What is the difference between photo editing and photo retouching?

The terms editing and retouching get thrown around a lot in photography but can mean wildly different things. Some photographers even use the terms interchangeably, which can be highly confusing. An enhanced photo, whether modified by editing or retouching of any product, will likely attract more audience than regular ones. This post aims to explain the difference between photo editing and photo retouching.

What is photo editing?

Photo editing means altering images using basic techniques like cropping, straightening, resizing, adjustment of color, sharpening, and light adjustments. These minor transformations or alterations are not meant to deliver the final results but provide a pleasant and clear base for further actions. Many photographers use it to define their style and design.

Photo editing can be done in minutes by using any lightweight editor. As photo editing is the initial step of photo manipulation, it can make the picture look crisp and stark depending on the digital treatment applied. The process is primarily used for magazines, logo creation, brochures, and digital media creation.

What is photo retouching?

Photo retouching means high-level image adjustments applied to the photos, like skin retouching, removing unwanted elements, toning, smoothening, and so on. The process goes beyond basic techniques and photo editing. Retouching is your best bet if you are interested in making significant changes to your photos.

Usually, the process requires high-level tools. The retouching sessions can be both nerve-wracking and lengthy. Unless you have the knack for precision, applying well-suited retouching to your photos is impossible. However, AI-powered tools like autoRetouch can make retouching simple, fast, and breezy. The software is automatic and takes away the humdrum of complex manipulation techniques.

Photo Editing Vs. Photo Manipulation:

Though both techniques have similar concepts, they are very different from a professional point of view. Following are the differences between photo editing and photo retouching:

1. The elements involved in photo editing are basic techniques. It requires color adjustments, cropping, resizing, etc. Whereas photo retouching uses advanced elements, like applying digital makeup, enhancing facial features, blemish removal, background customization, etc.
2. Editing an image usually takes seconds or minutes, depending on the effect. Even if you are doing it manually, the process is pretty straightforward. Whereas photo retouching takes hours to complete.
3. Photo editing is usually done by ecommerce businesses to enhance the presentation of their product. But photo retouching is mainly applied for top-notch events like proms, weddings, social engagements, headshot photography, or industrial purposes.
4. Usually, anyone can do photo editing if they follow the set of instructions carefully. However, photo retouching requires experts who have mastered Photoshop and are trained to discern the necessary changes in the photo.

Conclusion:

Photo editing and retouching might mean the same on the surface, but they are highly different. Knowing the differences is essential to decide which manipulation techniques are suitable for your forte. However, all images don’t need extensive retouching to make them exceptional. Some only need a few tweaks to become appropriate.