Stop wasting your time trying to find inexpensive and high-quality image editing services. Look through these 10 photo editing services reviews with before and after examples to make the right choice and not to spend money for nothing.
I’ve chosen this studio portrait because it is quite difficult to edit for amateurs. I’ve asked all photo editing services to fix image background, do something with this too orange light on the model’s face, clean her skin, adjust small details on her body and face.
I sent one shot to 10 image editing services and gave them identical instructions. While selecting websites, I studied a few reviews and used the articke about written by Jennifer Mulrow, a professional photographer.
Now it’s time to test and find out whether these services are worth our money and effort.
- FixThePhoto
Pros:
- High-End photo retouching
- Realistic results
- Fast turnaround
- Useful blog
- A huge choice of photo editing plug-ins in the shop
- Clear pricing system
is a professional photo editing service that works with all photography genres and can handle any photo editing level. The prices are reasonable and understandable, there are a lot of before and after photo editing examples and all of them are at the high level and can be zoomed in.
Before placing your order, you may get a free quote. Having attached the photos via website/DropBox/WeTransfer/email, you may write the instructions, add examples of what you need, your portfolio photos for giving your edits a consistent look, and mark out the areas you need to be fixed.
My photo editing looks professional – Fix The Photo retouchers paid attention to small details, even slight scratches on the chair were removed. I like their decision regarding the yellow spot of light on the face – they didn’t eliminate it completely but added the effect of soft light. The work with the background is great, the gradient is light and smooth. Her hands look better.
- WeEditPhotos
Pros:
- Low prices
- Very professional portrait retouching
- A detailed description of services
- Quick turnaround
makes a positive first impression, has a nice website design and an interesting blog for beginning photographers. Their before/after image editing examples allow you to see the changes made by scrolling the lever in the middle of the image. You will read a very detailed description of each type of photo editing service they provide to know exactly what you will get.
Unlike the previous photo editing service, the approach to dealing with the light-and-dark pattern on the model’s skin was slightly different, but it looks good too. Dodge & Burn is perfect. The texture of the background was preserved, but the color became smoother. Now the model’s face and body skin looks natural and perfectly airbrushed.
- Wedding Retouching Service
Pros:
- Cheap batch photo editing
- Discounts for bulk orders
- Fast turnaround in high wedding seasons
The name of this photo editor service tells in what photo genre these guys specialize in. is engaged in all kinds of portrait photo retouching, offers discounts on wedding images if you order batch edit (color correction of 700 shots, image retouching of 20 shots at the basic level + 5 shots with advanced image retouching for $99). The examples are very professional and look like magazine covers.
I like the overall mood of the edited portrait. These guys removed the yellow color making the face evenly and properly lit. Also, the shot became voluminous. Light body reshaping and work with fabric is realistic and looks nice. But they didn’t remove the scratch on the chair which is not so important and doesn’t spoil the overall photo composition.
- High End Beauty Retouching
Pros:
- High-level magazine retouch
- Creative approach to picture retouching
Cons:
- Quite expensive
This photo editing service is engaged exclusively in High-End and Magazine photo retouching, so the price tag is also higher – from $10 per photo and above.
In my instructions to this photo I specified – “Do something interesting with a yellow spot on the face or remove it completely”, and they chose the first variant. The skin retouching is very nice, the background was also modified well, but they changed the color to blue and smoothed its texture. I saw a slight body correction along with a straightened strap on her right shoulder. Overall, I’m satisfied with result.
- Nude Retouching Service
Pros:
- Deep skin retouching
- Many examples
Cons:
- Narrow focus of image editing
The same as the previous photo editing service, Nude Retouching Service is rather narrow-focused. Boudoir and nude photo editing is their main specialization. Their website resembles a fashion magazine. Prices are average – from $5 to $15 per image. The pricing is very convenient, with a detailed description of what you pay for.
Skin retouching and body correction are performed very professionally and naturally. You won’t find any flaws even zooming in, but her skin tone looks a little bit strange. They decided not to darken the light on the face and simply make it more muted and soft. As a result, the face is slightly different in color, it is especially noticeable on her lips.
- Photorelive
Pros:
- Fast turnaround
- Modest prices
Cons:
- Outdated website design
- Low-quality examples
- Inattention to details
- Many problems with order placement
According to many photo editing services reviews on photography forums, Photorelive is considered to be the best picture edit service online. I totally disagree with this opinion.
Their website is inconvenient. At the first visit, the website shocks you with its design of the early 2000s – incomprehensible patterns, colors, minimum of information and examples of low-resolution images. Yes, it is cheaper than the previous photo editing services, but when I see their examples of work, I feel like I went back for 15 years.
When I ordered picture retouching, I thought it was funny to choose the of skin blurring. Why is it necessary at all? Why can’t you just do realistically? I have had plenty of problems with the order – I even have a confirmation by a phone number.
After receiving the result, I noticed that the extra items on the background weren’t removed, although the wall was smoothed. They got the best out of the yellow spot on the face. The skin was retouched well, but the small details weren’t corrected.
