Price culling, color correction, retouching, and album design from measured throughput, revisions, file handling, and a clearly labeled example menu.
Price photo editing services by measuring throughput for a precisely defined task, then adding file handling, quality control, revisions, overhead, and profit. “Per image” is useful only when both parties know whether the unit means a source image reviewed, a selected image corrected, or a finished image retouched.
Start with the cost-of-doing-business calculator to establish the hourly revenue your business needs. Then time real test galleries instead of borrowing an unsupported rate table.
Set a minimum order that covers onboarding, upload/download, backup, invoicing, and delivery. Those fixed tasks exist even on a five-image job.
Per-unit floor = (required hourly business revenue ÷ verified units per hour) + per-unit systems and quality cost + overhead and profit adjustment.
Illustrative examples—not market averages:
Re-test throughput by genre and source quality. Consistent studio files, mixed-light events, damaged scans, and layered composites should not share one production assumption.
State whether culling removes technical failures only or also makes narrative and expression choices. Document the source count, target select range, duplicate treatment, rating system, file format, catalog version, and whether the client reviews the first pass.
Billing per source image keeps cost aligned with the review workload. Billing per final select can create a distorted incentive and unpredictable labor unless the source-to-select ratio is constrained.
Keep reading for the framework, or have ShootRate check one real quote, package, or inquiry path for pricing friction before you send it.
Review my real quote for $29 →Base correction might include global exposure, white balance, tone, crop, straightening, and a named preset or reference match. Retouching may include localized skin work, object removal, garment cleanup, background reconstruction, masking, or compositing.
Create written tiers with before-and-after samples. For example:
Obtain approval before changing tiers. “Full retouching” is too vague to protect either party.
Album labor is driven by image preparation, spread count, narrative sequencing, copy, proofing, revisions, export requirements, and communication. A project fee can work when those inputs are capped.
Illustrative example—not a benchmark: if a 20-spread album requires five total hours and the modeled business target is $45 per hour, labor begins at $225. Adding $30 of systems and proofing cost plus a $45 overhead-and-profit contribution produces a $300 project floor. Extra spreads, extensive image swaps, copy changes, or another revision round need separate prices.
A rush order may require overtime, rescheduling another client, or holding unused capacity. Calculate that disruption instead of applying an arbitrary percentage. Publish the cutoff, delivery time zone, file-ready requirements, weekend policy, and what happens when the client submits late or incomplete files.
Large orders do not automatically cost less per image. Offer a lower unit rate only when consistent presets, clean uploads, fewer handoffs, predictable calendars, or automated billing reduce measured time or risk. Require a minimum monthly volume only if you can reserve the promised capacity.
A useful quote can show the standard unit rate, verified volume assumption, minimum order, turnaround, and overage treatment. Put the final structure into a rate card or photography quote.
The agreement should cover transfer method, access control, backup responsibility, retention and deletion, confidentiality, portfolio use, subcontractors, corrupted files, color-management expectations, revision limits, payment, and acceptance. Follow applicable privacy and data rules, and get appropriate legal advice for client agreements.
Before publishing the menu, run it through the pricing audit checklist. If the pricing units or scope still feel ambiguous, request a ShootRate pricing audit.
Measure how many source images you can review per hour at the required accuracy. Divide your required business hourly revenue by that throughput, then add file handling, quality control, overhead, and profit. State whether billing is per source image, select, hour, or project.
Benchmark a representative gallery, record active editing and quality-control time, and calculate a per-image or project floor. Define whether the service includes exposure, white balance, crop, straightening, masking, noise reduction, or style matching.
Per-image tiers work when the scope is repeatable; hourly or quoted project pricing is safer for complex cleanup and compositing. Define each complexity tier and obtain approval before work moves into a higher tier.
Specify spread count, image selection responsibility, design style, proofing platform, revision rounds, copy changes, print-ready exports, archive period, and turnaround. Price extra spreads and revisions separately.
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