In the following guide to photo editing, you’ll learn: 

• What photo editing means (and why it matters)
• Different types of photo editing, from simple to complex
• Real-world examples of edits for portrait, sports, and product photography

And if you’re ready to level up your own photo edits, check out our free tutorials and professional editing services.

What is photo editing?

Photo editing is the act of image enhancement and manipulation. This process is usually done with a digital photo editing software. Photo editing can involve basic tweaks like when you crop and resize images or adjust saturation. It also includes advanced techniques like swapping faces or photo retouching to get rid of distracting elements or unwanted objects.

Some image editing techniques are done manually, while others are conducted through automated photo editing tools and software. Most edits to digital photography involve some one or a few photo editing programs. Some edits are even done offline on actual photographs, posters, or other printed collateral without any image editing software.

Other terms for photo editing include:

• Image editing
• Post-processing
• Image/photo manipulation
• Photoshopping
• Image/photo enhancement

The importance of photo editing

Editing helps you fine tune and get the best image possible, as close to what you imagined when you took the photo (or better perhaps). Niche photographers can hone and emphasize their personal style. And for businesses, editing helps cement branding and optimize for business goals.

Photo editing is particularly important for ecommerce companies. Image quality directly affects people’s opinion of the product and sales numbers. If you have ugly photos, it’s going to be tough to convince a shopper to purchase your product. 

Types of photo editing

There are many ways to edit a photo—some simple and others more complicated.

Many people can figure out simple photo editing techniques on their own—though this does require time and patience. More complex adjustments may require using dedicated programs with specific photo editing features or hiring a trained professional editor.

Simple photo editing techniques include:

• Straighten: adjust the horizon of the photo

• Crop: image cropping involves trimming out a portion (usually peripheral) of the image to help draw attention to the subject or otherwise improve the composition

• Resize: adjust the dimensions of the image

• Sharpen: enhance the definition of the edges in an image (won’t make a blurry image in-focus)
• Noise reduction: smoothing the picture out, typically accomplished by reducing the pixel size
• White balance: the color of the light in the image

• Contrast: higher contrast makes an image more punchy, while lower contrast makes it flatter in color

• Exposure: the brightness of the photo

• Lens correction: lessens the effect(s) of the camera lens
• Color adjustments: change the color of an item or element in the photo
• Background removal: delete the background from the image, isolating the subject (this is often used for white background product photography)

More complex techniques include:

• Clipping paths: vector path that differentiates the part of the image that’s visible and the part that’s transparent (extracts a subject or element from an image)
• Portrait corrections: complexion touch-ups and enhancements
• Drop and reflection shadow: create and adjust shadows
• Special effects: this can mean an array of things, from animation to adding weather conditions like fog or snow
• Adjusting text and visuals: add overlays or manipulate what’s already there
• Photo stitching: when you seamlessly put two images together to make it look as though they were shot that way
• Photo masking and Layers: the process of hiding and revealing specified portions of an image
• Mirror effect: when you create a perfectly symmetrical photo, often used for apparel product shots

Pixel editing and parametric image editing

Two methods of digital photo editing are pixel editing and parametric image editing. Let’s look at their definitions:

What is pixel editing?

Pixel editing, or pixel-level editing, is when you alter an image at the pixel level. Because you’re altering the pixels themselves, this also permanently changes the image file. That’s why pixel editing is considered a destructive form of photo editing because it’s not as easy to undo the changes and restore the original file.

Pixel editing allows you to make extremely detailed edits and accomplish certain functions that parametric image editing can’t (like CMYK color modes, for example).

What is parametric image editing?

Parametric image editing (PIE) doesn’t change the pixels of the image. Instead, these edits are recorded as a set of steps to follow to accomplish the final look. Thus, it’s a non-destructive mode of photo editing. However, PIE doesn’t always allow for all types of edits.

Many in the industry recommend starting with PIE, and then using pixel editing to refine the final details.

Examples of photo editing

There are so many ways to edit photos, and everyone has a unique approach. You might see examples of photo editing on social media or YouTube.

Here are some examples of photo edits the team at Path have done for businesses from all around the world: 

Background removal

Photo retouching

Ghost mannequin

Editing different types of photos

Product and ecommerce photography

Product images will almost always require or benefit from post-processing. Aim for consistency, especially if you’re working on multiple products for the same company or are providing several types of photos of the same product.

Visuals help market brands and sell products, but you should also think about where the image will be used. Is it for an advertisement, ecommerce page, social media, or a print catalog? A white background shot will call for much different edits than an image for a Facebook ad. Likely, you’ll be able to get more creative with advertising imagery.

Here are some of the most common types of edits for product photography:

Image source

• Brightness and exposure: If you didn’t nail the lighting, you can make substantial adjustments post-shoot.
• Background removal: This is a common edit for product photos, especially if you’re listing the item on Amazon, which has a white background requirement. Regardless, white background maintains consistency.
• Color correction: It’s important that product photos portray the item as accurately as possible so it’s a smart idea to color correct all of your product images. As many as 64% of returns happen because the product didn’t match customer expectations based on product images and descriptions.
• Color change: For products that come in several colors, it’s important to showcase the variety. Instead of photographing the product in every color, photo editors can make the changes post shoot.

Sports photography

Sports images are often captured in fast-paced, unpredictable environments—making photo editing essential for polishing the final result. Whether you’re working with action shots from the field or editorial images of athletes, editing helps enhance sharpness, fix lighting, and direct attention to the key moment.

Common edits for sports photography include:

• Cropping: Reframe the shot to highlight peak action or key players. A tighter crop can add intensity and drama.
• Sharpening: Motion blur is common in sports. Sharpening can help make images feel more crisp and in focus.
• Color correction: Natural lighting varies across stadiums and gyms. Post-shoot edits bring consistency and accuracy.
• Background cleanup: Remove distractions from the crowd or surroundings that pull attention away from the subject.
• Spot retouching: Clean up sweat, mud, or jersey wrinkles to create stronger, cleaner visuals for media or brand use.

If you’re editing for a team, school, or sponsor, keep branding consistency in mind—many sports photographers rely on editing templates to maintain uniformity across hundreds or thousands of images.

Headshot and portrait photography

Headshots and portraits are often the first impression someone gets of a person—whether it’s for a professional bio, dating profile, modeling portfolio, or graduation announcement. Editing can enhance natural features while preserving authenticity.

Here are common edits for portraits and headshots:

• Skin retouching: Reduce blemishes, smooth skin, and even out tone without losing texture.
• Whitening teeth and eyes: Brighten smiles and make eyes pop subtly and naturally.
• Color correction: Adjust tones to match a flattering, realistic look or a specific brand aesthetic.
• Flyaway removal: Clean up stray hairs or lint that distract from the subject.
• Background editing: Simplify or replace backgrounds to match the intended context—e.g., corporate headshot vs. lifestyle portrait.

The key with headshot and portrait editing is to enhance, not transform. The goal is to present someone in their best light while keeping the photo true to who they are.

Learn how to edit your photos

If you’re ready to learn how to edit your own photos, check out this handy collection of Photoshop tutorials. Here are a few to get started with:

• Fundamental Photo-Editing Checklist: 11 Steps to Perfect Product Photos
• A Beginner’s Guide to Photoshop Tools
• How to Create a Realistic Drop Shadow
• How to Blur the Background in Photoshop: A Tutorial for Your Product Photos
• 30+ Best Photo Editing Apps for Product Photographers on the Go
• Photoshop Tutorial: A Beginner’s Guide to Using Layers
• How to Create a Transparent Background in Photoshop
• How to Change the Background Color of a Picture

Photo editing history

What is a professional photo editor?

A person who edits images can either be self-employed, contracted by an outsourced company or agency, or someone who works in-house. There are many possible job titles for a photo editor, including digital photo editor, graphic designer or art director, among others.

Typically, photo editors specialize in specific industries, much like photographers. For example, real estate, editorial, and product photography all come with their own set of trends and intricacies. Editors that focus on ecommerce images know how to make products pop.

Our virtual photo editing studio is made of more than 300 trained professional photo editors who specialize in the following: 

• Ecommerce
• Product
• Sports
• Headshot
• Portrait photography

Tackle your photo editing projects with Path

Learning new photo editing techniques can be an enjoyable way to break up your day and add to your industry knowledge, but editing photos can be time-consuming, especially if photography is your specialty. If you need fast, affordable, high-quality photo-editing services, the professionals at Path are here to help.

What is photo editing? FAQs

Can I edit a photo for free?

Yes, you can edit a photo for free. You can use free photo editing tools and do it yourself. You can also use free AI photo editing tools, but these edits require careful quality checks. Or, send your first two photos to Path to get them edited for free.

How can I edit a picture image?

• Open your photo editing tool of choice
• Upload or open the photo you want to edit
• Make your desired edits
• Save your work

What is the best app to use for photo editing?

• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Lightroom
• GIMP
• Pixlr
• Snapseed
• VSCO

How do I edit my photos like a pro?

Edit photos like a pro by learning basic and advanced Photoshop techniques, outsourcing the tedious edits, and optimizing for the right use and context.

What is the meaning of photo editing?

The meaning of photo editing is the process of manipulating and enhancing a photo. Photo editing can involve basic tweaks like cropping, resizing, and applying artistic filters. It also includes advanced manipulations like retouching and removing unwanted elements and distractions.

What are the 5 basics of photo editing?

• Cropping
• Resizing
• Applying simple clipping paths
• Changing colors
• Adjusting exposure

What is the purpose of a photo editor?

A photo editor can save you time and stress because they have the skills necessary to accomplish tedious, time-consuming, or complicated editing tasks for you.

Let us look after your image edits, so you can get back to the fun stuff. Try Path free.

Learn more

The post What Is Photo Editing?: A Definition appeared first on Path Edits.

Luckily, resizing images without losing quality is easy once you know how. This guide walks you through how to resize an image in Photoshop without losing quality and all the other best methods—starting with what to consider before you begin.

Preparing for image resizing

Before you resize an image, consider the following: 

• Aspect ratio: Make sure the image keeps its proportions so it doesn’t look stretched. Common ratios include 1:1 (square) for profile pics, 16:9 for banners, and 3:2 for product shots.
• Required dimensions: Every platform has its own size recommendations—Instagram Stories need 1080x1920px, while blog images usually fall between 1200px and 1600px wide.
• Resolution: Web images should be 72 DPI for fast loading, while print needs at least 300 DPI for high-quality results.
• Use case: Think about where the photo will be used. This helps avoid distortion and keeps your visuals looking sharp. Websites and online stores need smaller file sizes for speed, while social media platforms have specific size guidelines to keep images looking their best.

It’s also a good idea to make sure you start with a high-quality image. No amount of editing or resizing can make a poor-quality photo look great. 

How to reduce image size in Photoshop: shortcut

If you want a quick and easy way to resize images in Photoshop, follow these steps:

If you’re already using Photoshop, open your image by going to File > Open from the menu at the top of the application window. If you have just opened Photoshop, you can still open the image directly from the opening screen. You can also use the shortcut CTRL + O (COMMAND + O on a Mac) to open an image at any time.

Navigate through your documents until you find your image, and open it. Then, go to Image > Image Size in the top menu. You can quickly access the Image Size window by typing CTRL + ALT + I (COMMAND + ALT + I on a Mac).

In the Image Size dialog box, enter the new dimensions you want to resize your image to. Make sure the chain link icon (to keep proportions) is enabled.

If you are sizing an image for your ecommerce website, you will want the dimensions to be as small as possible without losing quality. A good rule of thumb? Keep images around 1000px wide (2000px wide if they are to fill the screen from side to side). You can keep an eye on the final file size with the “Image Size:” text at the top of the dialog box. In general, try to keep ecommerce images under 200K to ensure fast load times.

Next to Resampling, choose a method that works best for the type of image you are working with:

• Bicubic Sharper (reduction) is best for reducing the size while still showing a lot of detail
• Bicubic (smooth gradients) will produce the best images for showcasing flawless skin by smoothing edges
• Nearest Neighbor produces very harsh edges and emphasizes artifacts. Only use this if you want a grainy, pixelated look.

All other resampling options are for enlarging images, not reducing them. If you’re not sure which resampling to choose, stick with “Automatic.”

Click OK, then save your resized image (File > Export > Export As…).

For more control over file size and compression, Photoshop’s Export As… tool is a great option—covered in the next section.

How to reduce image size in Photoshop: Export As…

The Export tool in Photoshop is one of the best ways to shrink image file sizes without sacrificing too much quality. Whether you’re optimizing a product image, a thumbnail, or a homepage banner, it can balance image clarity with fast loading speeds.

Using the Export function in Photoshop is often comparable to the compression you’ll get from other tools, without the extra steps (or extra cost) of needing to access additional software.

Before using the Export function, set your ideal image aspect ratio in the top, left hand corner after selecting the Crop tool.

Once your image is cropped (if needed), resize and compress it using the Export function.

Go to: File > Export > Export As…. You can also use the Export As… keyboard shortcut CTRL + SHIFT + ALT + W (ALT + SHIFT + COMMAND + W on a Mac)

This opens the Export As… window, where you can fine-tune file size and quality.

Photoshop image resizing settings

Here are some of the image resize file size and other settings you can choose from:

• Preview section: See what your image will look like after export. Clicking on 2-Up allows you to see different options side-by-side 
• File format: On the right-hand side of the screen, you can choose what file type your exported image will be. JPEG is best for compression while keeping quality. PNG is great for transparency but results in larger files. If you have a simple vector-style graphic with no transparency, PNG-8 will give you a great-looking file at a fraction of the size of a PNG-24 (see below). If your graphic is animated, save as an animated GIF.
• Quality (for JPEG): When the JPEG file format is selected, you can use the slider to move between low quality and high quality. A compression level around 5 or 6 is usually adequate. 
• Quality (for PNG): When PNG is selected, you have the choice to choose “Transparency” and “Smaller File (8-bit)” If you want a high quality, transparent image (known as a PNG-24), check Transparency and leave Smaller File unchecked. However, if you need to compress an image heavily and transparency isn’t that important, choose Smaller File. This will allow you to export your file as a lower-quality, smaller-sized PNG-8.
• Image size: The dimensions of your image. If you know the exact dimensions you need, you can enter them here. Or, if you want to reduce the size by a percentage, you can use the Percent scaler as well. 
• Resample: This is how Photoshop “rebuilds” parts of the image’s data that are altered during compression. Any time you enlarge or reduce an image’s size, you’re going to affect the original proportion that the image had in relation to pixels per inch and dimensions. Bicubic creates smoother gradients, but does not allow for the most compression. Explore other options such as Nearest Neighbor (most basic and worst preservation of detail), Bilinear (usually better for upsampling), Bicubic Smoother (designed for upsampling) or Bicubic Sharper (better for downsampling/preserves detail).
• File size: On the lefthand side of the Export As… window, you can see the file size of the optimized image.

There’s no one-size-fits-all option here. When reducing an image in Photoshop, each image generally takes an individualized amount of tweaking to find the best image quality with the best compression.

Image resizing tools

Web tools to edit images and reduce file size

• Bulk Web Resizer: This site allows you to upload a batch of images and then resize according to your desired dimensions. You can also adjust the image quality to your needs (choose 100 if you want to preserve the original quality), as well as sharpen images.
• Canva: Canva’s free photo editor allows you to crop and resize images on its site. Additional free editing tools include flipping and rotating images, adjusting the color, and adding filters.
• ImageOptim: ImageOptim can be used in your web browser or via a Mac application. To shrink files, ImageOptim gets rid of EXIF meta­data, such as GPS position and the camera’s serial number — however, you can choose to keep specified metadata intact (which is essential to optimizing your product photos for SEO). There’s also a Lossy minification option, which ImageOptim says will result in the smallest file size possible, while preserving image quality. ImageOptim has pricing plans, starting at $9/month for 1,000 image optimizations.
• Kraken: Kraken has a web application and a developer API that can handle bulk image optimization and resizing. The simple web interface is free, and you can drag and drop photos or upload by entering the image URL. There are also different pricing options depending on how many images you work with and how frequently you need to reduce their size. Pricing is based on the total number of GB.
• Pixlr: Resize and also edit photos as needed. The image-editing site also has a free vector-editing tool, as well as free fonts and graphics you can use.
• pngquant: This tool will compress .png files to reduce the file size. 
• TinyJPG/TinyPNG: This site allows you to reduce the file size of your images. There are no editing features; instead, TinyJPG/TinyPNG focuses on compressing files to ultimately reduce the file size, stripping unnecessary data from your image.

