title: "7 Essential Steps in Any Post-Processing Workflow" date: 2024-09-11 slug: /post-processing-workflow word_count: 2100 images: 5
7 Essential Steps in Any Post-Processing Workflow
Table of Contents
- What Is Post-Processing?
- 7 Essential Steps in Your Post-Processing Workflow
- Post-Processing Services at Pixel By Hand
- FAQ
What Is Post-Processing?
Post-processing is the act of editing and enhancing your photographs after they have been taken. Common techniques include:
- Cropping: Changing the aspect ratio or trimming the edges of your photograph.
- Levels and Curves: Adjusting the brightness, contrast, shadows, and highlights of your image.
- Colour Correction: Adjusting the white balance, vibrance, and saturation of your image.
- Sharpening: Making your image appear sharper and clearer.
- Noise Reduction: Reducing the amount of digital noise in your image.
- Horizon Line Correction: Ensuring the horizon line is level — especially important for landscape photographers.
- Vignetting Correction: Fixing dark corners caused by lens characteristics or shooting in RAW.
- Saturation: Adjusting the intensity of colour. Be careful not to overdo it, as too much saturation can make a photo look artificial.
- Highlights and Shadows: Bringing out detail that might be lost in shadows or blown out in highlights, adding depth and dimension.
- Contrast: Increasing the difference between light and dark areas to make your photo more dynamic and engaging.
- Removing Unwanted Elements: Using the clone stamp or healing brush tool to remove stray hairs, dust, or other distractions.
- Digital Blending: Creating HDR images or blending multiple exposures for added drama and interest.
For eCommerce brands, post-processing can make the difference between a product that sells and one that does not. Imagine looking at a beautiful image of a dress on a website — but when you click to enlarge the photo, you see it has been heavily retouched with unrealistic skin tones, proportions, and neckline. You are less likely to buy because it does not look authentic.
On the other hand, natural post-processing can make an image look more polished without looking fake. Small changes like removing blemishes or adjusting colour accuracy can make a big difference in the final product.
There are endless possibilities when it comes to post-processing, which is why having a consistent workflow is essential. A workflow is a system you follow each time you edit a photo, ensuring you do not miss any steps and that your photos are consistently edited to your standards.
Though some photographers would rather spend time behind the camera than at a computer, every photographer needs to do at least some post-processing to maintain artistic and technical standards.
Start your free trial — send us your product images and we will show you how professional post-processing can transform your listings.
7 Essential Steps in Your Post-Processing Workflow
These steps are not meant to restrict you — they serve as guidelines for editing your photos. Everyone's workflow is different, so once you have completed these seven steps, feel free to declare your image complete or continue refining it.
1. Crop and Straighten Your Images
The first thing to do when opening images in Lightroom is crop and straighten them. Although it is best to get the composition right in-camera, slight improvements can often be made when viewing the image on screen. Just do not rely on this too heavily.
Cropping usually results in a lower resolution and more noticeable flaws. It is also easy to take a slightly crooked image when hand-holding your camera — not an issue as long as you remember to correct it.
Always check the horizon line and make sure it is level. In Lightroom, go to the Develop Module and find the "Straighten" tool under the Crop & Rotate section. Do this before making any other adjustments, as it will change the overall composition.
2. Adjust the White Balance
If you want your images to look natural, getting the white balance right is essential. White balance is the level of warmth or coolness in an image. Cameras try to automatically adjust white balance, but sometimes they get it wrong.
Most photographers shoot in RAW and leave the camera's white balance on Auto. The RAW file format allows you to change the image temperature without any loss of quality — even though it means more time at the computer.
When you want a warmer image, use higher colour temperatures (higher degrees K) to counteract colder light. For a cooler image, use lower temperatures (lower K) to balance out a warmer colour cast.
3. Check the Exposure
After adjusting the white balance, check your exposure. Take a close look at your image to determine if it is too bright, too dark, or just right.
