technical skills is required to improve photo editing skills. Beginner-friendly image editing software is Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, Capture One Pro & Skylum Luminar Neo. To learn the ropes of photo editing, take advantage of both online and offline platforms, from software documents to premium video courses.

• Edited photos improve photo quality, elevate the brand’s perception, deliver message accurately, and drive niche-related conversions. That’s why renowned brands and different professionals hire photo editing companies to edit their photos.