AI resizing and compression tools

• Let’s Enhance: great for resizing photos for print and digital use.
• Squoosh: web-based, Google-backed compressor with advanced controls.
• Upscale.media: AI-powered upscaler for improving resolution.

Plugins that reduce image size within your CMS

There are tons of plugins on the market that make the image resizing process easier and more automated, all from within your CMS. Here are just a few:

WordPress

• EWWW Image Optimizer
• Imagify
• Optimole
• ShortPixel
• WP Smush PRO

Shopify

• Avada SEO & Image Optimizer
• Crush.pics – Image Compression and Optimization
• LoyaltyHarbour Image Optimizer
• SpurIT SEO Image Optimizer
• Tiny SEO Speed Image Optimizer

Tips for resizing ecommerce photos

For ecommerce product photography, maintaining high quality while optimizing file size is key. Here are some best practices:

• Recommended dimensions: Most platforms work well with 1000×1000 px for product images. If zoom functionality is needed, go for 2000×2000 px or higher.
• Aspect ratio: Stick to 1:1 (square) for product photos and 16:9 or 4:3 for banners and hero images.
• Compression: Keep file sizes under 200 KB for fast loading. JPEGs with a “High” setting in Save for Web are a good choice.
• Background: Use a clean white or transparent background to keep the focus on the product.
• Resampling: Use Bicubic Sharper for downsizing to preserve details.

Tips for resizing headshots

Headshots should look sharp and professional across platforms without being too large. Here are some tips to keep in mind: 

• Recommended dimensions: For LinkedIn, company websites, or professional use, 400×400 px works well. For print or high-res needs, go for 1200×1200 px or more.
• Aspect ratio: Stick with 1:1 (square) for profile pictures or 4:5 / 2:3 for portraits.
• File type: Use JPEG for web (compressed but sharp) and PNG for transparent backgrounds.
• Compression: Aim for a file size under 100 KB for web use to prevent slow loading.
• Resampling: Use Bicubic Sharper when reducing size to keep facial features crisp.

Outsource your image resizing needs

Resizing images properly takes time, especially if you’re working with a large volume of product photos, headshots, or marketing assets. Instead of spending hours tweaking dimensions and compression settings, consider outsourcing to a professional image-editing service.

At Path, we specialize in high-quality image resizing, background removal, drop shadow, and more—all done by expert editors with precision and speed. Whether you need bulk resizing for an ecommerce store or perfectly optimized headshots, you’re in good hands with Path.

Need bulk image resizing done right? Try Path free—fast, flawless, and optimized for web.

Learn more

Image resizing and compression FAQs

Does resizing affect SEO?

Yes, large images slow websites, hurting rankings.

What’s the ideal file size for web images?

The ideal file size for web images is under 100KB for optimal performance.

The post How to Resize Images Without Losing Quality in Photoshop (+ Other Tools) appeared first on Path Edits.

Learn what the Magic Wand Tool is and how to select and mask in Photoshop with it. This Photoshop masking tutorial will turn you into a pro in no time.

What is the Magic Wand Tool?

The Photoshop Magic Wand Tool is a quick and easy way to select and mask certain portions of an image, giving you the ability to alter one part of your image while leaving other parts intact. One of the most common uses of this tool is to swap out or remove the background of a product photo, leaving the subject of the image in place. 

The Magic Wand Tool works by selecting an area of solid color within an image. Once your selection is made, the Magic Wand Tool gives you multiple options for refining that selection. 

What is the Magic Wand Tool used for?

The Magic Wand Tool is a go-to tool when you want to display a product in various settings by showing it against different backgrounds, or when you want to remove a background altogether so your product stands on its own.

This is often the case for marketplaces like Amazon or eBay, which have product photo requirements of their own that outline the approved backgrounds your images can have.

How to select and mask in Photoshop with the Magic Wand Tool

For the following tutorial, we’ll be working with this photo of a soccer player. You’ll learn how to remove the background from the player using the Magic Wand Tool, so that you can later put the player into different scenes. The Magic Wand Tool is a great option for removing backgrounds on photos with a mostly solid background.

Step 1: Unlock the background and select the Magic Wand Tool

Before you can use the Magic Wand Tool, you’ll need to make sure your layers are set up correctly. Go to your Layers panel, located by default in the lower right-hand corner of Photoshop 2024’s application window. If you don’t see the Layers panel, you can bring it forward by choosing Window > Layers from the dropdown menu at the top of the application window.

Within the Layers panel, double click on the Layer entitled Background.

A pop-up window will appear, prompting you to rename the layer “Layer 0.” Click OK.

Within Adobe Photoshop 2024, choose the Magic Wand Tool from the Toolbar. By default, the Toolbar is placed to the left of the application window. The Magic Wand Tool may be hidden behind the Object Selection Tool or Quick Selection Tool.

Note: To select any tool that is hidden “behind” another tool, choose the tool that is in front, and then hold the mouse button until other tools are visible. Then, select the visible tool you need.

Step 2: Select the solid areas of the background using the Magic Wand Tool

There are several different ways to use the Magic Wand Tool to remove a background. We’ll start with the simplest method and work our way to more advanced methods as we refine our selection.

When you click on a portion of your image using the Magic Wand Tool, the tool selects the pixel you selected along with adjacent pixels of the same (or similar) colors. 

Once you have the Magic Wand Tool selected, you’ll see several different options in the Options Bar at the top of the screen. You can adjust the Tolerance of the Magic Wand Tool here. The higher the Tolerance, the more similarly colored pixels will be selected alongside the pixel you select with the tool.

For this example, we will keep the Tolerance at 10.

Click somewhere within the background of the image. The Magic Wand Tool will create a selection of all contiguous portions of your image that are roughly the same color as the background portion you selected.

The Magic Wand Tool did a relatively decent job, but there are some portions of the background (such as between the player’s legs and under his right arm” that are not selected.

To select areas of the background that did not get selected, hold down the SHIFT key and click within those areas that need to be selected. Holding SHIFT allows you to add to the existing selection without deselecting anything.

Step 3: Select other portions of the background and foreground

The ground in this photo is not a solid color like the background. It is, however, all varying shades of green. In order to select an area that is all about the same color but has a lot of detail, we need to adjust the Tolerance of the Magic Wand tool to a higher value. In this example, we’ve set the Tolerance to 50 and selected the grassy ground area of the photo.

The results are less than perfect, but if we were to make the Tolerance much higher, we might accidentally select portions of the player’s legs.

To smooth out the selection, choose Select > Modify > Smooth… from the dropdown menu at the top of the application window.

In the Dialog Box that appears, set the smooth value to something large enough to smooth out the edges of the selection but small enough to keep the integrity of the selection’s outline. For this example, we’ll set the value to 5.

Click OK.

The selection now looks almost close to perfect. Almost.

Step 4: Create a mask

Select the inverse of your current selection by choosing Select > Inverse from the dropdown menu or by typing SHIFT + CTRL + I (SHIFT + COMMAND + I on a Mac).

Now, your subject is selected (instead of your background).

Next, go to Select > Modify > Contract… to tighten the edges of the selection. This is to compensate for any artifacts that may have appeared in the selection when we smoothed it earlier.

In the dialog box that appears, set a Contract value to something between 1 and 4 pixels. The amount you set it to will vary depending on the image you are working with. In this example, I’ve set the value to 3.

Click OK.

In your Layers panel, look for the Mask icon at the bottom of the panel. It will look like a black rectangle with a white circle inside of it.

With Layer 0 selected, click on the Mask icon. You will now see your subject isolated against a transparent background.

We’re almost there, but there are a few things we need to fix before we’re done.

Step 5: Clean up the selection using the mask

As advanced as Photoshop 2024 is, nothing can match the human touch for perfecting a selection. In order to finalize your image, you will need to use your Brush Tool, and your judgment, to modify and perfect certain areas of your selection.

In Layer 0 of your Layers Panel, make sure you have the new layer Mask selected. When the Mask is selected, you’ll see a small, black outline around the Mask. Look closely as it’s a little hard to see.

Next, select your Brush Tool from the Toolbar to the left of the application window. In the Options Bar at the top of the application window, you can set the width and hardness of your brush.

If you have correctly selected the Mask icon in Layer 0, then the Foreground and Background colors in your Toolbar will be black and white. When white is the Foreground color, you can “paint back” portions of your masked image. When black is in the Foreground, you remove areas of your selection and they become masked.

For instance, in our example image, certain portions of the player’s sleeves disappeared when we created our initial selection. Therefore, using the Brush Tool, we can “paint back,” or add those portions of the sleeve back in.

Changing the size of the brush and switching between a white foreground and a black foreground, fix any edges of your selection that need finessing.

Other ways to select and mask in Photoshop 2024

Photoshop 2024 also offers another option for Selecting and Masking that may or may not be easier for you. Let’s start with the original image again to learn this second method.

When your Magic Wand Tool is selected, you’ll notice there are some selection options available in the Options Bar at the top of the application window. At the far right of the bar, click Select and Mask….

A new window will open showing most of the image erased. Don’t worry–the image is still there; it’s just been “masked.”

At the top of the screen, click the button that says Select Subject.

Photoshop will attempt to interpret and select the subject of your image. Though, as you can see in the image below, the results are not always perfect.

At the top of the window, you will find Add and Subtract buttons. These work to add to your selection or subtract from it using the modification tools on the left-hand side of the window. You can also control the size of the tool.

On the left side of the window are tools you can use to modify the selection. These tools are rather intuitive to use. 

The first tool, the Quick Selection Tool, allows you to grab whole blocks of color at once. This is a good tool to use to “paint back” the ball in the image.

The next tool, Refine Edge Tool, helps when defining or redefining the edge of your selection. Below that is the Brush Tool, which works just like the regular Brush Tool in Photoshop (and like the Eraser Tool when the Subtract button is activated). 

The Object Selection Tool tries to figure out where certain objects begin and end in your image, the Lasso Tools allow you to freeform select areas of the image, and the Hand Tool and Zoom Tool help you navigate around the image as you work to refine the selection.

Once you’re satisfied with the selection, click OK. You will see that nothing has changed in your original image, but there’s a “marching ants” selection around your subject.

Next, just like in the first method listed above, you’ll need to make your Background Layer into an unlocked Layer 0, and create a Layer Mask.

Whichever way you choose to create your selection, you now have your subject isolated from its background, and you can place your subject into whichever new setting works best for your branding needs.

When to use the Magic Wand Tool for your photos

Learning how to select and mask in Photoshop with the Magic Wand Tool is helpful because it’s a technique you can apply to a range of photos—sports, product, ecommerce, portraits, headshots, and more. Here are a just a few scenarios where it comes in handy:

• Show your subject in various environments. Help your audience connect with your subject emotionally by seeing it in a beautiful or familiar setting when changing the background. This can also help you prepare the image for different target segments, so you can swap out backgrounds that make more sense for your audience.
• Select your subject so you adjust its size or color without altering the setting in which it has been photographed. This means you can show different color variants for your product without having to take multiple photos.
• Remove the background from a photo so your subject stands out on its own.
• Create a white background image so you can list products on third-party marketplaces, like Amazon or eBay.

The post How to Replace or Remove an Image Background Using the Magic Wand Tool appeared first on Path Edits.

Here are some tips on taking photos of jewelry and then how to edit jewelry photos to maximize their sales potential on your online store, marketplace, website, or social media.

Why is editing important for jewelry photography?

Whether you shoot jewelry product photography in a professional studio or at home, editing your images is a crucial step before using your product shots online. Making jewelry images look realistic is crucial for shoppers to know what they’re investing in. Metal, gems, and stones can also be difficult to shoot because they have reflections, shine, and you need to show their intricate details. 

Once you get to the photo editing stage, you can enhance even professional jewelry photography by highlighting its features and preventing imperfections from diminishing the impact of your product shots. You might also need to make edits or resize your jewelry photos to make them compatible with third-party marketplaces such as Amazon, social media, and other commerce channels.

Photo retouching can transform your photos into appealing, professional jewelry photos that will impress your customers and lead to sales.

Correct the basics: exposure and white balance

The first step for improving any product photo is to adjust its exposure and white balance—it’ll show the true color of the jewelry so shoppers know what it looks like before they buy.

Exposure lets you change the brightness of your photo from underexposed (too dark) to balanced and over-exposed (too bright). You want to ensure the product is clearly visible when you adjust the exposure.

You’ll find the Exposure slider in Adobe Lightroom’s Basic panel.

Tip: Double-click on the slider pointer to reset it.

White balance adjusts two components: temperature and tint. Adjusting white balance refers to neutralizing any light cast during your shoot. Every light source has a different color temperature, measured in Kelvin (K). Depending on the light source you used during the shoot, the image may look cooler/bluer, neutral, or warmer/yellower.

The temperature slider helps you adjust the temperature for a neutral look. For creative purposes, you can go cooler or warmer, but for product shots, it’s best to aim for neutral ecommerce jewelry photography.

The tint slider helps you make minor tweaks by adding magenta or green tint to fix any color balance issues from some light sources like fluorescent or neon lights.

In Lightroom, you can use the following:

• Pre-built White Balance presets: Select one of the White Balance profiles based on your shooting conditions. For example, if you shot using natural light, select Daylight, Cloudy, or Shade. Lightroom will automatically adjust temperature and tint. 

• White Balance Selector: After selecting the tool (the pipette icon), click on a neutral-color part of your image (white, gray, or black areas). Lightroom will adjust both temperature and tint based on your selection to bring it as close to natural as possible. If you didn’t get it right the first time, repeat the process or adjust the sliders manually. 

• Manual temperature and tint sliders: Change both sliders to match the product’s true colors. 

Here’s an example of an unedited image with adjusted exposure and white balance in Lightroom, before any additional retouching: 

Fix colors: hue and saturation

Customers want to see realistic photos of products. Just under half of returns happen because the product doesn’t match customer expectations based on the description, and this could include your photos.

Even after you’ve adjusted the exposure and white balance of your photo, you may still need to change or enhance product colors. Gold, for example, has many hues, so the color in the photo should be spot on.

How to adjust hue and saturation

Here’s how to adjust hue/saturation in Photoshop:

You can change the hue and increase or decrease color saturation in Photoshop using the same layer. Create a new Hue/Saturation layer by selecting Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation from the dropdown menu at the top. 

To make local changes (ones that only apply to the parts of the photo containing that color), click on the color selector (finger icon) and click on the color you want to work on in the photo. In the example below, we would work with the yellows after clicking on the ring. 

You can also select colors using the dropdown menu, like Reds or Yellows. Move the Hue and Saturation sliders to change the color. 

In this example, we changed the hue of the ring from yellow gold to rose gold. A simple hue change but it can transform the photo. 

Sharpen the details

You may not always get the details perfectly sharp during the jewelry photoshoot but don’t worry—sharpening in Photoshop can help fix it. Sharpening the jewelry details will help it stand out in the photo, and elements like stones, gems, and engraving will be more prominent.

Tip: Don’t go overboard—and only apply local sharpening (not to the rest of the photo).

To sharpen the details in your jewelry product photos you can use these Photoshop tools:

• Unsharp Mask
• Smart Sharpen
• High Pass filter (our recommendation) 

Add a shadow for 3D effect

If you’re shooting white background jewelry shots, you’ll want to add some sort of shadow in the shot. It will add dimension to your photos and make your product photos and store listings look professional. Getting the shadow right during the shoot can be difficult to master, but you can add it in post-processing.

There are different ways to use shadows in jewelry product shots:

• Drop shadow: Adds depth to the photo with a subtle drop shadow seemingly behind or next to the product. This is a great choice for jewelry shot on a flat surface, like rings, bracelets, and watches. The drop shadow follows the product’s shape, like in the examples below. 

• Floating shadow: Gives the illusion of a product hovering above the ground. Earrings, necklaces, and pendants are a great choice for this effect because these products would naturally hang if worn by a model, and a shadow would appear. 