- Retouche
Pros:
- Beautiful before and after examples
Cons:
- Inconvenient design
- Strange order system
- Not much information about services
If the website of the previous photo editing service for photographers seemed outdated, then these guys even didn’t try to make something stylish. I don’t know who worked on the design, but the full-page coconut, small font with grey highlights and a transparent background make your head ache after 10 seconds of viewing – are you serious, guys?
The most absurd thing is the examples of image editing work. In fact, they are edited at a great, professional level, but it is all hidden under the cover of a terrible website.
I didn’t expect to receive my order at all but I got it and it was pretty decent. They removed the glow from the face but the lips’ brightness was preserved, which is strange. There is an abundance of shadows in some parts of her body but in general, the skin looks good. The work with the background wasn’t carried out well as on the examples above.
- RetouchGem
Pros:
- Decent quality of image retouching
- Creative approach
Cons:
- Inconvenient website
- No pricing
The photo editing service welcomes you with a fantastic portrait, which apparently their retouchers have been working on for hours. Then you will notice text, a lot of text. If you go to their portfolio, you will see dozens of examples but they are all in small resolution. If you zoom in slightly, the slide show will be enabled. Some of the examples are great, some are pretty weird.
Excellent examples are placed together with descriptions of what is included in certain photo editing services. Their image resolution is decent and it is convenient to view before/after pictures. What about the prices? The website doesn’t feature any pricing, so you will find out the prices after making an order.
My image cost me $8. Retouchers got the best out of the yellow glow by preserving it and spreading all over the face. The background was made colder and they added a blue tint. All this contributed to the unusual mood of the shot.
- Fotofix
Pros:
- Many levels of photo editing
Cons:
- Outdated website design
- Examples of works in low resolution
- Registration is required
A big mystery for me is the tasteless and outdated websites of photo editing services online. People who use their services are associated with creative artists. When you see that the creators of the website do not care about it, why should you think that retouchers will care about your pictures well?
I think the main Fotofix problem is quite obvious. They created the website in 2007 and it looks like it hasn’t been updated for 12 years. Examples of poor-quality works and the prices in Fotofix credits raised a lot of questions.
As for image retouching, they chose the strangest way among all photo editing services. Instead of working separately with the glow, they just desaturated all the yellow colors turning it almost into B&W. Now the shot looks like a black-and-white picture with an orange spot on the top. The model’s skin looks too pale.
- PhotoEditingCompany
Pros:
- Cheap
Cons:
- Many website bags
- It is almost impossible to make an order
- No pricing
This Australian photo editing outsourcing service is quite popular in the USA. I visited their website several times, but recently it has been updated and changed the name to Mist. An update is a good thing when it leads to improvements. In case of PhotoEditingCompany, it caused the opposite.
80% of the windows and pictures aren’t loading, don’t work or are completely empty. It is impossible to test the website. The design is decent but unfinished. There are no prices, the button for making an order has disappeared. To place an order, you had to contact them directly on Facebook and by mail.
Image retouching cost $5 and I would call it average. The yellow glow was completely removed and the light on the face skin was evened out. But there is a big problem – the face began to look artificial, as the skin tone is different from the body skin color. The background wasn’t touched, except the color that has acquired another shade.
- DigitalPhotoEditingServices
Pros:
- Low price
- Large number of image editing services
Cons:
- Disappointing quality
- Examples of works in low resolution
- You can’t find out the price before ordering
I worked with this outsourcing photo editing service for the first time. As I understand, now it has a different name – Invensis, although the address is the same. The site looks fine, I don’t really like it, but it doesn’t put me off either.
The examples are not professional and they have a 250×100 resolution, so you can’t zoom in. Furthermore, the larger pictures have a watermark. To make an order, you need to specify a lot of personal data and I don’t think it is necessary. There is no pricing at all, you just place an order and only then find out how much it will cost.
I paid $5 for image retouching but I didn’t like what I received. They just brightened the picture, because even the line on the wall wasn’t removed. The skin retouching isn’t realistic and the yellow color has already begun to lose details, especially around her eyes.
- Photza
Pros:
- Convenient website
- Clear pricing
- Quick ordering
Cons:
- Picture retouching at a very low level
- Ignoring all the requests given in the instructions
The website of this picture editing outsourcing service looks quite professional – a lot of decent photo editing samples, various discounts, convenient pricing with a detailed description of everything that is included in the price.
In general, the expectations of this image edit service were huge. When I receive the shot, I had to double check several times, I couldn’t believe what they did. Maybe the problem is in the monitor they used, otherwise I don’t know how to explain it.
They just darkened her skin. In some parts, you may see clear strokes, but the funny thing is that the background remained untouched. The model’s skin was smoothed in some places, but it became too flat on the face.
The glare under the earring drives me mad, because they have eliminated all the glare that gave volume to her skin. But this particular glare has been preserved and it looks like a white spot.