How To Start Your Own Photo Retouching Business

Adobe Photoshop and other image editing software are a necessary part of any photographer’s arsenal. Some photographers even supplement their income with a photo retouch business for competitors. Why would they do something like that? Because there is money to be made!
Retouching photos is a very time intensive task for most people. So, a person with talent in that area of expertise can charge a considerable amount of money for doing something they enjoy. Most photographers are just that... photographers. They want to be in the field as much as possible shooting images and not be stuck behind a desk editing their pictures. A savvy person can capitalize on this by advertising on a few basic sites and providing samples of their work.The needed resources to start a photo retouch business are:

· A computer with photo editing software
· Software proficiency
· Internet access and email able to receive large files (or use something similar to yousendit.com)
· A good work ethic.

Most of the time, a set fee is paid for certain services. This fee can be negotiated or be simply a flat per-image type of fee. Some common services would include:

· Levels adjustment
· Skin smoothing
· Sharpening and contrast boost
· Scaling for print

Take consideration when quoting time. Figure out how long it takes to adjust certain types of images and make a note of your most common edits, this way you will be able to advertise your specialties.
Once you've prepared yourself for the workload, simply post classified ads on free sites such as craigslist.org and photo forums and message boards. All of your work should be able to be done remotely from anywhere in the world via email. Enjoy!
Remember, as always, keep shooting and have some fun!