BWRM is a high-quality brand and it is imperative that we maintain the highest standard of image production possible. Importantly, while our retouchers are amazing, they are not superhuman (although they come fairly close). If you follow the Capture Methods recommendations, you will be provided with an excellent result regardless of the weather conditions. If you don't, we cannot guarantee quality.
This article will explain exactly what you can expect from our image retouching team when you have done your part correctly.
Image Retouching Standards
Highlights must be recovered
Window view must look natural
Skies must be consistent between shots
Whites must be clean and bright
Verticals and horizontals must be straightened 100%
Grass must look natural
The following services will be automatically applied to every image, and are included in the price.
Exposure adjustment
Colour adjustment
Brightness/contrast
Add sky to externals and views from windows
Straightening and cropping (resizing available on request)
Photographer reflection/equipment removal
Lens dust removal
Hand-blended window detailing
Adding fire to fireplaces (internal and external)
Removing reflections on TV (or adding an image to the TV on request)
Minor grass repairs and greening
Removing wires and cables
Quality assurance
A final Finesse step
Please note, there are two Additional Retouching steps that will be applied automatically, even if you don't request them. This is done in order to maintain our high-quality brand image.
Remove Rubbish Bins
Remove Fridge Magnets
These will be charged as Standard Retouching. If you want to avoid these additional charges, please remove these items from view prior to capturing your images.
Additional Retouching
Additional Retouching is not included in the base price of your image production, and extra charges will apply for these requests. The prices of these services vary depending on the complexity level of the retouching required. For simplicity we have defined common retouching requests under the following three categories:
Standard Retouching
Turn on lights
Candles (add flame)
Fix carpet dents
Blur objects
Blue water
Remove garden hose
Remove pool cleaner
Replace complicated grass
Remove wrinkles
Remove real estate sign
Remove rubbish bins
Remove fridge magnets
Within Standard Retouching, we group a number of adjustments per image which lowers the price.
1x Touch (up to 1x Standard Retouching per image)
3x Touch (up to 3x Standard Retouching per image)
5x Touch (up to 5x Standard Retouching per image)
8x Touch (up to 8x Standard Retouching per image)
Scenario 1
If we request the following for a single image:
Remove garden hose
Remove pool cleaner
Remove rubbish bins
This will be charged as 3x Touch (up to 3x Standard Retouching per image)
Advanced Retouching
Clean Roof
Clean exterior floor (decks and driveways)
Change wall colour
Building views (Virtual Dusk Conversion)
Paint walls
Remove car
Extreme Retouching
Internal/external renovation (De-clutter)
Recreate pool
City views (Virtual Dusk Conversion)
Sometimes you may require multiple additional retouching requests. If this is the case, the retouching team may group these together as a single charge and you will be advised via the chat function.
Quality Assurance & Finesse
When each image is processed it is then passed to a Quality Assurance team member for a 34 point assessment. If the image fails on a single point, it is returned to the Retoucher for adjustments. If the assessment is passed, the image is handed to a member of the Finesse team for another 34 point check and minor tweaks. Finally, the image is handed to the Customer Service team for uploading.
The 34 point check:
Instructions
Read and understand the instructions
Check if client instructions have been followed
Check library, style, requirements
2. Brightness / Contrast
Natural light
Check for blown-out areas
Check for shadow (not too bright, not too dark)
Look for correct contrast
3. Colour
No colour casts
Colour separation
Colour is accurate
Saturation is correct
Chromatic aberrations removed
4. Merging
Highlights & shadows are correctly merged from the input
Clear window detail
Even colour and brightness
Natural blending
5. Retouching
Sensor dots, glare & camera have been removed
Photographer & flash shadows have been removed
Fire has been replaced
The TV screen has been replaced
6. Sky
Does it meet the sky library?
Does it look natural and fits with the original sky?
Follow sample sky colours
Make sure there is a nice natural gradient
Look for masking errors
7. Straightening
Further fix lens distortion, fringe, vignetting if needed
Single-point correction (horizontals & verticals)
Two-point straightening (verticals)
8. Consistency
Check for all brightness, colour consistency throughout the shoot
-Window brightness
9. Output
Check for the correct dimensions
Check the colour profile
Check for correct format/s
Check for correct naming
File Size
When you upload a RAW file to be processed, the Print Size file you receive from the Retouchers will be the same dimensions as the file you uploaded.
Some agencies will require different sizes and for this reason, we do not define the size you must use. It is advisable to have a maximum Print Size file under 15Mb to maintain flexibility and to make it fast to upload/download the files. The final size will vary based on the amount of colour information in the image but the following can be used as a guide:
3000x2000px @ 300ppi is roughly A4 and the Print Size will normally be >8mb
4000x3000px @ 300ppi is roughly A3 and the Print Size will normally be >15mb
To help manage your data charges, you may choose to compress your RAW files by following the process in this article.
Ordering
To eliminate any confusion for our retouchers, and to ensure you get the correct product, the first time, every time please use the following words when uploading your products for post-production, followed by any extra notes:
DAYTIME for Daytime Processing
TWILIGHT for Twilight Processing (see example below)