• Reflection shadow: The reflective shadow is a popular choice for jewelry photos, but the other types may also apply. A reflective shadow gives the impression the product is on a glossy, mirror-like surface and adds a touch of luxury. 

• Natural shadow: A natural shadow makes it look like your product has organically cast a shadow on its background or surface, even if there was no light source during the shoot. This would work well for most jewelry products placed on a flat surface. 

• Enhanced existing shadow: If your product already casts a shadow during the shoot, you may want to keep it even if you remove or change the background. This is where an enhanced existing shadow comes in. It will retain the shadow and its shape but let you use the products with a different background.

How to add a reflective shadow

Let’s look at how to edit jewelry photos by adding a reflective shadow in Photoshop (this effect will work best for jewelry shot head-on, not at an angle):

1. Open your jewelry photo in Adobe Photoshop.
2. Duplicate the image of the jewelry in a new layer by clicking Layer in the top menu and selecting Duplicate Layer or using the CTRL + J shortcut for Windows (Command + J for Mac).
3. Flip the photo vertically by choosing Edit > Transform > Flip Vertically.
4. Move the duplicated, flip layer to sit just under the original object, like a reflection. Reduce the opacity of the mirror layer to see its positioning better.

• Apply a very small Gaussian blur by selecting Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur in the top menu.
• Draw a selection around reflection using the marquee tool. Make sure the top of the selection sits just below where the two images connect.
• Feather the edges of the selection and delete it.
• Apply a small natural shadow to the space where the object and its reflection connect. 

Add lighting effects to make the jewelry shine

Add a spotlight effect to photos when you want jewelry to stand out from the scene. The spotlight effect slightly darkens the photo around the product, so all the attention goes to the jewelry—take a look at this step-by-step guide on how to do this yourself.

You can also create a lens flare effect to add sparkle to shiny jewelry and gems—but use it sparingly so the effect doesn’t overpower your photo.

How to add a lens flare

To add a lens flare:

1. Open your jewelry photo in Photoshop.
2. Duplicate the image in a new layer by clicking Layer in the top menu and selecting Duplicate Layer or using the CTRL + J shortcut for Windows (Command + J for Mac).
3. In the top menu, select Filter > Render > Lens Flare.
4. Select one of the four lens types (each creates a different effect) and adjust its brightness.

• Click OK and adjust the layer’s opacity if you want to reduce the effect further.

 Reduce distracting or overbearing glares

On the contrary, you can also reduce distracting or overbearing glares. For example, if you’ve caught the reflection of your camera (or something else that shouldn’t be in the photo) on a shiny surface, like metal or glass. The same goes for a powerful flash that may have created a glare on jewelry.

You can do this using various photo retouching methods like:

• Clone Stamp tool, which takes pixels from one part of your image and you can paint them over the glare.
• Brush tool lets you paint over the glare with precision—you can adjust the Brush size, hardness, opacity, and color. 

Retouch any scratches, smudges, or other imperfections

You can’t guarantee jewelry at the shoot will be spotless. You may come across the following:

• Smudges from fingerprints
• Scratches on the jewelry
• Unwanted reflections
• Dust or specks on the camera lens

One of the simplest and fastest ways to get rid of any of these imperfections is by using Photoshop’s Spot Healing Brush. 

Click on the Spot Healing Brush tool in your Photoshop sidebar. Select the type of healing you want to apply—we recommend starting with Content-Aware. 

Change the brush size depending on what you want to remove in the image by clicking [ or ] keys on your keyboard. If these keys don’t work for your device, head to Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts in your navbar at the top. Select Tools in the Shortcuts For dropdown and scroll to the bottom to find shortcuts for Increase / Decrease Brush Size. 

When you use Spot Healing Brush, zoom in for a more precise result. Simply brush over any imperfections, and the software will remove the blemish or spot and replace it with pixels sampled around the area.

Using this method, we removed the photographer’s reflection in the necklace photo below. 

If it doesn’t look right the first time, repeat the process, change the brush size (or zoom in more), or select Create Texture or Proximity Match as the brush type. Remember that depending on the imperfection, you may need to use the tool several times to fix the photo.

You can also use the Clone Stamp tool to take an existing part of your image and “paint” it over another image area: 

1. Select the Clone Stamp tool and hover over the area you want to take a part of the image from.
2. Hold down the ALT key (OPTION on Mac) while you click over your selected section.
3. Move your cursor over to the area you want to paint the cloned part and paint as you would with the Brush tool. 

Change the background

There are a few instances where you might want to change the background of your jewelry photos:

• You’re selling on third-party marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, or Walmart and need white background shots to comply with the marketplace image requirements.
• You want an online store with a uniform look and give shoppers an easy, distraction-free product exploration.
• You want a transparent background for your jewelry shots to use for overlaying stock photos, graphics, or the brand’s website.
• You want different color backgrounds to fit a variety of marketing campaigns or to match the website’s color scheme. 

You can also put jewelry on a colored or creative background, like on the ethical jewelry brand SOKO’s website. With the background removed, your jewelry photos become versatile visual assets you can use for different marketing channels. 

To put jewelry on a white or colorful background (or add jewelry to stock photos in Photoshop), you have to cut it out first. Use clipping paths or image masking depending on object complexity.

Create a clipping path

Here’s how to create a clipping path:

1. Set up your Pen tool in Photoshop.
2. Draw a path around your product (zoom in to get a more precise path).
3. Save and name your path.
4. Create a clipping path.
5. Create a selection from your clipping path.
6. Create a clipping mask to isolate your product from its background. 

Crop for the right context

Some jewelry shots require cropping to get tight on the product, fill the frame, and showcase small details.

Generally, you want the product in the center, filling most of the frame. This is a common method for ecommerce marketplaces and stores. For example, jewelry brand Kendra Scott crops and fills the frame regardless of the jewelry type or size. This makes for an easy browsing experience. 

If you create a homepage banner, give plenty of blank space on one side so you can overlay text, a call to action (CTA), or leave it blank. Catbird jewelry store fills the space with promotional text and a CTA. 

To show the craftsmanship of jewelry pieces, cropping in even tighter for closeup shots will draw attention to the small details and design. Mejuri uses a closeup photo of a ring to share the brand’s commitment to sustainability and quality. 

For some jewelry model photography, consider cropping out the model’s facial features to direct focus to the jewelry, like Mejuri on its homepage. A customer’s gaze will naturally be drawn to the jewelry piece. 

Add filters for social media

Filters can add a unique, cohesive look to your social media feed, especially when they’re on-brand. While they’re generally not ideal for your website (you want to reserve that space for the highest-quality shots), social media is where you can be more adventurous with visuals to see what appeals to your target audience.

Some ideas you can use:

• Color filters (like a yellow filter to add warmth to the photo)
• Black and white layer (for a timeless look)
• Overlay with black and reduce the layer’s opacity for a muted look (works well for adding text copy over the photo) 

You’ll find these filters and presets in Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop, or use photo editing or social media apps with editing features like Instagram.

Keep the edited photos aligned with your brand aesthetic to maintain consistency. A great example of this is the handmade jewelry brand Mountainside Made. All of the brand’s jewelry photos have a warm tone, muted shadows, and plenty of grain on the photo for an organic feel.

Change color for new variants

You may get a new color variant for your jewelry stock, or you may want to change the color of another element in your photo, like the background or props. You don’t have to worry about re-doing the photoshoot because you can easily change the color in Photoshop.

In the first example, we changed the color of the background flowers to blue, matching the gems on the ring. 

But you can also change the color of the jewelry. Here, we made color changes only to the gems from blue to red, without altering the flowers in the background.

How to change color

There are several ways to change the color of a product variant in Photoshop. A simple one includes adjusting the hue of a particular color in your photo:

1. Open your file in Photoshop.
2. In the top menu, click on Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation.
3. Select the color you want to change by using the pointer icon and clicking on the color in your photo or choose one from the dropdown menu, like Blues.
4. Move the Hue slider to create your new color. Use the Saturation slider to fine-tune its vibrancy.
5. To remove this effect on other parts of your photo, click on the layer’s mask and select the Brush tool. Make sure its opacity is at 100% and paint over sections that don’t need the color change.

For more complex items like multi-colored jewelry, repeat the steps above several times or use more advanced retouching methods.

Get the best jewelry photography with a pixel-perfect finish

Photo editing is an essential step before presenting your product photos online because shoppers will use them to decide which jewelry pieces to invest in. A few editing steps can go a long way to take your photos from good to great. If you prefer to leave it to professional editors, our team can assist you. 

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How to edit jewelry product photos FAQs

How do you edit jewelry photos?

Start with a clean-up to remove any blemishes. Adjust image exposure and colors for a natural look. Add any extras like shadows and reflections, and export your photo for the platform you will use.

What is the best photo editing app for jewelry?

• Snapseed
• Photoshop Express
• Lightroom CC Mobile
• Afterlight 2

How do you make jewelry stand out in pictures?

• Adjust colors, white balance, and brightness
• Sharpen the small details
• Remove blemishes like fingerprints or scratches
• Crop for maximum impact

Is there an app for taking pictures of jewelry?

You can use your smartphone’s default camera app and turn on the macro setting. Alternatively, try camera apps with manual controls like Camera Zoom FX, Halide Mark II, ProCamera, and Camera+ Legacy.

What is jewelry photo retouching?

Jewelry photo retouching means enhancing a photo with professional editing tools. You can remove any specks or dust, correct the color to appear natural, and enhance the shine and sharpness of metal and gems.

How do you make jewelry sparkle in photography?

The best way to photograph jewelry so it sparkles, is to use good lighting. Diffused light will help avoid harsh reflections and soft shadows. Position the light source at an angle to create highlights, and use a reflector to add brightness. Macro jewelry photography with a dedicated macro lens or close-up mode enhances detail, and slight adjustments in post-processing can boost the sparkle.

The post How to Edit Jewelry Photos to Make them Shine (Updated 2024) appeared first on Path Edits.

Photoshop’s Pen Tool is an excellent way to remove a product from its background or select a portion of a product image to change its color. And you can modify, store, and reuse the paths created with the Pen Tool as often as you want.

In this tutorial, we’ll be using the Pen Tool to remove the background and add a new shadow to this image of a sock. 

Why is the Pen Tool the best option for accurately creating selections in Photoshop?

Photoshop 2024 offers a ton of options for creating selections, including the lasso tools, Magic Wand tools, and its new generative AI tools. However, pen tool paths still produce the most precise selections.

As someone who has been digitally editing photographs for over 25 years, I’ve seen hundreds of technological improvements within Photoshop and other photo editing software. And I can say with confidence that nothing has ever compared to a human-generated path, and nothing ever will. A computer program will never be able to replicate the precision of human skill, especially when it comes to creating selections.

What is the Pen Tool in Photoshop?

The Pen Tool in Photoshop creates paths and shapes which can be duplicated and manipulated to create complex selections, masks and objects. Unlike the Brush Tool and Pencil Tools, which “draw” pixels onto your image, the Pen Tool always creates a vector path when used.

You can create multiple paths within an image, and you can create multiple path segments within a path. These paths appear as either Work Paths or Shape Paths in the Paths Panel.

Shape Paths vs. Work Paths in Photoshop

Shape Paths created with the Pen Tool allow you to create custom shapes on your image which you can use to call out specific portions of an image. Unlike shapes created with the standard Shape Tools (such as the Rectangle Tool or Ellipse Tool), shapes created with the Pen Tool can be manipulated any way you want.

Work Paths, on the other hand, are Photoshop’s way of storing path information without applying any color to the path. Once these Work Paths are saved within the Paths panel, they can be made into selections, modified, and reused as many times as you need.

Where is the Pen Tool in Photoshop?

By default, the Pen Tool is located in the lower half of the Toolbar. If you click and hold on the Pen Tool in the Toolbar, you’ll see six separate Pen Tool options in Photoshop CC 2024 (if you’re using an older version of Photoshop, you may only see five Pen Tool options).

If you’re not working in the default workspace, some of these Pen Tool options may need to be accessed by clicking on the three dots at the bottom of the Toolbar and adding the extra Pen Tool options to the Toolbar. 

You can also access the Pen Tool by typing “P” on your keyboard.

Where is the Paths Panel in Photoshop?

The Pen Tool and the Paths Panel go hand in hand, so you’ll need the Paths Panel to be visible when you begin to use the Pen Tool.

In the Essentials (default) workspace, Paths are accessible by clicking on the Paths tab visible in the Layers Panel. If you don’t see a Paths Panel in your workspace, you can access Paths by clicking on the Windows dropdown menu and selecting Paths.

Types of Pen Tools in Photoshop

In Photoshop CC 2024, there are four different Pen Tools you can use to create a new path:

1. The standard Pen Tool
2. The Curvature Pen Tool
3. The Freeform Pen Tool
4. The Magnetic Pen Tool (only visible by adjusting the settings of the Freeform Pen Tool)

The other Pen Tool options are used to modify an existing path. Those tools are:

1. The Add Anchor Point Tool
2. The Delete Anchor Point Tool
3. The Convert Point Tool

The Standard Pen Tool

We’ll use the standard Pen Tool for the paths we’ll be creating in this exercise. It’s the original Pen Tool and is very similar to the Pen Tool in Adobe Illustrator. You can create just about any kind of path with this tool.

The Freeform Pen Tool

The Freeform Pen Tool allows you to draw with the Pen Tool in the same way you would draw with the brush tool, creating a path as you draw.

The Magnetic Pen Tool

With the Freeform Pen Tool selected, you can check the Magnetic option at the top of the application window and access the Magnetic Pen Tool.

The Magnetic Pen Tool works much like the Magnetic Lasso Tool, allowing you to trace the exterior of a shape within your image. It’s not perfect, however, so we suggest you work with the Standard Pen Tool whenever possible.

The Curvature Pen Tool

The Add Anchor Point Tool

The Add Anchor Point Tool gives you the ability to add more points onto your path once it’s been created. Hover the Add Anchor Point Tool over the part of the path where you want to add a new point and click the mouse to create the point.

The Delete Anchor Point Tool

The Delete Anchor Point Tool removes points from your path after the path has been completed. Hover your cursor over the point you want removed and click the mouse to delete the point from the path.

The Convert Point Tool

The Convert Point Tool is extremely useful. If you have a point forming a sharp corner on your path and you want to convert that corner to a curve, clicking the Convert Point Tool will make that happen. Conversely, the Convert Point Tool will remove a curve from a point and convert the point to a corner.

Paths vs. Shapes in Photoshop

When you access either the standard Pen Tool, the Curvature Pen Tool or the Freeform Pen Tool, you can set your Pen Tool setting to either Path or Shape in the options bar at the top of the application window.

Drawing with the Pen Tool when Path is selected creates a new Work Path that appears in the Paths Panel. Drawing with the Pen Tool when Shape is selected creates a new Shape Path that appears in both the Paths Panel and the Layers Panel.

When you choose Shape, you can also change a few different settings, including stroke color, thickness and fill color of the shape. We’ll go over the specifics of creating a shape with the Pen Tool at the end of this article.

When you choose Path, you’ll see an icon that looks like two small overlapping squares (this icon is also available when Shape is chosen once you’ve already begun drawing your path). If you’re creating an initial path to become a selection, set this option to Combine Shapes.

​​You’ll see a few other icons in the options bar, but for the purposes of this tutorial, you should leave those at their default values.

How to use the Pen Tool in Photoshop

How to use the Pen Tool in Photoshop to create a path

The standard Pen Tool allows you to create straight and curved paths with amazing accuracy, but mastering it takes some practice. Don’t get discouraged if it’s difficult at first. You can always adjust a path after you create it.

To create a path that you can then use as a selection, choose the standard Pen Tool, and then choose Path in the options bar dropdown menu at the top of the application window.

How to use the Pen Tool in Photoshop to create a new path

To start your path, click on your image with your mouse where you want to begin your path. To keep things simple, choose a starting point that is at the edge of a straight line, such as the edge of the top of the sock in the image below.

Click again along the edge of your object with the Pen Tool to draw the first segment of your path. You should now see a straight line appear.

Also, note a Work Path appears in the Paths panel as soon as you place the second point.

