A Guide To Hire A Commercial Photo Editing Team

Pictures have a crucial role to play as they attract prospective consumers, act as a sales pitch, and establish the brand image by maintaining a constant quality standard. Commercial photos are those images that are frequently used by online retailers, travel, advertising, fashion sectors, and more. Professional photo editing can help you gain an edge over the competition and ensure improved consumer response in such sectors.

But, photo editing is a skilled task. You need creative thinking and expertise to bring the best out of an image, for a respective business. It requires time and effort too. Let’s discuss the factors involved in commercial photo post-processing and find the best way to hire eligible commercial photo editing services.

Why Should You Outsource Photo Editing?

Every commercial image needs to undergo editing. However, online retailers and photo studios are confused about whether to engage commercial photo editing services or set up an in-house department. The following are the key reasons to outsource photo editing over in house

➔  Focus On Core Tasks:

Outsourcing commercial photo editing helps you focus on core tasks. Editing is an extensive process where a lot of tasks are involved. Whether you are a professional photographer or an eCommerce business, investing your team’s time in editing tasks can divert their focus from core responsibilities. However, if you assign this job to a third party, it will help you concentrate on the jobs that directly affect business growth.

➔  Get Expert Assistance:

Commercial photo editors have the skills and experience to perfectly execute your image post-production operations. You can discuss the editing goals with them. It is a smarter choice as it saves you the hassle of finding and recruiting the right talent. Even if you have editing skills, you can use them to audit their work quality instead.

➔  Save Time:

High-quality images are essential for any business, but editing to that perfection is time-consuming. Outsourcing will help you get the job done within deadlines. Moreover, regardless of the volume of photo editing requirements, it saves your turnaround time in comparison to an in-house team. Additionally, performing image editing yourself will occupy a large part of your valuable time.

➔  Focus on Revenue Generation:

One of the key reasons for hiring commercial photo editing services is finding time to work on tasks that generate profit. Such tasks help you reach your primary business goals. Whether it is networking, working on client referrals, or identifying new revenue streams, you need time and space to execute these tasks. You can also work on digital marketing activities like social media postings and blogging to improve your market reach.

How To Find The Best Remote Editing Team?

One size doesn’t fit all. To achieve your business goals, you need to find the best and most relevant outsourcing partner. Here are the steps to help you identify the most eligible commercial photo editors for your firm.

➔   Listing Remote Editing Services:

To hire commercial photo editing services you need to find and list a number of prospective agencies. As your analysis progresses you can conclude with the most suitable company. The following points can help you in the initial listing.

• Search online for commercial photo editing companies
• You can also look in various directories and forums.
• Analyze client testimonials
• Review past experience and the work trades

➔  Discuss Your Requirements:

Once you conclude a final list of a few prospective outsourcing partners, you need to discuss your requirements in detail. You can ask the following questions.

●     What is your hiring process?

A good commercial photo editing agency should have a well-planned process for new clients. It helps clients understand the system and it also clears their requirements to the agency.

●     Do you understand my style guide and editing needs?

The onboarding process should include step-by-step methods that help you convey the style guide and editing specifications that you need. It will consist of calls, meetings, online tutorials, and more. The editing company may assign a dedicated manager for your onboarding.

●     What will be the workflow?

Another crucial step is understanding the workflow. This entails how you are going to assign the tasks, and the way it will proceed until the final output.

●     What technologies do you use?

An efficient commercial photo editing services company will use advanced technical apparatus. Technology helps in creating a smooth and standardized process flow. Amateur remote workers often lack a technology setup that hinders the management of workflow. This also affects the scaling capacity and deadlines. For instance, if an outsourcing agency uses an advanced interface to upload tasks, monitor progress and download heavy output files, it makes the operations very easier.

●     How does your online interface work?

If your outsourcing agency’s interface provides you with the facility to create detailed and custom specifications, it gives you more control than an in-house editing setup.

●     How will I communicate the requirements and subsequent instructions?

In case, the agency has any, there is an alternative method to communicate the tasks and related instructions. Some commercial photo editing companies work on file transfer systems(FTP), while some have dedicated project managers. So, make sure you check the procedure to analyze the most suitable option.

●     What ensures consistency?

Try to analyze the quality testing and maintenance system that the agency has in place. Examine how they monitor tasks and review them. A great commercial photo editing agency should have a robust system to maintain quality standards as per the client’s requirements.

●     Do you have any quality assurance tools for proofing images?

Along similar lines, you need to inquire about the tools that the agency uses to proof images and also to copyright them. Check the methods for encryptions or watermarking wherever required.

●     Do I get flexible scaling options?

Customized plans are very helpful when outsourcing commercial photo editing. Whether you are a photo studio or an eCommerce firm, peak seasons see a high inflow of business, and some other months might have a lower amount of work. Flexible scaling options make engaging remote editing teams economically feasible, as you can scale up or low as per the business requirement.

●     What is your specialization?

Hiring an outsourcing agency that has a similar experience as yours is advantageous in many ways. Inquire about the photo editing service provider’s specialized trades, past experience, and successful projects.

Conclusion:

Commercial photo editing holds immense potential in terms of helping your business grow. It involves creativity and expertise. A good photo editing outsourcing company is advantageous as it saves your investment and time. It is also beneficial as you and your team can focus on core responsibilities, creating strategies, and fine-tuning business operations. That is why it is important to mark the goals of image editing and choose skilled outsourcing partners for the task.