7 Essential Steps Before Sending Luxury Product Photos for Realistic Retouching

Luxury product photos demand perfection. A perfect final image depends on the quality of raw image. Realism is the key to capture exclusivity of premium brands, whether high-end watches, designer handbags or expensive jewelry items.

High-end retouching requires some basic preparations. Here are 7 essential steps you must complete before sending images of luxury products for realistic retouching.

1. Ensure high-resolution images

It is essential to capture images in RAW format to maintain high resolution and preserve details. A sharp, high-resolution image makes working with find details easier. Also, it helps avoid pixelation and loss of quality that are usually the case with compressed file formats, such as JPEG or PNG.

2. Use proper lighting

Avoid taking photographs in broad daylight or at night. Use proper lighting setup when shooting indoors. Soft, diffused lighting should help you maintain the luxury appeal and highlight textures. Images with harsh shadows and overexposure are difficult to work with since details are usually lost.

3. Use a clean and neutral background

Retouching becomes complex for images with cluttered backgrounds. Choose a neutral color, such as white, gray or black as the background while shooting products. This makes background removal easier. Also, a neat background distracts less and helps keep the focus on the product.

4. Maintain consistent angles and perspectives

Keep the angles correct and consistent across images while shooting. This will ensure uniformity in product images and thus help build brand value. Incorrect angles can lead to distortion, and also make it harder to achieve realism in post-processing. It is better to keep brand guidelines and follow the same across product catalog.

5. Ensure products are clean and spotless

Though it is possible to remove fingerprints, dust, smudges or scratches through photo retouching techniques, it is better not to allow these imperfections to show up in the raw images themselves. Use microfiber cloths and compressed air to clean products before photography.

6. Maintain true-to-life colors

Products are shot with cameras that allow adjustment to maintain true-to-life colors, such as white balance. Again, these issues can realistically be dealt with during retouching. Luxury brands usually have their own color grading, which must be maintained during photography as well as retouching.

7. Capture fine textures and reflections properly

Fine details are what separate luxury product images from ordinary ones. Ensure proper exposure to intricate details, such as leather grains, metallic finishes and gemstones during photography. High-end retouching can refine these details even further. Also, try to capture the natural reflection of the product as it is always a better idea to enhance a natural reflection than to create a new one.

The last but not the least

Last but not the least is to choose the right retouching partner. Choose the one with years of experience and a very high percentage of repeat customers.

PicsRetouch is one such company with specialization in luxury product retouching. Our team is skilled in all aspects of high-end retouching and can very well create a fine balance between refinement and realism.