Create a curved path segment with the Pen Tool

To create a curve with the standard Pen Tool (such as the curves at the ankle of the sock), click to create the next point and drag with the Pen Tool before you release the mouse button. You’ll see lines, called handles, appear.

These handles are tangential to the curve being formed by the path. Moving the mouse around will adjust the handles, which will then adjust the line’s curvature. Once you’re satisfied with the shape of the curve, release the mouse button.

Note the handles formed from the curved line appear before and after the point. Therefore, the next portion of the path that you draw after creating a curved line will follow the trajectory of the handle from the last point.

When you click the next point, drag the mouse to create new handles and modify the curve that appears with your new point.

Creating a straight path segment after a curved path segment with the Pen Tool

If you want to prevent the next segment of your path from curving along the handle of your last point, you can “corner” the point by clicking on the point with the mouse while typing ALT (OPTION on Mac). The second handle will disappear.

The next point you set will be unaffected by the previous curve.

Closing your path with the Pen Tool

Once your path is complete, close your path by hovering the Pen Tool over the very first point you set down. When you see a small circle appear to the right of the Pen Tool, click on the point.

Your path will now be closed.

How to adjust the path you created using the Pen Tool in Photoshop

How to save your path

Saving your path is extremely important at this stage. Without saving, you could accidentally overwrite your hard work when you create another path.

To save your path, go to your Paths Panel and look for a new Work Path. Double click on Work Path to name your path and save it.

How to modify an existing path with the Pen Tool

Once you’ve created your path, you can modify any areas that need tweaking. It’s helpful to zoom in on different areas of your path to ensure the path follows the object exactly.

If you don’t see your path in your image, click on the path’s name in the Paths Panel.

How to add additional paths to an existing path using the Pen Tool

In our yellow sock example, there’s a path around the outside of the sock. But what if we wanted to cut out a shape inside of the sock for demonstrative or artistic purposes? We can do so by adding an additional path to our existing path. This method also works well for removing interior shapes from certain product images, such as the inside of a mug handle or the loop in an earring.

With the path selected in the Paths panel, select the Pen Tool from the Toolbar. In the options bar at the top of the screen, click on the icon that looks like two little overlapping squares, and choose Exclude Overlapping Shapes.

While the current path is still visible, begin to draw the area that you want to exclude from your selection with the Pen Tool. Close the path when you’re done.

How to modify existing points and curves along a path

To modify an existing point or handle on a path, find the Path Selection tools in the Toolbar. These tools each look like an arrow, and by default are located beneath the Type Tool in the Toolbar.

When you click on the visible Path Selection Tool, you’ll see options. Choose the Direct Selection Tool, which looks like a white arrow.

How to add new points to a path

The Add Anchor Point Tool, accessible by clicking and holding on the Pen Tool in the Toolbar, will add extra points along the path.

With the Add Anchor Point Tool selected, hover over the path and click to create a new point.

Once you’ve set down the new point, you can use the Direct Selection Tool to modify the point’s location or its handles.

How to remove points from a path

The Delete Anchor Point Tool, also accessible by clicking and holding on the Pen Tool in the Toolbar, removes existing points from the path.

How to use the Convert Point tool

The Convert Point Tool, accessed by clicking and holding on the Pen Tool, allows you to manipulate handles of existing points the same way you would manipulate handles using the Direct Selection Tool.

Unlike the Direct Selection Tool, however, the Convert Point Tool does not allow you to move existing anchor points, because when you click on a point with the Convert Point Tool, the path segments adjacent to the point convert from straight lines to curved lines, and vice versa.

If you click on a point that has handles with the Convert Point Tool, the handles will disappear and the anchor point will become a corner. If the surrounding anchor points have handles, those handles will still continue to affect the curve of adjacent path segments.

How to use a path to remove an object from its background

Now that your path is created, you can use it over and over again to create selections and use that selection to remove an object from its background.

How to create a selection from a path

In your Paths panel, select your path. Then, click on the icon at the bottom of the panel that looks like a circle with a dashed outline. A selection in the shape of your path will appear in your image.

You can also create a selection with the Pen Tool. With the path selected, and with the Pen Tool selected, click on the Selection button next to Make: in the options bar.

A dialog box allowing you to make adjustments to the selection will appear. If you’re creating the selection in order to isolate an object from its background, you should keep the Feather Radius at 0 and keep Anti-Aliased checked. If this is the first selection you’re creating, the radio button next to New Selection will be selected.

Once you’ve created your selection, you can use the selection to modify the color of the object or to remove the object from its background.

How to cut out an object from the background

Once you’ve created your selection from your path, you can remove the portion of the image from its background by either copying it into another layer, or by creating a layer mask. In order to do any of the following methods, you must be in the layer which contains the image you wish to isolate.

Removing a background by copying a selection

You can copy your selection by typing CTRL + C (COMMAND + C on a Mac) and then pasting the selection by typing CTRL + V (COMMAND + V on a Mac). Your selection will automatically appear in a new layer. You can make your original layer invisible in the layers panel to see the isolated object.

Note that the small section in the toe of the sock also was removed. This would be a useful effect if we wanted to show how the toes look within the sock. However, if we want to remove that cut-out, simply go back into your original path and your original layer, click on the interior path within the sock with the Direct Selection Tool, and type BACKSPACE (DELETE on a Mac).

Removing a background by creating a layer mask

To create a layer mask, create a selection from your path using the method described above. Then, locate the Layer Mask icon. This icon is available in both the Paths panel and the Layers panel at the bottom of the panel and looks like a white rectangle with a circle inside.

Click on the icon to automatically create a Layer Mask.

How to create a shape using the Pen Tool

You can designate a path to be a Shape Path before you create the path by selecting Shape from the menu in the options bar for the Pen Tool.

We mentioned this earlier: Next to the Shape option, you can change the shape’s color by double-clicking on the color rectangle next to Fill. A color menu will appear—the top bar of the color menu allows you to change the color by choosing no fill (transparent), a solid color, a gradient color, a pattern or a custom color. The bottom portion of the menu shows available swatches.

You can also change the shape’s outline color by double clicking on the color rectangle next to Stroke. And to adjust the width of the stroke, change the width in the dropdown menu just to the right of the Stroke’s color.

When you create a shape using the Pen Tool, you automatically create a new Layer containing that shape, as well as a Shape Path in your Paths panel.

How to transform or scale a Shape Path

With the Shape Path selected in your Paths panel, click on the Edit dropdown menu at the top of the screen and choose Transform Path to access any of the transform functions. You can also choose Free Transform Path from the Edit dropdown menu, or type CTRL + T (COMMAND + T on a Mac) to scale or rotate your path.

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FAQs about the Pen Tool

What does the Pen Tool do in Photoshop?

The Pen Tool creates paths that can then be converted to selections or layer masks. The Pen Tool can also create custom shapes within Photoshop.

What are the different types of Pen Tool?

• The standard Pen Tool
• The Curvature Pen Tool
• The Freeform Pen Tool
• The Magnetic Pen Tool
• The Add Anchor Point Tool
• The Delete Anchor Point Tool
• The Convert Point Tool

What are some common uses for the Pen Tool?

Common uses for the Pen Tool including isolating products from their background, selecting a portion of a product to change its color, creating multiple paths within an image, creating multiple path segments within a path, and creating custom shapes on your image.

Can you use a stylus with Photoshop and the Pen Tool

Yes, you can use a stylus with Photoshop and the Pen Tool. With a stylus, you tap to form points and tap and drag to create points with handle curves, instead of clicking and dragging as you would with a mouse.

Can you use other Photoshop Pen Tools?

Yes, you can use any of the six Photoshop Pen Tools listed in this post.

The post How to Use the Photoshop Pen Tool to Edit Ecommerce Images appeared first on Path Edits.

Unlike apparel, cosmetic products are small. Their shine, shimmer, and color saturation might translate poorly from in-person to on-screen. That’s where photo editing comes in.

With some simple tweaks, you can enhance beauty product photography to showcase each item at its digital best. Whether you’re shooting products yourself or working with a photographer, we’ll walk through some editing techniques to make colors pop, fix reflections, and retouch surfaces for a spotless and ecommerce-ready look that converts.

How to shoot makeup products

Like other commercial photography, mastering makeup product photography can take years. But that’s not to say you can’t create product photography that stands out and drives sales. Putting a few shooting and editing tips into practice can make a big difference, even on a small budget or with a DIY approach.

And while photo editing certainly can do some magic, you’ll almost always get the best results if you have a decent original shot to work with.

Clean the product and background

It’s always important to work with clean products, and makeup in particular. This includes the exterior and the actual makeup product itself.

You can expect sticky, shiny, and liquid products to attract dust, hair, and dirt, so make sure your shooting space is as clean as possible too. Use cotton gloves to avoid leaving marks or sweat on products when you style your shots.

Reduce distracting reflections and glares in the studio

Shooting cosmetic product photography of items with matte surfaces will be easier because they reflect less light. However, many makeup products come packaged in reflective materials like plastic, metal, and glass.

To reduce unwanted reflections and camera glare when photographing these products, try these lighting tips:

• Clear the studio: Remove any other shiny or reflective surfaces and turn off any artificial lights and block any natural light you don’t need for the shoot.
• Remove unnecessary packaging: Unwrap solid products packaged in transparent plastic, such as beauty blenders, for a sharper, clearer photo with no reflections.
• Use diffusers in your lighting setup: Softboxes or white screens in front of a window produce softer light and help eliminate hotspots and light reflections.

A great example of capturing challenging cosmetic products in a pleasing way is beauty brand Minori. Its product bundle includes both matte and reflective packaging, but none of the surfaces have distracting reflections in the photo.

Include cosmetic swatches

Cosmetic swatches are small amounts of a makeup product like lipstick or eyeshadow. They’re common in makeup product photography because they show the true color, texture, and pigmentation of the product. Swatches make it easier for shoppers to compare different products or shades of the same product.

You can photograph swatches on a plain background, such as paper or cardboard. Your background doesn’t necessarily need to be white. For example, Annabelle Minerals uses a heavily layered swatch for its blush on a light peach background.

Showing swatches on the model’s skin, such as on the inner forearm, displays how the product looks on different skin tones, like on the lip and cheek rouge listing from Pure Anada.

For solid beauty products, like pencils, crayons, and eyeliners, you can get creative by drawing lines in varying intensities on a plain background, like The Detox Market which showcases Ere Perez’s lip crayon swatches.

Don’t forget to shoot close-ups

Adding to the variety of your product shots are close-ups. Shooting a product in its full size and cropping it later won’t result in the same look and quality as shooting it up close. Reason being that an intentional close-up will ensure the product is perfectly in focus, producing sharp details.

That’s not to say you need to use a close-up shot straight from the camera. You’ll likely consider cropping the photo to emphasize the product and remove any distractions, like in Elate Beauty’s brow and liner brush product listing below.

Style shots with props

Including your brand’s props and product styling during the beauty product photography shoot will help you avoid complex editing later on. For example, Pure Anada uses foliage elements in every eye shadow listing.

To recreate this in post-processing requires advanced skill, especially to make your props look realistic. So, if you already know props are a must-have for your cosmetic product photography, use them during the shoot if possible.

How to edit cosmetic product photography for a professional result

While you can take steps during the shoot to help you create a beautiful product photo, images straight from the camera are rarely publish-ready. This means editing is a necessary part of preparing your photos for use in ecommerce, on social media, and elsewhere online.

The purpose of editing for ecommerce and marketing is to enhance your products while keeping their true appearance intact for buyers. Read on for post production tips that make all the difference for your beauty and skincare product photography shots.

Remove background

Background removal eliminates any distractions around the skincare and cosmetics product—regardless of where you shot it—turning the cut out product into a flexible asset you can repurpose.

A popular method for beauty product photography is adding a white background. Marketplaces like Amazon require sellers to use it for all products, but doing so brings visual consistency to any online store. You can also use the product with other backgrounds, including transparent, combine several products to create item groups, and much more.

Color correct for accuracy

Accurately describing your products is just one part of giving customers all the information before a purchase. Photos also need to match what they’ll receive in their order. With over 64% of product returns happening because the item didn’t match what’s on the listing, it’s a simple fix that will save you from unhappy customers and money spent on refunds.

How do you put this into practice? Focus on minimal edits. Matching makeup products to the skin is already difficult, but accurate colors in photographs make it easier for online shoppers. Also, ensure image white balance is neutral—you can read more about it in this product editing guide.

Remove any blemishes or imperfections

You may notice some smudges, spots, or marks in your photos that you missed during the shoot. They may be on your products, in the background, or on the model’s skin or clothing, as in the example below.

But all it takes is a spot removal using Photoshop:

• Spot Healing Brush: use it to brush over any imperfections, which the software will replace with pixels sampled around the area.
• Clone Stamp: you can copy an existing part of your photo and “paint” it over the blemish.

If your cosmetic product photography needs more advanced editing or you’re tasked with a large volume of images to fix, you can outsource it to a team of experienced editors.

Create a lifestyle composite

We mentioned removing the background for your beauty products, but did you know you can create completely new images using lifestyle composites? The method involves taking a cut-out product and placing it on a contextual stock photo, like a makeup kit added to an image of a bathroom cabinet.

Lifestyle composites can save you time and money otherwise spent on organizing a new photoshoot. However, for the composite to look natural, you have to pay particular attention to:

• Shadows: For a beauty product to fit in a new scene, add shadows that match where the light source may be in the stock photo.
• Colors: You may have shot your entire product in neutral light, but the stock photo may have a warmer or cooler look. This means you have to correct the color for both separately.
• Perspective: If you photographed a product head-on, look for stock photos that match the angle of your product shot. For some images, you’ll be able to skew the product perspective using Photoshop.
• Size: A product that looks too large for the background will stick out like a sore thumb. Consider other elements in the shot to help you correctly size the product to match its real-life dimensions.

Lifestyle composites can be complex to create. However, you can outsource to product photography studios that specialize in them.

Design a collage for an advertisement

Like lifestyle composites, background-free product shots are perfect for creative marketing assets like collages. The difference is, collages don’t require advanced photo editing skills. You can easily create them in apps like Canva.

Using your brand’s colors and typography, you can design a simple collage like on Elate Beauty’s Instagram page. You can reuse your background-free product shots in so many different ways without ever having to repeat a design.

Create product infographics

Product infographics combine photography and graphic design elements to offer a playful and informative way to present product information. If you want a creative way to share your product benefits or ingredients without using walls of text, that’s where infographics come in. All you need is to pick a background, add a product with a transparent background, and include text.

Graphics like these are also popular in marketplaces like Amazon. Vegan beauty brand Ecco Bella uses an infographic in its own online store. In just a few seconds, infographics give buyers a convenient way to learn about products before reading descriptions.

Remove labels or logos

Some marketing visuals may call for logo-free product shots. You can remove the product label or logo using Spot Healing Brush or Clone Stamp in Photoshop—the same Photoshop tools used for removing blemishes.

Add brand labels or logo

On the flip side, if your logo has changed since the photoshoot or if the product sample used in the shoot didn’t have the logo-facing side towards the camera, you may want to add it.

Similar to creating a lifestyle composite, you’ll have to ensure the logo or label matches the surface you place it on. For example, if you’re adding it to a glass jar, you’ll have to bend or skew the logo for it to align with the shape and look natural. You can follow this video tutorial to learn how to create this effect.

Add shadows for a subtle 3D look

White background ecommerce shots may be fit for online stores and marketplaces, but they can also look flat if that’s all you use. To fix that, adding a shadow, like a subtle drop shadow, will help your products stand out from the background and look more realistic.

Create color variants

If your products come in different colors, you can create color variants of the same product. The result will be a uniform look in your store, apart from the color changes in each photo. You’ll also save time setting up a shoot whenever new color variants come in stock.

One method to do this in Photoshop involves adjusting the hue of a particular color in your product photo:

1. Open your product image in Photoshop.
2. In the top menu, click on Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation.
3. Select the color you want to change by using the pointer icon and clicking on the color in your photo or choose one from the dropdown menu, like Reds.
4. Move the Hue slider to select your new color. Use the Saturation slider to fine-tune its vibrancy.
5. To remove this effect on other parts of your photo, click on the layer’s mask and select the Brush tool. Make sure its opacity is at 100%, and paint over sections that don’t need the color change.