The histogram is a very useful tool. Look for blown-out highlights or crushed blacks as peaks pressing against either end of the graph, as well as gaps indicating a lack of darker or lighter tones.
Although getting perfect exposure in the field is ideal, post-processing gives you room to work with. Lightroom has a general Exposure slider for small corrections, and you can also adjust the more specific Highlights, Shadows, Whites, and Blacks sliders. The Tone Curve lets you control brightness and darkness more precisely.
4. Check the Vibrance and Saturation
To intensify all colours, use the Saturation setting. To target only the less saturated colours, use Vibrance instead. Both are easy to find in photo editing software.
Use Saturation and Vibrance cautiously to avoid overwhelming the viewer. A little goes a long way. Different colours react differently to these settings — for example, boosting the saturation of blue skies can produce an unnatural result.
5. Check for Noise
Check the noise levels after adjusting your image. This is especially important if you used a long exposure or high ISO when taking the shot. Increasing exposure in post-processing can also add unwanted noise.
Noise is usually easy to spot — look for graininess or colour distortion. Use a noise reduction filter in your editing software if needed. To avoid noise in the first place, shoot in RAW format and use a tripod for long exposures.
Keep in mind that removing noise also decreases overall image sharpness (for luminance noise) and saturation (for colour noise), so use this correction sparingly.
6. Check the Sharpness
Sharpness is the level of detail and clarity in your image, affected by camera, lens, settings, camera shake, motion blur, and noise.
Use the Sharpen tool in your editing software, but be careful not to overdo it — excessive sharpening creates an unnatural look. Alternatively, increase the Clarity setting to make details more pronounced without making the overall image look oversharpened.
7. Check the Composition
Once all technical aspects are finalised, step back and evaluate the composition. Consider:
- Is the subject centred or off to one side?
- Are there distracting elements that should be cropped out?
- Does the photo have good balance and symmetry?
If the composition could be improved, do not hesitate to crop. Cropping is one of the most basic and essential editing techniques and can make a significant difference in the overall look of your photo.
Send us your images for a free sample edit — see how our professional editors can polish your product photos.
Post-Processing Services at Pixel By Hand
When it comes to running an eCommerce business, product photos play a crucial role in your success. Professional product photography can make a big difference in how your products are perceived by potential customers, helping you stand out from the competition.
But professional photography can be expensive, and not everyone has the budget for it. That is where post-processing services like Pixel By Hand come in. We take your existing product photos and edit them to look their best.
With over 10 years of experience and 380+ eCommerce clients, our team of professional photo editors can improve the colour, contrast, and overall look of your photos. We also offer a wide range of services including background removal, image resizing, and product photo montages.
If you are interested in learning more about our post-processing services, contact us today. We will be happy to answer your questions and provide a free quote.
FAQ
What is the difference between post-processing and retouching? Post-processing covers all editing done after a photo is taken, including cropping, colour correction, and exposure adjustments. Retouching is a subset of post-processing that focuses specifically on removing imperfections — blemishes, dust, scratches — to create a cleaner final image.
Do I need to shoot in RAW for good post-processing results? Shooting in RAW gives you significantly more flexibility during post-processing, as RAW files contain far more data than JPEGs. This means you can adjust white balance, exposure, and colours with much less quality loss. For professional product photography, RAW is strongly recommended.
How long should post-processing take per image? This depends on the complexity of the edit. Basic adjustments like cropping, white balance, and exposure take just a few minutes. More detailed work like retouching, background removal, and colour matching can take 15-30 minutes or more per image.
Can I create a consistent look across all my product photos? Yes, and you should. Using presets in Lightroom or actions in Photoshop allows you to apply the same adjustments across your entire catalogue. For best results, ensure consistent lighting and backgrounds during the shoot, then apply uniform post-processing.
When should I outsource post-processing instead of doing it myself? Consider outsourcing when you have a large volume of images, when you need consistent professional quality, or when your time is better spent on other areas of your business. A service like Pixel By Hand can handle high volumes efficiently whilst maintaining quality.