The main goal of photo retouching services is to enhance the quality of an image as much as possible in order to match the photographers’ vision or their visualization of the photo. Retouching involves several steps such as adjusting brightness, correcting color contrast ratio, enhancing saturation levels, and sharpening an image. When in a post-processing workflow, editors pay heed to three key factors including external aspects in order to bring out the best quality photos to be printed or uploaded on a website.
Calibrating the Monitor
Monitor calibration for photo retouching will ensure the shades and colors on the photo will render rightly on screen, something that will influence the final image quality on display. Photo editors often do that using a monitor calibration device in order to bring out the accurate display colors. It is important to calibrate the display from time to time to make the right adjustments on the photo with consistency.
Adjusting the Color Space
The color profile is what governs the color range one can work in or the shades that editors can draw from an image. It refers to how the colors are quantified and organized, which enables for reproducible color range while retouching. Adobe RGB has more representations of color than sRGB, which will make one think the bigger the better while post-processing the photos.
In fact, sRGB is better being the standard color space of all things computer including apps, mobiles, and the web. This is why editors choose sRGB color space in order to simplify the photo retouching workflow and produce an output, which has the truest representations of color.
Adjusting Histogram Levels
Histograms represent the shadows, highlights and mid-tones or exposure of pixels through an image in a graphical form. The left side of the histogram in Photoshop represents the dark portions and the right side represents the bright portions of the photo. It is important for professionals to know how to read the graphical representation of pixels distributed as per the luminosity not only during photography but also while retouching the photo for the best results.
The experienced editors keep an eye on histograms to avoid clipping shadows and highlights and retain an element of depth in both image portions while making the adjustments that influence luminosity in photo retouching or post-processing.