For more complex color changes, you can repeat the steps above several times—targeting a different part of the photo each time—or outsource to professional photo editors.

Crop to fill the frame

Close-up cosmetic photography often still needs manual cropping in Photoshop or any other photo editing app—this helps eliminate unnecessary details in the shot and takes focus straight to the product. Square crop is particularly effective for centering your product and filling the frame to grab attention, like in the example below by beauty and skincare brand Tower 28.

Photoshop’s Crop tool has built-in ratio templates and a grid to create pixel-perfect crops every time. First, select the Crop tool in your sidebar. Then, click the dropdown in the top menu and select 1:1 (Square).

You’ll see a crop grid overlaying your image. You can adjust it by moving the image or cropping it further to fit your photo. The middle square helps you find the center of each photo if you want your product to be in the middle.

Align products for a uniform look

Cropping and centering each product creates alignment in your online store, particularly when viewing all product ranges together. It helps guide the shopper to compare products rather than get distracted by odd, uneven framing.

Clean beauty brand Tower 28 has different types of products in its store, but all listings look central. How do you achieve this?

If you know the image dimensions used for displaying products in your online store, you can use those same dimensions to create visual consistency—centering each product in the frame evenly, even if the actual products are different sizes in real life.

You can also find the image size your store is using by right-clicking on any existing product image and choosing Save image as… to download it. Open the downloaded file and look at the image properties for the pixel dimensions. Make a note of this size.

For example, we’ll use 600 pixels as width and 700 pixels as height.

1. Open your product photo in Photoshop.
2. Click on the Crop tool in the sidebar.
3. In the crop dropdown menu, select W x H x Resolution.
4. Add the correct pixels in the two boxes to the right of the dropdown, starting with width.
5. In the same dropdown menu, click on New Crop Preset and give it a name.

Now every time you crop photos for your store, you can use the same crop template. Use the crop grid to help you center your products. This way, regardless of product size, you’ll be able to center them each time and create an appealing, uniform look for your store.

Improve your makeup product shots for growing sales

The beauty ecommerce market continues to thrive, with order volume up 10% in 2022 alone. To stand out from the competition, you need product shots that look professional and give shoppers what they want before clicking “buy.”

With some simple editing techniques, you can elevate your beauty product photography even on a DIY budget. But if you need something more advanced or want to save time and effort, our team of professional editors is ready to help refine your shots and let your products shine.

Let us look after your image edits, so you can get back to the fun stuff. Try Path free.

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Beauty product photography FAQs

How to photograph makeup products?

To photograph makeup products, focus on the following:

• Lighting: Use soft, diffused lighting to avoid harsh shadows and reflections. Natural light or a lightbox can work well.
• Background: Opt for a clean, simple background that doesn’t distract from the product. White or pastel-colored backdrops often work best.
• Angles: Capture different angles to highlight the product’s packaging and features. Flat lays, close-ups, and angled shots can add variety.
• Props: Minimal props that complement the product can add context without stealing attention from the makeup item itself.
• Editing: Post-process the images to adjust brightness, contrast, and sharpness, ensuring the colors of the product are true to life.

How to do makeup photography?

Makeup photography involves capturing the application and effect of makeup on models. Here’s how to do it:

• Lighting: Use soft, even lighting to flatter the subject’s skin and bring out the makeup details. Ring lights or softboxes are great options.
• Focus on details: Highlight the makeup details such as eye makeup, lips, and overall complexion. Close-up shots can capture the texture and finish.
• Model preparation: Ensure the model’s skin is prepped and primed for a flawless look. Retouching may be necessary to remove blemishes while keeping the makeup intact.
• Angles and posing: Experiment with different angles and poses to capture the best aspects of the makeup. The model’s expression should complement the makeup style.
• Background: A neutral background helps keep the focus on the makeup. Consider using plain, complementary colors or out-of-focus backgrounds.

How to take pictures of skincare products?

Skincare product photography should emphasize the product’s packaging and ingredients. Here’s how to do it:

• Lighting: Use bright, natural lighting to create a clean and fresh look. Ensure the lighting doesn’t create unwanted reflections on the packaging.
• Background and props: A clean background (often white) works well, but you can also add elements like fresh leaves, towels, or water droplets to give a spa-like feel.
• Textures: Highlight the texture of the product by showing it on a surface or applied to skin, which can be done through macro shots or close-ups.
• Angles: Capture the product from multiple angles to show the packaging details and branding clearly.
• Editing: Ensure the colors are accurate and adjust the brightness to keep the images looking fresh and clean.

How to take cosmetics pictures?

To take cosmetics pictures, pay attention to the following:

• Lighting: Ensure soft, even lighting to bring out the true colors and textures of the products. Avoid shadows that can distort the appearance.
• Background: Choose a simple background that complements the product. Gradient backgrounds or solid colors work well for cosmetics.
• Composition: Arrange products creatively, considering balance and symmetry. Group similar products together or create a flat lay with complementary items.
• Props: Use minimal props that match the product’s branding, like brushes, flowers, or fabric swatches, to enhance the composition.
• Editing: Post-process to refine the image, adjust the color balance, and make sure the product appears as it would in real life. Avoid over-editing, as it can misrepresent the product.

The post How to Shoot and Edit Creative Makeup Product Photography appeared first on Path Edits.

But if they come across a listing with a poorly edited product photo, it could make or break their purchase decision. They might be distracted by the glare of plastic product wrapping, spot a necklace with visible scratches, or a kitchenware set with photographer reflections on the metal surface. Those products will stick out like a sore thumb for all the wrong reasons.

Many products have challenging shiny, reflective, or transparent surfaces, so it helps to know how to shoot and edit them for a professional result. Look at some tips and tricks to help you create high-quality product photos that lead to sales—even on a DIY budget.

Examples of reflective products

Not sure which products can create unwanted reflections? There are actually more than you might think. Shiny, reflective, or transparent products might include:

• Jewelry
• Watches and other accessories
• Glassware and kitchenware
• Electronics
• Cosmetics and skincare products
• Sports equipment
• Office stationery
• DIY tools for gardening, painting, and other activities
• Fabric or materials such as leather, transparent polymers, and others
• Packaging and containers
• Labels and stickers 

How reflections and shine affect your product photography

There’s no doubt that shiny, reflective, and transparent products can be tricky to photograph and edit. But there’s more—some products also have unique shapes, which makes photographing and editing even more challenging.

For example, long-lasting product retailer Buy Me Once has a listing for a stainless steel garlic press. 

Even though the garlic press is reflective and has a complex, uneven shape, the photo shows no unwanted reflections, and you won’t find any scratches or fingerprint smudges on the metal. The product photo may look simple, but creating a picture-perfect finish like this takes careful consideration.

A few things to keep in mind when shooting and editing photos that feature shiny or reflective products are:

• Prevent unwanted reflections
• Watch out for blemishes, dust, and scratches (or remove those during editing)
• Avoid light spots that are either too bright or reflect on the product surface
• Retain any important product detail, such as a brand logo on a container or the transparency of a glass product
• Use just the right amount of reflection so the effect looks natural without being distracting 

When to use reflective lighting

Sometimes you want a reflective lighting setup. There are instances where adding shine can enhance the image. Look at clean cosmetics brand RMS Beauty. Light reflects on the cream in the brand’s product photo, emphasizing its texture. It’s appealing because all product details are still visible, despite the added shine. 

Similarly, an intentional sheen can add a sense of freshness to food and drink products, like in the example below from London Fermentary, a fermentation specialist. The effect is subtle but adds dimension and vibrancy to the glass bottles, as does the reflection on the white surface. 

Look at some image samples online before you shoot your products to have a better idea of what the outcome will be. It will help you prepare and set up your composition and lighting equipment.

How to prepare your studio setup for shiny or reflective products

First, organize your studio space and have the right tools handy to avoid complex photo editing later on. Some things to look out for include:

• Reflections of unwanted light, color, people or objects around your studio setup
• Harsh light that changes the look or color of your product
• Missed key parts of your product, such as labels or other details that have become blurry or obstructed because of a reflection or bright light
• Smudges, fingerprints, and scratches on the product surface

Clear the set

Start with a clutter-free setup for your product photo session. 

Only allow the people you need on the set. Otherwise, they may unintentionally block light, appear in product surface reflections, or even add light reflections of themselves. For example, if someone is wearing a watch or using their smartphone.

Remove or turn off any other light sources in the room. You might also need to block natural window light if you work with studio lights and want precise control over your light sources.

Clean the setup and your products

Make sure your products are clean after styling and positioning them. Shiny surfaces like metal or clear or colored glass will quickly pick up fingerprints, and dust will be easily visible in your photos. Microfiber cloths are handy for this.

You can also use a pair of cotton, microfiber, or latex gloves to handle your products and keep them stain-free. For electronic components, use anti-static gloves to avoid built-up static charges.

Take off the plastic packaging

Does your product come in cellophane or other similar transparent packaging? Consider taking it off for the photoshoot so shoppers can see the product without obtrusive material getting in the way.

For example, if you sell gift baskets, you should take pictures after you assemble them but before you wrap them in cellophane—the shiny material can make your products look less sharp in a photo.

You can do it like the eco-friendly product retailer Peace With The Wild. It has two photos of its grapefruit bath bomb. One shows the product up close (with added styling using petals), and the other photo displays the bath bomb in its transparent, branded packaging. 

Use basic product photography equipment

You don’t need an expensive studio setup to create professional photos that look great online. DIY your lighting setup with some of these basics in your photo kit:

• A sturdy tripod
• One light as a minimum, such as a studio light or a flashgun (if you’re on a tight budget, you can shoot using natural window light)
• At least one light modifier to diffuse the light, like an umbrella or a softbox (the larger the modifier, the more diffused the light, lessening the chances of glare)
• A modifier (such as a beauty dish or a grid spot) that creates a small, concentrated area for a strong, contrasted result
• A reflector and bounce cards or boards in black and white—you can start with an affordable, multi-use kit like this 5-in-1 reflector set
• A white backdrop for ecommerce product shots, a colorful backdrop for more creative photos, and something to place beneath your product—a board, plexiglass, fabric, or paper
• A level surface—such as a chair, desk, table, or floor—on which to place your products

How to photograph shiny products like metal and glass

With your studio kit ready, it’s time to start planning your equipment setup and compositions.

The main thing to remember is that it takes patience to build up to that perfect shot—from setting up your composition to adjusting your lights and camera settings. But the good thing is it becomes easier the more you do it, especially for similar products requiring the same type of setup each time. Consider taking a photo of your setup or drawing it in a notebook so you can recreate it next time.

Find the right angle

For reflective products, start by finding an angle that eliminates—or reduces to a minimum—any reflections of you, the camera, and any other equipment or people on the set.

You may need to tilt or move the product to get the right angle, or you can use props or craft putty to prop up an item like a ring or a watch.

For products with a mirror, such as this makeup palette by RMS Beauty, you can angle the mirror to reflect the product itself or a plain white background (or both). 

Position lights above the products

If you’re working with metal products like cutlery or jewelry, try positioning your light directly over them. This is a simple but effective method to create a soft light that works with various metal products of different shapes. 

• Set up a large softbox face-down directly above your products—look for lay flat or overhead boom stands or arms to hold your softbox
• If the dark edges of your softbox end up reflecting on the product surface, add a large, translucent diffuser (or white fabric) over the light to eliminate them
• You can also use a light with a diffuser at an angle for a more dramatic effect and shadows. For example, put the light on the opposite side of the camera, facing down at the product at around a 45-degree angle, like in this tutorial

A single light on the side of the product

If you have a plastic, acrylic, or glass product, like a bottle container, you can create a professional look with just one continuous light. You can even use your smartphone to shoot this setup if you’re on a budget.

Start by adding a softbox or a strip box facing the product on one side and a white foam board or a large V-flat on the opposite side of your light, like in this video. The trick is to move the light so its reflection on your product complements it, not obstructs the label or other details. Continuous lighting makes this easier because you can see the result instantly.

Experiment with different side lighting and angles to see what works for your product’s shape and design so you don’t obstruct essential elements like the brand logo. DASH Water, for example, has the light run across the left side of its sparkling water bottle. 

If your light is too strong, add a white material, like paper, fabric, or diffuser, between the light and the product. And, if you’re losing too much detail on the opposite side of the light, set up a white board or reflector on the other side, like in this video guide. It will reflect light and brighten your product’s opposite (dark) side.

Light on both sides of the product

If you have two lights, you can add a modifier, such as a softbox or a grid, to both and place them on the opposite sides of your product. You can start with both lights mirroring each other directly and then turning them slowly to find a result that works.

For example, turn the lights slightly towards the camera or angle them facing down towards the product, like in this video. Ultimately, you’ll get a result similar to the Gentle Folk Wines Rainbow Juice below. 

This setup works well to illuminate both sides of your product while keeping any central logos or labels visible. Do you need extra light in the center of your product? To get an evenly lit image, take another shot with a light facing the product’s front and merge all photos in Photoshop.

Illuminate transparent products

For any transparent products, such as perfume or beverage bottles with translucent liquid, it’s just as important to light what’s inside. You have a few options to try in a situation like this:

The first setup is to add a light behind the product (facing the camera) and two black boards—one on either side of the product. You can use a flash strobe, continuous light, or even a window light with white paper or fabric in front of it.

The two black boards on either side will add dark edges to the silhouette, like in the example below. 

The second option is to add a white background, like a white board big enough to cover your product. Then add a continuous light that shines a narrow beam towards the center of the board, like in this video. Add two black boards on either side of the product to create a silhouette similar to the setup above.

If you shoot products with a rim like a glass bowl, wine, or cocktail glass, lower your tripod and tilt up your camera. Doing so will create an appealing rim shape, like in the example below. 

For a more advanced setup, illuminate the product from behind using a flashgun, a studio light, or a softbox, and another light at the front. Add a white sheet between the product and the backlight for additional diffusion.

You don’t even need an extra stand for the frontal light, as shown in this tutorial because you can hold it in your hand and shoot using a remote or a timer. Then, all that’s left is to merge all photos in Photoshop.

Set up bounce cards or foam boards

You’ll inevitably come across surface reflections when photographing metal products or metallic packaging. Use cards, foam boards, and reflectors to correct or enhance your shots:

• Use a black card or reflector in front of the product to bring out any silver logo or text on the product or its packaging—experiment by changing the angle of the card or reflector.
• Use a white or black foam board (depending on which color complements your product) to avoid reflections. Cut a hole in it to fit your camera lens, and place it in front of your camera. This way, you will avoid reflecting your clothing or anything else behind the camera.
• Try a silver or gold reflector to add extra sheen to your products, depending on your metal type. Move the reflector around the product to find a complementary result.

Adjust your camera and light settings

It takes several test shots to get your camera and light settings spot on. During your test shots, consider the following:

• Lowering your light intensity level to reduce hotspots or blown-out highlights on your products
• Setting your camera to a smaller aperture between f/5.6 to f/16 to capture your products in full and avoid blurred-out labels or other details
• Changing the distance between the lights or diffusers and your products—this will create varying degrees of light intensity and softness

Give your camera an object to focus on

Shooting transparent or translucent products may make setting your camera focus difficult. A quick tip to solve that is to put something inside the product, such as a pen. Set your focus on the pen manually and remove it before you start shooting.

Show product transparency in lifestyle shots

In cases where product transparency is a key selling point, a lifestyle shot can make it easier for customers to see the product’s characteristics. Take the example of the Buy Me Once transparent speaker. Putting the speaker in front of the curtain makes it easy for customers to recognize the product is made of glass and to better envision how it’ll look in their home or office. 

Use a dulling spray to reduce shine and glare

If you want a more matte look for your shiny products, consider a dulling spray like the one from Krylon. It’s designed to add a temporary dull finish that reduces shine, and you can easily wipe it off after your shoot.

But be careful using it on porous materials, like product labels, because the dulling spray can make those look fuzzy or even ruin some colors or text. Instead, cover those before you use the spray. It’s safe to use on less porous materials like metal, glass, plastic, and acrylic.

Edit your product photography like a pro

Getting perfect product shots straight from the camera isn’t always possible. Sometimes you notice imperfections only after you open your product photo on your computer and see it on a bigger screen. Other times you already know you can’t fix some things during the shoot.

