In a City Where Every Pixel Counts
In Los Angeles, fashion campaigns move fast and competition is fierce. A single shot might end up on a billboard, a storefront, and an Instagram carousel—all in the same week. That’s where The Retoucher Studio comes in.
“Editorial photography is only half the job,” says our lead fashion photo retoucher. “The other half is preserving its intent in post-production—without losing the natural feel.”
We’ve worked with brands from boutique designers to national labels, delivering high-volume, editorial-level retouching that keeps skin tones believable, fabrics true-to-life, and every detail campaign-ready. Whether it’s rebuilding overexposed skies, cleaning up crew shadows, or fine-tuning textured garments so they photograph perfectly, our process is designed for brands that can’t afford to get it wrong.
Why Brands Like Frank And Oak Choose Us
From Call It Spring to Frank and Oak, we’ve handled campaigns where consistency and polish had to be delivered at scale—hundreds of files per week without a drop in quality.
For one Los Angeles-based campaign for Zenni Optical, the brand’s in-house team sent us a mixed batch of editorial, product, and on-model images. The lighting varied, colors shifted between shots, and wardrobe creases distracted from the product. Within days, we delivered clean, consistent assets ready for print, web, and social.
What Most Retouchers Miss in Editorial Work
Many retouchers blur fabrics to hide flaws, but this kills texture. “If a garment has texture, it deserves to stay visible,” our senior editor explains. “Anyone can blur a crease. Knowing what to keep and what to remove—that’s the real skill.”
We use split frequency retouching to separate tone from texture, so pleats, folds, and fabric grain remain intact while imperfections are cleaned up. It’s this attention to detail that keeps products looking real—whether it’s silk, denim, or wool.
Our Four Editorial Retouching Pillars
Clipping Path & Masking — Done by Hand
We don’t rely on auto-selection tools. Every mask is drawn pixel-by-pixel for perfect background transitions, edge highlights, and cutouts.
Natural Hair Redrawing
When backgrounds change, we manually rebuild hair outlines and flyaways to match the lighting and tone of the scene.
Color Accuracy You Can Trust
We work on calibrated Eizo ColorEdge monitors, so product colors match real inventory and skin tones remain authentic—whether viewed online or in print.
Speed Without Compromising Quality
For a recent campaign, we retouched 80+ fashion images in a weekend—skin work, background replacements, wardrobe cleanup, and CMYK prep—without sacrificing detail.
Why AI Isn’t There Yet
We test AI tools regularly, but they often blur textures, remove important shadows, or create unrealistic hair edges. Machines cannot distinguish between a design fold and an accidental wrinkle. “AI can assist,” our lead retoucher says, “but it can’t make judgment calls. That’s our expertise.”
The Real Cost of Getting It Wrong
- Bad retouching isn’t just about looks—it’s about money.
- Reshoots can cost $1,000–$1,500 per day
- Over-retouched products can increase returns by 18–25%
- Strong editorial images can raise conversion rates by 20–30%
Choose Your Editorial Retouching Tier
- Essential Retouching – $25 per image: Light cleanup, color correction, and quick delivery.
- Premium Editorial – $45 per image: Complex fabric & skin work, background composites, and manual hair redraw.
- Campaign Retouching – Custom pricing: Team-based editing for high-volume projects, with creative consultation available.
Editorial Retouching in Action
Our California clients trust us with:
On-model eCommerce image editing
Portrait retouching & background compositing
See more at theretoucher.com
Email us: studio@theretoucher.com