We have a few quick editing tips below to help you deal with some common shiny and reflective product photo problems.

Reduce glare

If your light is too bright, you can have light hot spots like in the example below. Sometimes, glare can add dimension to the product, but other times it’s too distracting. You can use Photoshop’s Clone Stamp tool to take pixels from one part of the photo and paint them over the part that has glare. 

Or try the Color Picker tool. Select a color sample from a part of the photo (like the green on the figurine) and then use the Brush tool to apply that color to the parts needing glare removal.

Edit reflections out

Even with careful preparation, you can find some ugly reflections.

Same as with glare removal, you can use the Clone Stamp in Photoshop to sample pixels and paint them over the reflection, like on the gold necklace below. Or use the Spot Healing Brush tool to let the software cover the reflections based on the surrounding pixels. 

Some photos require more complex editing. For example, the glass bottle below has both a window reflection and a distracting mix of red and yellow. If you want to leave more complicated fixes to professionals, our editors can retouch any reflections to save you time. 

Fix color cast on shiny metal

You have a few simple fixes if you have some light cast on silver products. The first option is to use Hue/Saturation Layer in Photoshop and select the color you want to remove, like yellow. Then, reduce that color’s saturation until you like what you see. You can use a Layer Mask to remove this effect from other parts of your image if required.

The second option is to use the Sponge tool in Photoshop. Ensure it’s set to Desaturate, and brush over the product areas with the unwanted light cast. In the example below, we used this method to desaturate any color on the metal straws. We also retouched the background with Healing Brush to remove any unflattering spots on the linen. 

Correct transparent products

Glass and clear acrylic products may show reflections or glare, especially if you work with natural light. It may be impossible to eliminate those during a shoot, but you can still fix them in post-processing.

Using the Clone Stamp tool, you can copy exact detail from other parts of your photo to another area. For example, to cover up reflections on a pair of glasses. In this case, we would take a sample of the pink background and add it over the glass where the reflection is visible. 

You can do the same for the black temples by zooming in for extra precision. The reason for getting in closer is to ensure you don’t accidentally go over the edges of the original area. 

Create composites

Shooting a perfectly lit product photo takes time, experience, and equipment. But even with just one light, you can fully illuminate your product by shooting several images and combining them in Photoshop.

Whether you use studio lights or natural light with a reflector, the trick is to move your light source around the product to ensure you’ve lit every part of it. It’s better to have more photos than not enough, so you can pick which ones to combine to create a composite image like in this tutorial.

Fix overly shiny skin

It’s not just products prone to shine and reflections—these imperfections can also show up in lifestyle photos. You might have models with overly shiny skin, especially if it was hot on shoot day.

If you work with a makeup artist, take a test shot and ask them to add a more matte finish to the model’s face or body if needed. Be mindful that smaller photography studios can get warm, especially if you use several lights. This means the model’s skin can become shinier during the shoot—you can ask the model to use a light mattifying powder or blotting paper if it becomes an issue. 

If you need to fix shiny skin in post-processing, use any mentioned tools, such as Spot Healing Brush, Clone Stamp, or a simple Brush tool with color sampled from a nearby image area.

When you’ve finished, zoom out and look at the final result from a distance—does it look natural? People’s skin has texture and natural shadows, so creating a realistic result can be tricky. Still, if you’re stuck, our editing experts can help. 

Get your photos ecommerce ready

After fixing any ugly reflections or shine, there are a few extra steps to ensure your product photos are ready for your website, social media, or ecommerce marketplace.

Put your photos on a white background

White background product photos are the industry standard for ecommerce stores. Removing the background in your product photos gives you several benefits:

• White background product shots comply with popular marketplace image requirements, such as Amazon
• You can easily remove any distractions in the background of your studio and swap them for a clean white or transparent background
• Product photos with a removed background are versatile marketing assets and can be repurposed with colorful backgrounds, graphics, or stock photos
• You can further enhance your images by adding shadows or lighting effects to your products 

Fix colors to show true look

You’ll likely need to do some color correction to ensure the products in your photos represent what they look like when customers purchase them.

For example, if you shoot during the golden hour (the first hour before sunrise and the hour before sunset), the light will be warmer, resulting in a more yellow photo. Your camera may also be manually set to shoot warmer images, or the camera auto function might pick up colors our eyes don’t notice. 

Use Lightroom’s White Balance profiles or White Balance selector to automatically set a natural white balance or adjust the sliders manually. Read our jewelry photo editing guide to learn more.

Retouch missed imperfections

Don’t forget to remove any other imperfections in the photo before using it online. Look for scratches, smudges, fingerprints, and dust for shiny products. These are generally simple to fix using Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop.

All you need to do is brush over the imperfection, and the tool will attempt to replace it based on the context and nearby pixels. It may take several tries to fix a more prominent spot, but you can zoom in closer for a more accurate result.

Add shadows for depth and a 3D look

Adding a shadow effect during post-processing can help your products stand out, particularly if you use white background shots for ecommerce.

White or transparent products will benefit from a subtle shadow so they don’t blend in with the background. Still, this effect can enhance any shape, material, and color product. For example, the organic silk brand Moonchild uses a drop shadow for its silk travel set product photo. 

Picture-perfect ecommerce shots that capture attention

Shiny products or packaging are integral to most types of ecommerce products. While it may be challenging to get the lighting right, and it may take time to edit out all of the imperfections, the finished result will catch the customers’ attention if done well. 

How to photograph reflective products FAQs

How do you photograph highly reflective objects?

Make sure the product is dust and smudge-free. Use diffused lighting, like a large softbox, to create soft, even light, and position the camera at a slight angle to avoid directly reflecting the light source or the camera.

How do you photograph reflections?

Position the camera or object at an angle for an appealing reflection. Use manual focus so all necessary image parts are in focus, and pick a higher aperture like f/11 for a sharp photograph. You can use white paper or foam boards to reflect pure white and avoid having to edit unwanted reflections.

How do you use reflectors in product photography?

To lighten any shadowed areas of your product, position reflectors opposite to your main light. Experiment with matte or highly reflective surfaces for different results. You can also use a black board or reflector to absorb any light and create a more dramatic light fall-off.

What is the best reflective surface for product photography?

Acrylic boards can work as inexpensive and flexible reflectors for product photography. You can also use them as the shooting surface for products like jewelry for a glossy, high-end result. Before you shoot, make sure they’re smudge and dust-free to avoid editing out imperfections later.

The post How to Photograph Reflective Objects & Products (Tips + Examples) appeared first on Path Edits.

Once you’ve done the hard part—professional lighting, composing, and connecting with the person in front of your camera—it’s time to finish the headshot in post-production. The good news? You don’t need to be an experienced editor. That’s why we’ve curated nine simple editing tips to instantly improve your headshots.

9 headshot photography editing tips

For headshots of any kind, you’ll want an editing app that lets you apply local adjustments using brushes and masks. Most professional-grade editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, Capture One, and ON1 Photo Raw have similar editing software options. They might be called differently, but they will perform the same. Pick your favorite and follow the steps below.

1. Apply lens and composition corrections

Different lenses can introduce various distortions and vignetting to your headshots. Wide-angle lenses may warp facial features, while telephoto lenses compress perspective. Some lenses naturally darken image corners. Correcting these lens-specific issues should be the first step so the image appears clean and balanced.

In Lightroom, head to the Lens Corrections tab and click on Profile. Here, you can turn on Enable Profile Corrections. The app will automatically match it to your lens, but if it doesn’t find the correct lens profile, simply search for it in the Make dropdown.

2. Basic adjustments: exposure and white balance

It’s not always possible to get perfect exposure and white balance in the camera, especially if you shoot in more challenging lighting conditions, like bright sun. But even when shooting in a studio versus a DIY headshot, you’ll want to apply all the basic adjustments before color grading or editing skin.

The example below shows a slightly underexposed image. Shooting conditions included bright sun and underexposing to avoid blowing out highlights.

In the editing process, basic Lightroom adjustments for a headshot like this included:

• Moving the Temperature slider towards yellows to introduce more warmth
• Increasing Exposure to brighten the overall image
• Reducing Highlights to maintain detail in the white background and the jacket fur
• Reducing Shadows and Blacks to make skin more vibrant

You can also use the tone curve to make more precise tonal adjustments. These foundational adjustments create a solid base for further editing, ensuring your subjects look their best while maintaining a natural appearance.

3. Enhance skin texture using brushes

A digital professional camera can pick up a lot of sharp texture on your subject’s skin. This may be great for pixel-perfect detail shots, but when you look at others in reality, you don’t see skin in such sharp detail.

Using brushes lets you slightly soften the skin texture without going overboard. The key is to achieve a natural, flattering look that maintains the subject’s unique features while minimizing distracting imperfections.

In Lightroom, navigate to the Masking section at the top right of your editing toolbar and select the Brush tool.

Now, you can use the brush to paint over the areas you want to enhance. Depending on how intensely you wish to edit problem areas, you can adjust the brush size, feather, and other features. Make sure to avoid painting over the eyes and lips.

You’ll end up with a mask similar to the example below. The red indicates the areas that will be affected when you make adjustments. Hit the O on your keyboard to hide the red overlay so you can see your adjustments.

Scroll down to the Effects section, and start by lightly reducing Texture. You can also adjust Clarity and sliders in the Tone section, but make sure the result appears natural, doesn’t hide facial features, and complements skin tone.

4. Fix temporary skin blemishes

Getting ready for a headshot session can be stressful, and it’s not always possible to conceal every skin blemish. But as a photographer, your task is to put clients at ease, including delivering photos that show them at their best. Removing any temporary skin blemishes can positively affect anyone’s confidence.

Make sure you don’t erase permanent features, such as moles, scars, freckles, and others. When in doubt—always ask clients first.

Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom both offer tools to heal or clone. For example, in Photoshop, you can use:

• Spot Healing Brush Tool: remove marks and blemishes
• Healing Brush Tool: paint pixels from another part of the image over the problem area
• Clone Stamp Tool: performs similarly to Healing Brush Tool but doesn’t match texture and shading

In the example below, the Spot Healing Brush Tool was used to reduce its size to match the blemishes, and applied it to several spots.

The result is subtle but effective. The image remains natural, but removing temporary blemishes enhances its overall polish. This shows how minor edits can significantly improve a headshot while maintaining authenticity.

5. Brighten eyes

Brushes can subtly enhance eyes and make them pop, just as they improve skin texture. This technique is especially effective when the subject is lit from behind or the side, often creating shadows around the eyes.

In Lightroom, select the Brush tool and carefully brush over the subject’s eyes. Adjust settings based on lighting and eye color:

• Increase exposure
• Add clarity
• Enhance sharpness
• Boost saturation

You can also increase contrast, but be careful not to over-darken the irises. If this happens, reduce the shadows.

6. Bring out detail in eyelashes

This goes hand in hand with the previous tip of brightening eyes. Lightly brush over the subject’s eyelashes with a brush that has contrast, clarity, and sharpness applied. Depending on the eyelash darkness and the subject’s makeup, try increasing the shadows and blacks.

7. Fix stray hairs

You don’t have to worry about fixing every hair, but sometimes a stray hair can land on your subject’s face and run across their eye or mouth. To remove it, head into Photoshop and make sure to zoom in.

Take the Spot Healing Brush Tool, match the brush size to the hair thickness and brush over it. You might need to do this in stages to control the result, especially when you brush over the eye.

8. Remove other distracting elements

You might have some unwanted elements in the photo, such as wall signs or backdrop wrinkles. For the most part, it’s an easy fix. But for business and professional headshots where the background is essential to the context, check with your client first—they might want you to keep their brand signage in.

You can use all the same tools used for fixing skin blemishes or try Photoshop’s Generative Fill. It uses AI and constructs three options for you to pick from. Just make sure you have the latest Photoshop version installed so you can access this feature.

Then, pick one of the Marquee or Lasso tools and tightly select the problem area. Click on Generative Fill and leave the description blank before hitting the Generate button.

Photoshop will generate three variations, which you can click through or click to generate again if you don’t get a suitable result. How simple was that! This method may not always work if you have more challenging elements to remove.

You might also need to remove the background if the client requests it. This could be useful for various marketing purposes, such as changing the background color on a LinkedIn profile picture to match the branding. You can do this in Photoshop or outsource complex edits to experts.

9. Try Lightroom’s built-in preset

The latest version of Adobe Lightroom offers native color and adaptive presets, which you can also try introducing in your workflow. The adaptive portrait presets will only adjust specific areas—eyes, lips, eyebrows, beard, hair, and clothes, similar to how you manually use a brush.

Any presets you apply can have their opacity adjusted, and you can use them before or after performing all other edits, depending on your preference.

If you use presets for color grading, you’ll likely need to reduce the preset amount for a natural result. For example, we selected the VCR06 preset in the Video:Creative section and reduced the amount to 40.

You don’t have to leave the result as is, either. After applying presets, you can adjust the tone curve, change color grading, and more to make it match your signature style.

Simple editing workflow for headshots that sell

Who says you need to spend hours editing one headshot? While expert retouchers have their place in high-end publications, don’t let that discourage you from capturing and editing headshots yourself. Applying just a few of these simple tips can significantly improve your images, creating results that will please your clients.

The goal isn’t perfection but enhancing your subject’s best features while maintaining their natural appearance. With practice, these edits will become quick and intuitive, allowing you to produce quality headshots that stand out and generate more leads. 

Headshot photography editing tips FAQ

How can I edit my portraits to look better?

To improve your portrait edits:

• Adjust exposure
• Apply lens and composition corrections
• Use brushes to soften skin texture
• Brighten eyes
• Remove temporary blemishes and distracting elements

How should you edit headshots?

You should edit headshots by applying lens corrections, adjusting exposure and white balance, enhancing skin tone, and brightening eyes. Always match the edit to the image’s purpose and subject’s style. For corporate headshots, maintain a polished, professional look. For creative professionals, allow for more personality.

Is it okay to edit headshots?

Yes, editing headshots is not only acceptable but often expected. Professional editing enhances image quality and presents subjects at their best. Remember to maintain authenticity by avoiding excessive alterations. Focus on subtle improvements like adjusting exposure, removing temporary blemishes, and enhancing features to create a timeless, professional result.

How should headshots be edited?

Edit headshots lightly to maintain a natural look. Start with basic adjustments, such as exposure and white balance. Then, move on to skin smoothing and eye enhancement. Use brushes for local fixes and consider removing temporary blemishes or distracting elements. Always highlight the subject’s unique features and avoid over-editing.

How do I make my headshot look professional?

For a professional headshot, apply clean, subtle edits. Focus on proper exposure and color balance, lightly soften skin texture, and brighten eyes. Check for any distracting elements, such as hair over eyes, or temporary blemishes. Consider the purpose of the headshot—corporate shots call for a polished look, while more creative ones allow for more personality.

How do I edit a photo to make it look professional?

To edit a photo for a professional look, start by cropping to improve composition and focus attention on the subject. Next, apply lens corrections and adjust exposure and white balance. Use brushes for local adjustments and tools that remove temporary blemishes or distractions. Use color grading tools for a cohesive look, but don’t overdo it.

How to touch up a professional headshot?

To touch up a professional headshot, focus on subtle fixes:

• Apply lens correction and adjust exposure
• Use brushes to soften skin texture
• Brighten eyes and sharpen eyelashes
• Remove temporary blemishes, flyaway hair or distracting elements
• Consider adding color grading for a professional finish

The post How to Edit a Professional Headshot: 9 Tips appeared first on Path Edits.

That’s why we created a handy guide to all the Photoshop shortcuts you need to know to execute pixel perfect product photo edits—along with a downloadable cheat sheet to pin to your desktop or print out for reference.

A note on Mac vs. PC

Key command shortcuts are usually a little different between Mac and PC (Windows) as each system has a slightly different keyboard. For the most part, anytime you see CTRL for PC, you can substitute COMMAND on Mac, and anytime you see ALT for PC, you can substitute OPTION on Mac.

There’s one notable exception to this rule. On newer Mac laptops, if you want to access the Function keys, you need to first press the FN key. On Mac desktops and PCs, however, no FN key exists.

List of basic Photoshop key command shortcuts

Learning Photoshop shortcuts can save hours of valuable time. Here are some basic Photoshop keyboard shortcuts you can memorize to make your workflow quicker and easier.

• Adjust image size: CTRL + ALT + I (COMMAND + OPTION + I on a Mac)
• Burn tool: O
  
• Close all open documents: CTRL + ALT + W (COMMAND + OPTION + W)
• Close document: CTRL + W (COMMAND + W)
• Copy: CTRL + C (COMMAND + C)
• Create a new document: CTRL + N (COMMAND + N)
• Create a new layer: SHIFT + CTRL + N (SHIFT + COMMAND + N)
• Create a perfect square or circle selection with Marquee Tool: SHIFT + drag
• Create duplicate in new layer: ALT + drag
• Cut (saved in clipboard): CTRL + X (COMMAND + X)
• Cycle between Blending Brush Modes with Brush Tool selected: SHIFT + +
  
• Cycle between Blending Modes: SHIFT + +
  
• Decrease or increase brush size (with Brush Tool selected): [ (decrease); ] (increase)
• Deselect current selection: CTRL + D (COMMAND + D)
• Eraser Tool: SHIFT + E
  
• Export document: SHIFT + CTRL + ALT + W (SHIFT + COMMAND + OPTION + W)
• Feather selection: SHIFT + F6 (FN + SHIFT + F6)
• Healing Brush Tool: J
  
• Merge copy: SHIFT + CTRL + C (SHIFT + COMMAND + C)
• Move in line with Move Tool: SHIFT + drag
• Open an existing document: CTRL + O (COMMAND + O)
• Open Curves dialog box: CTRL + M (COMMAND + M)
• Open Levels dialog box: CTRL + L (COMMAND + L)
• Open Preferences: CTRL + K (COMMAND + K)
• Paste: CTRL + V (COMMAND + V)
• Paste in place: SHIFT + CTRL + V (SHIFT + COMMAND + V)
• Print document: CTRL + P (COMMAND + P)
• Rulers show or hide: CTRL + R (COMMAND + R)
• Save a copy as: CTRL + ALT + S (COMMAND + OPTION + S)
• Save as: SHIFT + CTRL + S (SHIFT + COMMAND + S)
• Save document: CTRL + S (COMMAND + S)
• Select all: CTRL + A (COMMAND + A)
• Show or hide actions panel: ALT + F9 (OPTION + F9 on Mac, FN + OPTION + F9 on Mac laptop)
• Toggle between Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Mixer Brush Tool and Color Replacement Tool: SHIFT + B
  
• Toggle between Healing Brush Tool, Spot Healing Brush Tool, Patch Tool, Content-Aware Move Tool, and Red Eye Tool: SHIFT + J
  
• Toggle between Lasso Tools: SHIFT + L
  
• Undo: CTRL + Z (COMMAND + Z)
• Zoom in: CTRL + = (COMMAND + =)
• Zoom out: CTRL + – (COMMAND + –)

In addition to these basic shortcut key commands, there are additional task-specific shortcut keys each section below.

5 Photoshop shortcuts to know for general photo editing

1. Keyboard shortcuts for working with layers

If you don’t see the Layers panel in your application, simply type F7 (FN + F7) to make it visible.

Toggle between blending modes

Blending modes on your layers allow you to affect how the layer interacts with the image in the layer below it. You control the blending mode in the Layers Panel. If you’re unsure which blending mode would be best for the look you are trying to achieve, you can quickly toggle through available blending modes by selecting the layer and typing SHIFT + ALT + + (SHIFT + CTRL + +).

Merge Layers

To merge your visible layers into one layer, type SHIFT + CTRL + E (SHIFT + COMMAND + E). To merge your selected layer into the layer beneath it (merge down), type CTRL + E (COMMAND + E).

Duplicate and Stamp Layers

To duplicate the layer you have selected, type F4 (FN + F4). In order to copy all layers into a new, merged layer (stamping layers), type SHIFT + ALT + CTRL + E (SHIFT + OPTION + COMMAND + E)

2. How to use keyboard shortcuts to adjust colors

Color Balance

To quickly bring up the Color Balance dialog box, select the layer you wish to adjust and type CTRL + B (COMMAND + B). Color Balance allows you to adjust the colors for shadows, midtones, and highlights. As you work with the sliders in the Color Balance dialog box, make sure you have “Preview” checked so you can see your changes in real time.

Note: If you want to adjust the color balance for all layers: create a stamped layer to work with, or create a Color Balance Adjustment Layer above all visible layers.

Hue / Saturation

The Hue / Saturation dialog box is similar to Color Balance in that it gives you the ability to adjust colors and tones of your image. However, Hue / Saturation allows you to adjust all colors in your image in one direction, and also gives you control over tint and saturation of your image instead of focusing on enhancing particular colors.

The keyboard shortcut for Hue / Saturation is CTRL + U (COMMAND + U). Any adjustments you make in the dialog box that appears will affect the current layer or current selection.

You can use the Hue slider to change the color of a particular portion of your image; however, use caution if you intend to adjust the entire image as the results can be very drastic.

You can also choose specific colors to modify from the dropdown menu that says “Master.” In this image, the woman’s dress is the only portion of the image that is mostly magenta. Therefore, we can choose “Magentas” from the dropdown menu and adjust the Hue Slider to change her dress color without affecting the rest of the image too much. This allows us to save the time we would otherwise need for creating a selection.

3. How to make an image black and white

In the Hue / Saturation dialog box, you have the option to move the Saturation slider all the way to the left, which will make your image black and white.

This method will work in a pinch, but there are other ways to make your image black and white that are just as quick.

Method 1: Convert image to grayscale

You can convert your image to grayscale while staying in the RGB color mode by typing CTRL + SHIFT U (COMMAND + SHIFT + U). This makes your image black and white, but, like desaturating your image, does not give you much control over your contrast.

In the black and white image below, you can see from the Layers panel that the color mode of the image is still RGB, even though the adjusted layer is black and white.

Method 2: Convert color mode to Lab mode

This next method is a very quick way to make skin look brighter in black and white images. Choose Image > Mode > Lab Color from the dropdown menu at the top of the application window.

When prompted, merge layers together.

Next, bring up the Layers panel by typing F7 (FN + F7 on a Mac). The Channels and Paths panels are connected to the Layers panel by default, but if Channels does not appear, you can also bring it up by going to Window > Channels from the dropdown menu at the top of the application window.

In the Channels Panel, select the a and b channels. Right-click (CTRL + Click) and choose Delete Layers. Flatten layers when prompted.

Now, you can choose Image > Mode > Grayscale to put the image in Grayscale mode. The final image will look more luminescent than using desaturation alone.

Method 3: Use Black + White keyboard shortcut

You can bring up the Black and White dialog box by typing CTRL + ALT + SHIFT + B (OPTION + COMMAND + SHIFT + B). The dialog box that appears gives you control over which colors in the original image you wish to darken and lighten. Make sure you have “Preview” checked to see the image as you adjust the sliders.

If you’re unsure how best to adjust the sliders, click the Auto button to have Photoshop do the work for you.

4. How to add text to a photo using keyboard shortcuts

To quickly add text to your photo, type T to bring up the Text Tool. Then, click anywhere on your image to start using the tool.

A small bit of filler text will appear in your foreground color, and a small Contextual Task Bar will appear underneath to quickly give you access to adjusting your font, alignment, and text color.

You can also adjust your text with more options using the Options Bar at the top of the application window.

In the Layers Panel, you will see a new Text layer has been generated as well.

If you click off of your type, you can select it again by grabbing the Type Tool and clicking on your text. Then, type CTRL + A (COMMAND + A on a Mac) to select all of your text. If you click on your image but not on your existing text, you will create a new Text layer; you can simply go into your Layers panel and delete it if you do this accidentally.

Photoshop is an evolving organism–as the years have gone by, new options have been added while old panels stay the same. As a result, there are myriad ways to adjust your type. There is no right or wrong way to adjust type in Photoshop 2024–it all depends on what works best for your workflow.

Here are some ways you can modify your type once it’s selected:

• Use the dropdown menus in the Options Bar to adjust your type.
• Use the Properties Panel (accessed by Window > Properties).
• Use the Character Panel (Window > Character) and the Paragraphs Panel (Window > Properties) to adjust your type.
• Use the Contextual Task Bar that appears right under your text (new to Photoshop 2024), or click on the three little dots to quickly bring up the Properties Panel and make more adjustments there.

5. How to use a shortcut for Generative Fill

Generative AI is a hot topic right now, and Photoshop 2024’s AI capabilities are state-of-the-art. In order to take advantage of this new feature, make a selection around the area of your photograph that you wish to change.

Note: All generative AI struggles with correctly creating human hands, so you’ll have best results if you avoid selecting any hands in your image.

Right click (CTRL + click) to bring up an options menu, and choose Generative Fill.

A dialog box will appear, giving you the option to type in what you would like to replace the selection with. If you want to remove the object you selected entirely from your photo, leave this box blank and click Generate.

If you want to replace your selection with an AI-generated image, type what you would like that image to be. In this example, I’ve typed “blue flower.” Then, click Generate.

Photoshop will attempt to create what you’ve asked for based on its own AI database and the pixels surrounding your selection.

Once a new portion of your image has been generated, you will see up to three variations you can choose within your Properties panel.

Choose the variation you like best by clicking on it, or click Generate again within the Properties panel to create three more variations.

Your image will now have a Generative layer named the same as your prompt that rests on top of your other layers. If you want to go back at any time to change the variation you chose, click on that Generative layer and change your selection in the Properties panel.

You can delete unused variations by hovering over the variation and clicking the Trash icon. Removing unused variations will help keep your file size from becoming too large.

5 Photoshop shortcuts to know when editing product photos

1. How to use clipping path keyboard shortcuts

We’ve previously discussed how to use the Magic Wand tool to remove a background from your product image using Select Subject. But if your background has similar focus or coloring as your foreground, the Magic Wand tool won’t work.

In these cases, creating clipping paths is your best option to remove the background. We’ve also put together a tutorial to help you learn how to use the Pen Tool to edit product images and remove the background in Photoshop.

Quick clipping paths are achieved with both of your hands: one hand typing on the keyboard, the other drawing with the mouse or stylus. Your keyboard hand types in the shortcut key commands to toggle quickly between tools so that your other hand can continue to draw the path quickly.

Before you create the clipping path, set up your workspace. Make sure both your Pen tool and your Direct Selection tool are visible in the Toolbar.

You should be able to see both your Layers panel and your Paths panel.

Note: If these panels aren’t visible, you can make them visible by selecting them from the Window dropdown menu at the top of the Photoshop application window.

If you plan to use a clipping path to separate a product image from its background, there are a series of key command shortcuts you can use to make the process quicker and easier.

Keyboard shortcuts for clipping paths

• P: select Pen tool
• A: select Direct Selection tool (to adjust points created with the Pen tool)
• H: select Hand tool
• ALT + click (OPTION + click on Mac) on point: create corner at point as you draw with Pen tool
• CTRL + = (COMMAND + =): zoom in
• CTRL + – (COMMAND + –): zoom out
• SHIFT + CTRL + N (SHIFT + COMMAND + N): create a new Layer
• Q: toggle Quick Mask Mode
• SHIFT + click: toggle Layer Mask
• SHIFT + F5 (FN + SHIFT + F5): fill layer with color
• CTRL + = (COMMAND + =): zoom in
• CTRL + – (COMMAND + –): zoom out
• SHIFT + CTRL + N (SHIFT + COMMAND + N): create a new layer
• F7 (FN + F7): hide/show Layers panel

Panel shortcuts

There are also some useful keyboard shortcuts within the Layers and Paths panels that will shave whole minutes off of your editing time.

How to use the stroke path Photoshop shortcut

When you apply the stroke path shortcut, your path will be outlined using the same width, hardness, opacity, blending mode, and color of your brush. Therefore, before you can use the stroke path Photoshop shortcut shown in the Paths panel above, you need to set up your Brush tool presets to the size and color you want. Because the path stroke will appear in your selected layer, it’s always a good idea to create a new layer and select it before applying the stroke path shortcut.

2. How to use a shortcut for clipping mask

On the surface, clipping paths and clipping masks appear to have a lot in common. However, there are subtle differences that become apparent when you use a clipping mask short cut.

The most common shortcut you can use to make a clipping mask is the small Add Layer Mask icon located at the bottom of the Layers panel and the Paths panel.

To quickly and effectively create a layer mask, first select the area of your layer you want to remain visible after applying the mask. Then click the Add Layer Mask icon within either the Layers panel or the Paths panel. You’ll instantly have the other parts of your layer “masked” out, leaving only your selection visible.

Another shortcut for clipping masks works with adjustment layers. For instance, the image below has two layers and an adjustment layer on top. The layer closest to the adjustment layer is transparent for most of the layer.

If you want to apply the adjustment layer only to the non-transparent areas of the top layer (in this example, apply the Color Balance to just the earbuds and not to the background), select the Adjustment Layer and type ALT + CTRL + G (OPTION + COMMAND + G on a Mac).

3. How to do a Photoshop crop shortcut

It’s important that your images have a consistent aesthetic across your site. You can set up your Crop tool to quickly crop similar product images so they’ll all be the same size and resolution.

How to create a crop preset for product images

When the Crop tool is visible in your Toolbar, type C to access it quickly.

Once the Crop tool is selected, you’ll have access to a series of options at the top of the Photoshop window.

In the first dropdown in the Options bar, choose W x H x Resolution.

Set your width and height to the final dimensions you want your product photos to be.

For websites and apps, you’ll want your width and height to be in pixels, and your resolution at 72ppi for standard web graphics. If you need your images to appear properly on a retina display, double both the height and width dimensions (so, a 400px x 400px image would now be set at 800px x 800px).

You can also click on the dropdown next to the grid icon to choose which guidelines you want to use to position your product image as you crop it. By default, this is set to Rule of Thirds.

Once you have your dimensions set, select the W x H x Resolution dropdown again and choose New Crop Preset. Give your preset a name that will help you remember what product images these crop settings will be applied to, such as “product thumbnail.”

With your crop preset created, you can click on any product image with the crop tool, select your custom preset from the W x H x Resolution dropdown, and use the guides to position the subject of your photo in a similar fashion across all images.

The Crop tool also offers you some other useful tricks to ensure consistency. Click on the Straighten icon and draw a line along the edge of your product photo to straighten your image. Or hover your cursor over the corners of the crop edge to rotate the crop.

Once you’re satisfied with your crop, click the check mark in the Options bar. Then repeat with the next image in your product series.

4. How to quickly export images for your website

Like the Crop tool, a little bit of setup with your export functions can save hours of time in your workflow.

If you know you’ll be working on a large batch of web-ready photos that need to have the same file format, you can set up your Quick Export settings and then rapidly export each file into a web-ready format.

To set up your Quick Export settings, go to File > Export > Export Preferences…

In the dialog box that appears, you can choose what file format you want your image to export to (JPG, PNG, GIF, or SVG), the location where you want the exported file to live, and what color space you want the exported file to be in. If you’ve created a metadata template with copyright information, you can choose to have that applied to exported files here as well.

Once you’ve set up your preferences, click OK.

Quick Export also has its own shortcut key command. To Quick Export once you have the settings you want, type SHIFT + CTRL + , (SHIFT + COMMAND + , on a Mac).

The next time you need to export your image for your site, all you need to do is type this key command—the image will automatically export with all of your Quick Export settings.

5. How to easily create a true white background

If you’ve shot your product against a white backdrop and don’t need to remove it from the background, chances are you still need to do some editing to make sure the white background in one image has the same brightness as the background in the next. This eyedropper shortcut will help you do just that in a matter of seconds.

With your product image open in Photoshop, choose Image > Adjustments > Curves… from the dropdown menu at the top of the application window. You can also bring up Curves by typing CTRL + M (COMMAND + M on a Mac).

In the Curves dialog box that appears, you’ll see three eyedropper tools at the bottom of the window. Choose the eyedropper on the far right. This is the Set White Point eyedropper.

With the eyedropper tool selected, click on the background of the product image. Choose the darkest part of your white background that is not a shadow. The eyedropper will make those pixels 100% white, and will adjust the rest of the image accordingly.

Click OK.

You can repeat the process with the rest of your product photos. If all your photos were shot using the same lighting, you’ll retain the consistency throughout while brightening the background.

Not happy with the shadows in your shot? You can learn how to add a natural shadow in Photoshop to fix them in post-processing. 

How to create your own Photoshop shortcuts

If Photoshop doesn’t have a shortcut for something you do often, you can create your own shortcut key. To create a keyboard shortcut, go to Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts…

For this example, let’s create a shortcut to open the Shadows/Highlights… Dialog Box.

In the dialog window that appears, choose Application Menus next to Shortcuts For: since this is an option that can be accessed from the Application Menu. Because Shadows/Highlights… exists under the Image menu, click on Image in the scrolling menu at the center of the window, and then scroll down until you see Shadows/Highlights… under Adjustments.

You can create any shortcut key you’d like as long as it’s not being used elsewhere by Photoshop and it contains either CTRL (COMMAND on a Mac) or a Function (F1, F2, etc.) key.

Because Photoshop has so many shortcut keys already, this may take some trial and error to find one that is not already in use. In this example, I’ve successfully entered COMMAND + SHIFT + 0 as an acceptable key command.

Once you’ve decided on a key command, click Accept, and then OK in the dialog box.

5 Photoshop shortcuts for sports photo editing

You’ll want to do two key things when you edit a sports photo: 1) enhance the subject with high detail and contrast and 2) modify the background to help the subject stand out more. So the first thing you need to do when approaching any sports photo is to isolate the subject from the rest of the photo.

1. Quickly select subject

While using a clipping path is almost always the way to go with product photography, you can use Photoshop’s built in “Select Subject” functionality for sports photography since you don’t need as precise a selection.

To begin, choose the Magic Wand from the Toolbar and choose Select Subject from either the Contextual Task Bar or the Options Bar at the top of the screen.

Next, click the Select and Mask… button in the Options Bar. A new window will open allowing you to refine your selection.

You can modify your selection by adding or subtracting areas of your selection within the Select and Mask window. When you’re happy with the way the selection looks, click OK.

Now, with your subject selected, type CTRL + C (COMMAND + C) and then SHIFT + CTRL + V (SHIFT + COMMAND + V) three times to create three new identical layers containing just your subject.

Accessing your selection again quickly

If at any time you need to re-select your subject, you can do so by clicking on any of the new layers and choosing Select > Load Selection from the menu at the top of the application window.

Once in the Load Selection dialog box, choose the Transparency for the layer you’re working in next to the Channel options and click OK.

2. Use Camera Raw Filters to quickly enhance sports photo subject

The Camera Raw Filters are a quick and effective way to get spectacular sports photographs. With your top layer selected, click SHIFT + CTRL + A (SHIFT + COMMAND + A) to bring up the Camera Raw Filters window.

Within the filters window you have many options for enhancing the photo. Some of the most useful options here are the Auto Exposure and Auto Contrast sliders (under Light) and the Texture slider under Effects. Feel free to explore other options within the menu on the right-hand side of the window. When you’re satisfied with how your image looks, click OK.

Within your Layers panel, you can choose to adjust the opacity or blending mode of your top layer to blend your changes with the original image. In the example below, we changed the Blending Mode of the layer we just adjusted to “Overlay” and set the opacity to 70%.

3. Using the Glowing Edges Filter to enhance sports photo details.

One of the best ways to add additional texture to a sports photo is to use the Glowing Edges Filter in Photoshop 2024. To access this filter, select the next to top layer (which should be of your unedited isolated subject). Choose Filter Gallery from the Filters menu at the top of the application window.

Within the Filter Gallery window that appears, choose Glowing Edges from the Stylize menu. Adjust the sliders on the right until your image has the level of detail you want (keep in mind the image will be in negative).

Click OK.

Back in your document, still with the same layer selected, click CTRL + I (COMMAND + I) to invert the image in the layer.

Drag this layer to the top of your layers in your Layers Panel, set the Blending Mode to Overlay, and adjust the opacity until you get the effects you desire.

4. Using Generative Fill to get a clean background

It’s a lot easier to add effects to your background if you remove the subject entirely from the background. Thanks to Photoshop 2024’s new Generative Fill tool, you can remove the subject from the background very quickly.

To begin, click the Eye icon next to all three layers that contain your sports photo subject, and duplicate the Background layer.

In the new Background copy layer, draw a selection around your subject using the Lasso Tool or the Polygonal Lasso Tool.

Once you have a loose selection around your subject, click Generative Fill from the Contextual Task menu that appears under your selection, or right-click (CTRL + Click) to bring up a menu where you can select Generative Fill.

In the dialog box that appears, leave the prompt blank where it says “What would you like to generate? (Optional)” and just click Generate.

Photoshop 2024 will attempt to fill in the space of your selection using cues from the background that is visible. Once it’s done generating a new fill, you will see three variations you can choose from within the Properties panel. Simply click on any of these options, or click Generate again to get three more variations.

Once you’re satisfied with one of the generative fill options, select the new Generative Fill layer and the Background copy layer in the Layers Panel. Then, type CTRL + E (COMMAND + E) to merge those layers together.

5. Add Effects to your sports photo background

Add Motion Blur

One really great effect you can add to a sports photo is a motion blur. This effect makes it look like your subject is moving at incredible speed.

Make sure all your layers are visible so that you can see the contrast of the background against your subject. Then, select your Layer in your Layers panel that has the background without the subject.

Then, choose Filter > Blur > Motion Blur… from the menu at the top of the application window. In the dialog box that appears, set your motion’s angle to 0 degrees and adjust your distance to your liking (the higher the distance, the greater the blur).

Click OK when you decide you like the results.

Add Radial Blur

The Radial Blur can create a stunning effect for your Sports photo. You can add a Radial Blur on top of a Motion Blur or use it on its own. In this example, we removed the Motion Blur before creating a Radial Blur.

To create a Radial Blur, select your Layer in your Layers panel that has the background without the subject. Then, choose Filter > Blur > Radial Blur… from the menu at the top of the application window.

In the Radial Blur… dialog box that appears, you do not have the option to preview your image before applying the effect. The image below gives you an idea of what to expect from the Spin option vs. the Zoom option.

Add vignette

Adding a vignette should be the last thing you do to your image, and for best effects, apply it only to the background portion of your image.

The easiest way to add a vignette to your image is to select the layer you will apply it to, then click CTRL + SHIFT + A (COMMAND + SHIFT + A) to quickly access your Camera Raw Filters.

Once in the Camera Raw Filters window, choose Vignette under Effects and move the slider to the left to create a dark vignette around the edges of your image. You can also move the Grain slider to the right to add a little extra punch to your image.

Click OK when you’re satisfied with how the image looks.

Using just a few simple shortcuts, your final sports photo will now look much more exciting than the original image.

Photoshop shortcuts FAQs

What is the shortcut key for?

A shortcut key is for completing frequent actions more quickly with a keyboard command. It helps you edit photos more effichiently.

What is the shortcut of clipping mask in Adobe Photoshop?

The shortcut of clipping mask in Photoshop is to click on the Create Layer Mask icon in the Layers panel or the Create Mask from Path icon in the Paths panel.

What is the shortcut key to mask?

The shortcut key to mask is ALT + CTRL + G (OPTION + COMMAND + G on a Mac). First select the Adjustment Layer and type and then this shortcut will allow you to apply the transparency mask of a Layer to an Adjustment Layer.

What are the shortcut keys in Photoshop?

The shortcut keys in Photoshop are listed in this post and in this downloadable cheat sheet pdf. Memorize the ones that work best with the tasks you do on a daily basis. For a list of some of the most common shortcut keys in Photoshop, see the list at the beginning of this post.

What is CTRL + J in Photoshop?

CTRL + J (COMMAND + J on Mac) duplicates the layer you currently have selected.

What is CTRL + F in Photoshop?

CTRL + F (COMMAND + F on Mac) opens a dialog box allowing you to search for tools, tricks, tips, and other sources of helpful information from Photoshop. You can use this dialog box to select tools or search for commands, as well as browse tips and tutorials.

Let us look after your image edits, so you can get back to the fun stuff. Try Path free.

Learn more

The post Photoshop Shortcuts for Clipping Paths and Editing Photos (Cheat Sheet Included) appeared first on Path Edits.

Many times automation mitigates human error. But there are contexts where tech makes its own flaws.

This is the case when it comes to automated photo editing.

Your photos are what your audience has to get an impression of your product, subject, brand, or whatever else you’re representing. If it’s a poor image, they’re going to think the brand is of the same quality. And that’s not what’s going to drive sales.

So, what are the pros and cons to automated photo editing, and does it ever make sense to use it? Let’s take a look:

A breakdown of the difference between automation and AI

While automation and AI are often interchangeably used, they actually refer to different things. Let’s take a look at the definition of each:

What is automation?

Automation is when you use technology to set up systems and processes that begin and end on their own. In business, automation happens in almost every single department. You can automate marketing, inventory management, HR, and even photo editing.

What is AI?

AI stands for “artificial intelligence” and refers to machine learning. Essentially, this technology replicates or replaces human intelligence, and it’s more successful for basic tasks and concepts. Over time, this technology “learns” and becomes more powerful—sort of like forecasting for inventory based on historical data. If you give more input to the computers, they can learn more effectively.

What’s the difference between automation and AI?

While automation and AI both rely on some sort of human involvement during the setup, AI gives computers more independence. Automated workflows and sequences happen based on parameters you’ve set manually, whereas AI involves machine learning which includes advanced data analysis and predictive modeling.

Automation and AI in photo editing

So, what does this all have to do with photo editing?

In photo editing, you can use automation to accomplish tedious, time-consuming edits. For example, if you need to put everything on a white background, you can use automation to apply the edit to a large batch of images. Some companies also make the mistake of using automation for detail-oriented edits, like clipping paths. These often result in Photoshop fails—remember the Target thigh gap debacle of 2014?

Drawbacks of automation and AI

Outsourcing your work to computers isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. In fact, automation and AI can actually ruin your product shots and send you back to square one.

You’re limited in what you can do

While AI might have its place for basic edits, the technology is very limiting, especially from a creative standpoint. Manually editing photographs is still a more widespread technique than using a tool that relies on artificial intelligence because you have a stronger control over the way the image transforms. With an AI-powered tool, you’re limited to algorithms.

This means you might not get the perfect look, and it almost always requires manual tweaking. Plus, the results could be subpar, in which case you might have to start all over and do it by hand—which takes even more time than just editing by hand in the first place.

You don’t exercise creativity

Because AI is so limiting, it also prohibits creativity. This can be stifling and take the passion out of your work. AI can’t take creative direction. As such, you still have to do a fair bit of manual work.

Imperfections happen

Quality control is extremely important when you’re letting machines do some of the editing work for you. The most tiring factor in manual image editing is that it requires graphic designers to put on their eagle eye lenses to pinpoint the smallest anomaly in the picture. Many photographers and brands are trolled when Photoshopping goes wrong.

And while you might think using automation and AI will help you spend less time on time-consuming edits, this could actually make your job harder and more time-intensive in the long run.

Instead of looking at shots to see how you can manipulate them, you’re looking at shots to see how they’ve been manipulated and if they need to be fixed. And then doing the work of fixing them when needed. When all is said and done, you might’ve been able to do it faster with a human.

Manual work is required

Sensing a theme? Automation and AI don’t completely eradicate the need to do edits by hand. You still need to review each image before handing it off to the computers.

There are a variety of images that need different treatments. You should analyze the photograph first and then decide how you want to approach it.

It’s also important to perform a quality check after the software has manipulated your image. as well as perform quality checks and spot edits afterwards. The key benefit of AI is having good manual editing skills and being able to deliver on your client’s brief. Without this skill, you’re likely going to seek out a different photographer.

High-quality photography only

If you’re using an automated tool, you’ll likely need to provide high-quality, high-res original source images as much as possible. No smartphone product photography here! You should use high-quality JPEG files or non-compressed formats. Compression can mess things up with AI-based background removal.

The trick is that the removed background has to be relatively distinct from the subject. If your background is sharp and the foreground is sharp, the algorithms struggle to detect edges well as they typically use contrast detection. So if you’re not working with a high-quality camera and lens, your shots might not be suited for an AI-based photo editor.

Benefits of automation and AI in photo editing

There are certainly scenarios where it makes sense to take advantage of automation and AI to speed up your editing workflow.

Handle large batches of edits

Product launches, start of the season, a new fiscal year, new collections, seasonal changes, upcoming trade shows—there are lots of times when a large batch of photos that need editing come across your desk.

When you have lots of edits and impossible deadlines, automation and AI can help speed things up. Give the simple tasks, like basic background removal or resizing, to the computers so you can focus on the more important and creative details.

Stay within budget

Using photo-editing technology can be budget-friendly, especially if it means you don’t have to invest in employee hours or financial resources to accomplish the edits.

Keep in mind, though, that even if it’s free to start with—if you or your team needs to spend a significant amount of time reviewing or fixing mistakes, it might not be as budget-friendly as you initially thought.

Take care of all your simple edits

AI has its time and place, and simplicity is key. The less complicated your edit, the more likely it will be suited for AI.

For example, you can use an automated tool to work with basic images with higher levels of contrast. As far as a complex photograph is concerned, it’s better to build up the layers for a more refined result. Amazon product photos are another good example of photos that might work for an AI-based photo editor.

But if you’re using the images on a website or in a catalog with a particular specification, AI will likely not be very helpful as it will only address specific use cases. For example, product photography for cosmetics and jewelry often require very specific shadows which, at times, are manually created. This isn’t effectively handled through AI.

Get tedious edits off your plate

Those simple, basic edits are also the most tedious and frustrating ones. They take the most time and attention to detail. But they’re foundational to an effective product photo. That’s why AI makes a good “assistant” to take those tedious edits off your plate.

AI is ideal for automating specific tasks in a workflow, but manual editing is still the way to go for achieving a specific look.

AI and photography

Did you ever think the people you see in photos online could be fake? As in, those aren’t actually photos of anyone. Instead, AI creates visuals of real-looking humans. Sounds great because you don’t need a budget for models or signed releases to use the images. But in reality, these images are often distorted and can breed mistrust with your audience.

Here’s an example from Generated Photos. It might be free, but this person’s face looks unrealistic.

Automation and photo editing

Remember, automation and AI might be similar but they’re two different things. Automations are especially ideal for speeding up your workflow. You can use actions and plugins in Photoshop to make your job easier.

But if you’re outsourcing the photo editing, you want to steer clear of automation. Some companies use automated technology and even AI to accomplish their photo edits. This leads to mistakes, which defeats the purpose of outsourcing in the first place. So when you outsource, look for a company that does every edit by hand. Our designers, for example, zoom in up to 300% to get pixel perfect edits every time.

AI and photo editing

AI also has its use for photo editing, digital asset management (DAM) in particular. With AI, you can automatically tag and add metadata to your image files for easy organization and retrieval. In some cases, the technology uses the photos themselves to extract product information, for even more advanced DAM.

AI tools for photo editing

If you want to use AI for basic photo edits, you can try the following tools:

• Photoshop
• Picsart
• Canva
• Pixlr

Should you use automated and AI-powered photo editing?

The answer, like most questions in business, is that it depends. There’s always a time and place for automation and AI, but you don’t want to go overboard. Sometimes, your product photos need a human touch.

Automate photo editing FAQs

Which AI tool is best for photo editing?

Photoshop is the best tool for photo editing, and it also includes an AI feature.

Can I use AI to edit pictures?

Yes, you can use AI to edit pictures. AI is commonly used for things like background removal and color correction. However, it can produce imperfect and low-quality results that require checking and fixing by hand.

What is the free AI tool for image edit?

Most “free” AI tools for image editing include a limited version of or limited time access to its paid platform. So while AI tools for image editing may call themselves free, you may need to pay to achieve quality results. Some options include Canva, Picsart, and Pixlr.

How do I edit 100 photos at once?

You can edit 100 photos at once by sending them to a professional photo editing studio like Path. Path is available 24/7 and has a team of 300+ designers who can handle bulk orders of all sizes, often delivering results within just 6 hours.

How do I automate Photoshop editing?

You can automate Photoshop editing by performing actions in bulk.

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